Georgia RealEstateRama

Mayor Kasim Reed announced today that the Atlanta City Council has voted 13 to 1 to approve a measure to put a special local option sales tax (TSPLOST) referendum on the November ballot to fund transportation related infrastructure projects throughout the City of Atlanta. The ballot referendum will ask Atlanta voters to authorize a 0.4 percent sales tax increase for a five-year period. The TSPLOST is projected to generate approximately $260 million, which will be leveraged to generate additional matching funds.

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today joined a bipartisan effort to urge Senate and House Armed Services Committee leadership to protect dual-military families, women and junior members of the Armed Forces

The Atlanta REALTORS® (ARA), the largest association of its kind in Georgia, released its June 2016 Market Brief on residential housing statistics for 11 area counties in metro-Atlanta.  The Market Brief, compiled by First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS), provides the only regionally focused synopsis of monthly sales and home prices for single family residential properties

Congressman Collins introduced H.R. 5750, The Common Sense Postal Delivery Restoration Act of 2016. This legislation will ensure that homes and neighborhoods that were eligible to receive or were receiving mail prior to the implementation of new postal rules will still be able to receive mail to their addresses under the new rule. Recent United States Postal Services (USPS) rules are forcing home developers to tear up already built or permitted neighborhoods in order to install centralized mailboxes, called cluster boxes, so that all the mail for the neighborhood is delivered to one location, instead of individual homes

Three Georgia real estate investors pleaded guilty today for their roles in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies committed at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia, the Department of Justice announced today

In an effort to keep Atlanta beautiful, Atlanta’s Code Enforcement Section is urging vacant property owners to register those properties with the City.

Mayor Kasim Reed joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro today to announce the City of Atlanta has been named a Promise Zone community. Through the Promise Zone Initiative, the City will work strategically with HUD and other federal agencies to boost economic activity and job growth, improve educational opportunities, reduce crime and leverage private investment to improve the quality of life in the “Westside Promise Zone,” which is comprised of the historic Atlanta University Center neighborhood, Ashview Heights, Vine City, English Avenue and Castleberry Hill.

Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.-12) today announced that he has received the “Hero of Main Street” award from the National Retail Federation for his support of legislation critical to the retail industry. Rep. Allen is part of a bi-partisan group honored for their support of a wide range of issues including infrastructure investment, tax reform and labor issues.

The Atlanta Board of REALTORS®premier fundraising event of the year, the ABR FUNdraiser was held April 21, at the Capital Grille in Dunwoody. More than 300 members rallied together to raise over $29,000, to aid in the association's fundraising efforts to build its 15th Habitat for Humanity home.

Gov. Nathan Deal today previewed findings by an independent, nationally recognized transportation firm, which conclude that new infrastructure investments statewide will improve safety, reduce congestion and have a positive economic impact on Georgia. The final study, performed by Cambridge Systematics and scheduled for release later this month, analyzed the potential impact of 11 planned projects throughout the state over the next decade.

Tom Graves (R-GA-14) voted for and the House Appropriations Committee today passed the fiscal year 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which includes provisions that provide funding for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP), prohibit implementation of the proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule and prohibit funding of gun control efforts on Army Corps of Engineers land.

The House of Representatives voted to name thefederal building and courthouse in Gainesville, Georgia, after Judge Sidney Oslin Smith, Jr.. Congressman Collins, who sponsored the bill, made the following statement on the House floor in support of the bill

44 Current & Former Senators & 164 Current & Former House Members from 38 States Filed An Amicus Brief To Support President Obama’s Clean Power Plan in Case Currently Before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, & Defend EPA’s Authority To Protect Public Health and the Environment by Regulating New Pollutants In Keeping With The Intention Of The Clean Air Act Of 1970

Each year, the Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS® honors the members who have sold over $4 million dollars in commercial real estate through recognition in the annual Million Dollar Club Banquet. The 2016 Club included 504 members who produced over $25 billion in commercial real estate transactions, the highest in Board history.

U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy provided opening remarks at the EPA Region 4 conference about the College/Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) at the Sam Nunn Federal Center in Atlanta, Ga. Through CUPP, college and university students provide technical support to underserved communities at no cost to them