(ATLANTA, Ga.) — On Monday, a Georgia Senate committee approved two bills that would allow the Buckhead neighborhood to secede from the City of Atlanta. Although they would face resistance in the full senate, this marks a high-water point for the controversial bills.

The Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee voted 4-3 along party lines to push Senate Bills 113 and 114, the first time that an issue tied to anxiety about crime, racial, and economic divisions has moved this far in the General Assembly.

Buckhead is one of Atlanta’s whitest, most affluent neighborhoods, and has for years been home to vocal groups who wish to form a Buckhead City and to deny the city of Atlanta its largest tax base.

The two bills would form the new City of Buckhead and transfer 20% of Atlanta’s resources, cash, and investments along with it. The mayor and councilmembers of the new city would be among the highest paid in the country, a detail that residents have worried would generate animosity towards the proposal.

“This violence has reached a tipping point, and that is why we are all here today,” said resident Kelly Rodts, a supporter of the City of Buckhead. “Buckhead is a target. We’re a target for criminals in the city, and Atlanta has not been able to protect us.”

The Atlanta region has seen a wave of cityhood movements in the last twenty years, with notable examples including the incorporations of Sandy Springs, South Fulton, and Brookhaven. Other attempts have included Eagles Landing, which voted against separating from Stockbridge, and the City of Mableton, whose future remains uncertain.

Sen. Randy Robertson, a Columbus-area Republican sponsoring the bills, says he sees the bill as giving a voice to citizens who have been ignored. “Too many times inside this building, and especially outside this building in local communities, elected officials forget who they work for. So when movements happen that remind elected officials who the real bosses are, then I have to support that.”

Opponents have pointed out that a new city would not provide any barriers for criminals moving to the area, and that the plan weakens the rest of Atlanta and could worsen crime across the whole region.

Opponents also warn that the divorce could give bond investors heartburn, which would then affect the municipal debt and credit rating of every city in the state. Splitting a city as large and influential as Atlanta would create uncertainty about the long-term stability of city debt and bonds, they say, uncertainty that could hurt future investments.

“What is happening today is my constituents are being forced to eat a half-baked pie,” said Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat who voted against the bill in the Senate committee. He and others argue that although supporters of the project are vocal and organized, they represent a minority.

In addition, none of the Republican sponsors of the bills come from the Atlanta area.

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