A DeKalb County judge recently dismissed a case to validate Brookhaven’s $40 million parks bond, leading city leaders to go through the state-ordered process again next month. City officials said they requested the bond validation hearing be delayed after noticing an error in its legal advertisement of the hearing.
DeKalb Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie dismissed the case Dec. 14. City spokesperson Burke Brennan said there was a typo in the legal notice advertising the bond validation hearing. The date for the hearing was printed as Dec. 9 but the actual date was Dec. 19. Because of the error, the bond hearing will have to be advertised again and a new hearing set sometime in January. A new date has not been set, he said.
“The Office of the City Clerk caught the typo. In an abundance of caution and full transparency, we cancelled the December court date in order to resubmit a flawless advertisement for the validation hearing, which will likely be set in January,” Brennan said in a written statement.
Brennan said the delay should not impact beginning any planned construction projects because most projects are not started during winter months.
Bonds issued by a governmental agency are required by state law to be validated by a Superior Court judge during a public hearing. Once a judge validates the bonds, they cannot be challenged.
Brookhaven voters approved the $40 million parks bond referendum Nov. 6. The money is to be used to fund capital projects at many of the city’s parks. The bond referendum includes a tax increase for residents to pay the bonds off over 30 years.
This story has been updated.