Can "Buckhead City" Create an Intergovernmental Agreement with APS to Keep Students in their Schools?
No. An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) would not be valid or constitutional because under the very limited circumstances that the Georgia Constitution allows them to happen, both parties must be legally allowed to provide the services being negotiated.
Specifically, since "Buckhead City" wouldn't have the legal right to educate anyone, they also wouldn't have the legal right to negotiate or insist that another entity (APS) educate their students.
It is no secret that a significant amount of money is at stake with the possibility of Buckhead de-annexing. Just as "Buckhead City" supporters claim that APS will be desperate to keep Buckhead’s tax base, Fulton County will want that money as well. Further, Fulton County Public Schools would be the only entity with the legal right to negotiate an IGA with APS, but it seems unlikely that they would, as they are actually constitutionally entitled to claim the tax money.
Sources:
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Ga. Const. Art. IX, Sec. III, Para. I (known as the “Intergovernmental Contracts Clause”).
See City of Decatur v. Dekalb County, 289 Ga. 612 (2011) (invalidating intergovernmental agreement between the City of Decatur and Dekalb County); Greene County Sch. Dist. v. Greene County, 278 Ga. 849 (2005) (invalidating intergovernmental agreement between county and school district).
