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Atlanta Public Safety Training Center: Mayor’s office breaks down the budget

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Atlanta Public Safety Training Center: Mayor’s office breaks down the budget


Rendering of proposed Atlanta Police Training Center (Atlanta Police Department )

The city of Atlanta says it will save nearly 15% over the next 30 years with the completion of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

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A spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens broke down the plan, which can sometimes seem more confusing than it should, given the way the city says the deal with the Atlanta Police Foundation is structured.

What has been widely reported is the agreement for the city of Atlanta to make a one-time payment of just over $30 million to help finance the building of the training center.

The Atlanta Police Foundation would then raise $60 million, including a $20 million loan for its portion of the building costs. This agreement was passed in September 2021. In return, the APF would then “lease” the city the facility.

Right now, the city pays more than $1.4 million a year for its various public safety training venues and needs. The city pays that money out to various vendors and says it’s at the mercy of the current market value in the city, which many analysts say currently is the most overpriced in the country. The city also argues the current venues were not exactly created for the purpose of housing first responder training.

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This image shows a rendering of an academic classroom at the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. (City of Atlanta)

By signing a “lease” with APF, the city says it has locked in its annual “rent” for both police and fire departments fixed at $1.2 million. The mayor’s spokesperson says money goes to repaying the APF’s loan, as well as the facility’s operational and maintenance expenses. It saves the city $200,000 annual or about $6 million over the 30 years, according to the mayor’s spokesperson.

The Atlanta City Council passed that resolution unanimously in December 2021.

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Once the 30-year lease is over, the city will take over full ownership of the training center.

The city considers the annual payment budget neutral, if not a savings. The mayor’s spokesperson also says it consolidates several leases into one, simplifying the process.

The mayor’s office has said in the past it regrets not getting ahead of a well-organized opposition to the facility which has spread its own narrative. Several recent budget meetings have seen overwhelming opposition to the site.

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Last week, the finance committee voted 5-1 to approve a plan for Atlanta to pay its share of the more than $30 million.

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Committee member James Winston abstained and Committee member Liliana Bakhtiari was the sole “no” vote. 

“My district does not want this. I still lack clarity on some of the funding aspects. [I have] a lot of questions that have not been answered,” Bakhtiari told FOX 5 on May 24, following the vote. “The city did not do a good job of messaging around this. We gave out a lot of mixed information. We didn’t know who was driving this project. There were missed signals between different entities.”

The next full council meeting is slated for Monday, June 5 at 1 p.m. with additional budget meeting, including public hearings over the two days following.

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Atlanta, GA

Report says Atlanta rental prices down 8.1% versus last year

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Report says Atlanta rental prices down 8.1% versus last year


A new report on national and metro-specific rental prices showed that the costs to rent a one or two-bedroom apartment across the United States remains in flux.

However, while national rent prices on one-bedroom apartments was mostly unchanged, two-bedroom prices had started to drop. In Atlanta, the report from Zumper said prices for the metro had fallen 8.1% since this time last year.

In October, one-bedroom apartments in Atlanta had a median price of $1,600, while two-bedrooms had a median cost of $2,030.

Zumper said that makes Atlanta the 27th most expensive rental market in the country, on a ranking of the top 100 most expensive markets. Month-over-month, Zumper said rent prices in Atlanta for a one-bedroom apartment were unchanged, but had fallen by 6.4% compared to last year.

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When it comes to two-bedroom apartments, costs fell 2.3% in the past month and 8.1% compared to the year before.

Among state-level rents, Georgia was 2.8% higher than the national median, according to Zumper’s report and middle-of-the-pack for the seven swing states closely watched during the 2024 general election.

“Our rental data shows that 4 of the 7 key swing states, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all experienced annual rent price growth rates that were larger than the national median of 2.3%,” Zumper said.

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Atlanta and Augusta were the only two cities in Georgia from Zumper’s top 100. Rental prices in Augusta were up across the board, as much as 28% for a two-bedroom apartment.

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Atlanta, GA

Thiare and Atlanta United visit Orlando City

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Thiare and Atlanta United visit Orlando City


Associated Press

Atlanta United FC (10-14-10, ninth in the Eastern Conference during the regular season) vs. Orlando City SC (15-12-7, fourth in the Conference during the regular season)

Orlando, Florida; Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EST

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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Orlando City SC -152, Atlanta United FC +368; over/under is 2.5 goals

BOTTOM LINE: Jamal Thiare leads Atlanta United into a matchup with Orlando City after scoring two goals against Inter Miami.

Orlando is 12-10-7 against Eastern Conference opponents. Orlando is 10-1-0 when it scores three or more goals.

United is 13-10-7 against Eastern Conference opponents. United is seventh in the Eastern Conference with 167 shots on goal, averaging 4.9 per game.

The teams meet Sunday for the third time this season. United won the last meeting 2-1.

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TOP PERFORMERS: Facundo Torres has 16 goals and four assists for Orlando. Ramiro Enrique has four goals and two assists over the last 10 games.

Saba Lobzhanidze has 10 goals and four assists for United. Thiare has three goals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Orlando: 6-2-2, averaging 2.0 goals, 5.2 shots on goal and 5.1 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.0 goal per game.

United: 4-2-4, averaging 1.8 goals, 4.1 shots on goal and 4.9 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.6 goals per game.

NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Orlando: Mason Stajduhar (injured).

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United: Edwin Mosquera (injured), Brooks Lennon (injured), Quentin Westberg (injured).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Hawks vs Chicago Bulls: Starting Lineups

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Atlanta Hawks vs Chicago Bulls: Starting Lineups


The Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls are getting ready to tip off in Chicago for another NBA Cup game and both teams just announced their starting lineups.

G- Trae Young

G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

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F- Jalen Johnson

C- Clint Capela

G- Coby White

G- Josh Giddey

F- Zach LaVine

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F- Ayo Dosunmu

C- Nikola Vucevic

Here is a preview for tonight’s game from our own Rohan Raman:

Tonight is not only an important game for their NBA Cup hopes – it is also an opportunity to respond against an opponent that handled them during their last matchup. When these teams played on November 9th, Atlanta was in control for most of the game before Chicago stormed back and won the game due to the Hawks faltering late. The 14-3 scoring run that the Bulls went on ended up winning them the game and sealed a 125-113 loss that was simply hard to watch. In their last meeting, Chicago also won the game largely due to a team-based scoring performance. Their entire starting lineup finished with double-digit points and a positive plus/minus. Ayo Dosomnu also made a massive impact off the bench with 19 points on 7-10 shooting.

Atlanta’s inconsistency has been an issue all season. Against Golden State, they had a dismal first quarter. The Hawks shot 35% from the field and 29% from three. Golden State on the other hand was 60% from the field and 46% from three. The bench for the Warriors outscored the Hawks bench 19-3. However, this game was more of a fluke in terms of how bad their start was. That being said, they have consistently struggled in the clutch. This year, they have the 10th-fewest points in the third quarter and the fifth-fewest points in the fourth quarter.

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Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 11th in the NBA in PPG, 19th in FG%, 18th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 4th in FTA, 25th in turnovers, and 11th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 18th in points per 100 possessions, 19th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 7th in free throw rate. On defense, they rank 28th in PPG allowed, 15th in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 19th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The Bulls have a pretty simple team profile – they take a lot of threes and make a good amount of threes without standing out much in other areas. They are 10th in PPG, 16th in FG%, 3rd in three attempts, 10th in three point percentage, 25th in free throw attempts, 9th in rebounding, and 21st in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 23rd in points per 100 possessions, 12th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 28th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 27th in free throw rate. Defensively, the Bulls are 29th in PPG allowed, 29th in field goal percentage allowed, 22nd in three point attempts allowed, and 5th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 25th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 23rd in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Even though the Bulls have an exploitable defense, the Hawks are going to need a strong performance from Trae Young to salt this game away early. Young has not really looked like himself as a scorer this year. In his last two games against the Kings and Warriors, he’s scored a combined 19 points on 5-19 shooting despite playing 30+ minutes in both games. On the year, he’s averaging 21.9 points (his lowest since his rookie year) and shooting a career-worst 34.1% from deep. Fortunately, he is still one of the best playmakers in the NBA and hit double-digit assists in those same games to alleviate some of the effect of his scoring dip. In a game where he has his full rotation avaliable to him, I expect him to continue to shine as a playmaker while taking advantage of the improved spacing.”



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