With early voting underway now for more than two weeks, it has been apparent to voters within the proposed Eagle’s Landing city limits that the cityhood referendum has remained on the ballot despite court challenges.

While not ruling definitively on the substantial issues raised in separate lawsuits, both the Georgia Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia denied motions for an injunction and declined to stop the referendum.

The state’s highest court is considering an appeal by the city of Stockbridge to a decision in Henry County Superior Court back in the summer. Stockbridge filed suit charging that the legislation paving the way for the cityhood referendum is unconstitutional.

A federal lawsuit was filed by the city along with Capital One Public Funding, which alleged that the impending outcome of the vote could impair the ability of Stockbridge to repay its bond debt. The judge hearing that case stated that if a new city is established, it will be responsible for its share of that debt.

Proponents of the new city pointed out in a statement that previous legislation already established a provision for an existing intergovernmental agreement which affects Stockbridge property.

“It surprised me that Capital One did not realize when they purchased the loan from Wells Fargo in 2017 that legislation had already been introduced for the de-annexation of portions of the City of Stockbridge into the City of Eagle’s Landing and that they were not aware of the language which would address their concerns, “said Vikki Consiglio, chairman of the Eagle’s Landing group. “And furthermore it saddens me to think that bond reporting agencies would write articles indicating bond harm for cities across Georgia when clearly the Georgia legislature had made provisions for these things.”

An attorney representing Stockbridge said the judge’s instructions regarding the bond debt would likely require Eagle’s Landing to impose a property tax to pay its share.

“It is ironic that the proponents of Eagle’s Landing actually advocated this position with the court when they had previously promised referendum voters that there would be no property tax in Eagle’s Landing,” said Chris Anulewicz. “Those proponents have already broken their biggest promise to the voters before the City of Eagle’s Landing referendum has even taken place.”

Anulewicz added that Stockbridge officials remain confident that the city will “prevail on the merits of its constitutional challenge.”