Issues

Public Safety

Under Mayor Learnard's leadership, Peachtree City is ranked one of the “Top Ten Safest Cities in Georgia.” She filled the ranks of our police department despite a national police shortage. She led a comprehensive pay and benefits study in 2023, comparing PTC salaries with 14 other communities. PTC learned that we needed to increase starting pay for police offers and Kim got it done. As of Q1 2025, Part 1 crimes are down 25% over last year. PTC is now partnering with the school system to place a School Resource Officer in every elementary school. (We already have a full time SRO in our middle and high schools.) Our police department has earned CALEA Meritorious status yet again. Our fire department maintains the highest ISO 1 Certification status. Nearly half of the city budget goes to public safety. The FY26 budget includes three new firefighters in anticipation of a new fire station soon to be built on the south side.

 

Paths 

Path maintenance, expansion, and safety are part of the very fabric of our quality of life. Mayor Learnard made gains on each of those fronts while also launching the award-winning “Navigate PTC” mobile app to help you find your way along the paths, anticipate any detours, or report a problem. Last fall, she widened the golf cart bridge over Lake Peachtree to allow for two-way traffic along this busy stretch of path. She expanded the path on Robinson Road to provide safe access to Booth Middle School. We are in the design phase for new paths on Sumner Road, North Hill, and north Peachtree Parkway. We continue to repave eight miles of path every year on a rotating basis.

 

Traffic and Transportation 

Traffic is a top priority, and Kim considers traffic implications in every decision she makes for our city. She strongly opposes overdevelopment. During her second term, GDOT will complete the intersection upgrade at 54/74. Upon completion of the project, GDOT will re-time all the signals in the entire corridor from MacDuff Bridge to City Hall. Kim has already convened officials from local cities and Fayette County, as well as GDOT, to launch the next step in the process, a Scoping Study, for the west corridor. She supports the planned roundabout at Peachtree Parkway and Crosstown Road. The Mayor and Council have already awarded the contract for dual left turn lanes from Huddleston Road onto 54 west. In addition, The Avenue is investing private dollars for a new lane exiting onto Hwy 54. 

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Economic Development

Mayor Learnard supports the business community – Kim is an engineer with decades of manufacturing industry experience. Under her leadership, we are seeing more job creation and private businesses are revitalizing our villages. Trader Joe’s is coming into The Avenue. J. Alexanders is replacing Smokey Bones. Family-owned B. Turners in the Stein Mart space. Ace Pickleball opened in the Kmart space. Partners Pizza is investing private dollars to rebuild their 1975 building in the heart of our town, to include 12 owned luxury condos (a far cry from the original proposal involving 190 apartments, which she opposed). Our industries continue to expand. This year, PTC created and filled a new position, Economic Development Manager. In 2024 Peachtree City won the Economic Development Award at the SMDO Conference.

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Greenspaces

Mayor Learnard is fiercely protective of our greenspaces. She spearheaded hiring a new full-time Certified Arborist to protect our green corridors. Under her leadership, PTC became “Tree City USA” for the first time in more than 20 years. She brought back the Southern Conservation Trust for educational and environmental programming centered around our 620 acres of nature areas. In 2025, PTC was voted one of the Best Small Towns to Raise a Family.

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Tax Relief

Mayor Learnard is a fiscal conservative. In FY25, Peachtree City reduced our millage rate from 6.043 to 5.983. Peachtree City now maintains a lower millage rate than Fayetteville and Tyrone. In 2025, PTC joined Fayette County and sister cities in opting in to HB581 which caps property tax assessment increases. She led PTC in opposing the proposed FLOST sales tax that was offered as part of HB581. PTC approved a property tax break for low income seniors; Mayor Learnard worked with State officials to get it passed by the Georgia Legislature this year – it will be on the ballot November 4. In 2023, PTC earned a Moody’s AAA bond rating. We have a healthy rainy-day fund of 59 percent.  

 

Recreation and Special Events 

In her second month in office, Mayor Learnard conducted a Town Hall meeting on the topic of recreation. As a result, she focused on restoring our facilities at the Riley Field running track, the tennis center, and our playgrounds, as a start. She spearheaded the first new Recreation Master Plan in 15 years, and City Council adopted it unanimously in January of 2025. She vowed to stop nickel and diming our citizens: she removed credit card readers at courts and field lights and made the splash pad free. She spearheaded a new, two-tiered fee schedule such that people who live outside Peachtree City will pay more to use our facilities. (This measure has not yet been approved by City Council but will be as soon as the FY26 budget passes.) Site prep begins this October for 18 new city pickleball courts at Meade Athletic Complex. PTC continues popular events like Sunset Sounds, Night Market and the Back to School Bash. PTC added new items like Food Truck Thursdays and the Homerun Derby. Our Library is thriving, now offering author talks, children’s programming, and rotating art and photography exhibits. The Fred is booming in popularity!

 

Opposing High Density Residential 

Mayor Learnard has consistently opposed apartments in PTC. As a new Mayor in 2022, she turned down apartments at the former Kmart location - twice. Now, Ace Pickleball is in the space (with more new businesses soon to come)! The only new apartments built in PTC in the last 20 years were built for seniors – Somerby and Hearthside. Mayor Learnard believes we have no need for additional apartments and she does not support high density residential. 

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City Communications and Citizen Engagement 

Citizen engagement has skyrocketed under Mayor Learnard’s leadership. She has transformed how the city keeps citizens informed. PTC started a weekly e-newsletter, “The Slice,” which now has more than 23,500 subscribers. She films ‘Mondays with the Mayor’ videos. The new Compass e-newsletter now engages businesses. The city now conducts “Slice of Life” visits in each Village to meet citizens where they live and listen to local concerns. PTC started a new summer internship program and a wildly popular PTC101 class. Our Fire Department designated a community outreach director. Our police department continues with CERT Training and Citizens Police Academy. They also conduct teen golf cart driving classes. She created two new citizens groups, the Recreation Advisory Group and the Transportation Advisory Group.

 

Government Transparency 

The Mayor has conducted town halls to address traffic, tax relief, recreation, city communications and more. She and City Council moved one of their two monthly City Council meetings from the evening to the morning to offer more citizens the opportunity to attend. ‘Public Comment’ in the meetings is three minutes, which is standard practice. (Tyrone, Fayetteville, Dunwoody, and most cities with a Public Comment policy allow three minutes.) While it is standard practice for the City Manager to create the Council Meeting Agendas, PTC adopted a new policy such that Council members can add an Agenda item if they have a Council majority in support. The Mayor has insisted on a public budget process, soliciting citizen input for months as part of creating the annual budget. Mayor Learnard restored the Public Hearings and the vote to the Planning Commission.

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SPLOST

Voter-approved SPLOST 2017 was a list of 39 projects. 31 are now complete. Eight projects remain to be done, estimated in today’s dollars to cost $10.3M. We have $11.7M in the fund. The anticipated extra will be moved to the paving line item. Voter-approved SPLOST 2023 prioritizes public safety items like upgraded radios, police canines, a SWAT vehicle, and fire engines and equipment. The projects are underway and status of projects in both SPLOSTS is found on the city website.  ​​​