SANDY SPRINGS, GA — The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to make Sandy Springs the default city for mailing addresses in seven local zip codes, a move officials say has been a long time coming.

Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said he is happy with the change.

“Clearly, it was a matter of civic pride,” Paul said.

For the past 20 years, the addresses defaulted to Atlanta, creating problems for residents and businesses.

“We want everyone to know that Sandy Springs exists, and it is one of the larger cities in metro Atlanta. We’re glad the Postal Service has agreed to acknowledge that,” Paul said.

The mayor said the change is expected to appear in mailing systems in the coming weeks.

“It has been a 20-year quest to get the federal government and the U.S. Postal Service to acknowledge that the Georgia General Assembly created the City of Sandy Springs,” Paul said.

He added that the previous system caused confusion with sales taxes.

“If you entered our zip codes into any point of sale, it defaulted to Atlanta. That created confusion because Atlanta has a different sales tax rate than we do and some other issues. Our citizens were paying more taxes if they bought things particularly online,” Paul said.