A DeKalb state lawmaker is rising up against a proposed tax break deal between a developer and the DeKalb County Development Authority.

The deal would give the Florida-based Sembler Co. more than $50 million in tax breaks to complete its Town Brookhaven project on Peachtree Road near Oglethorpe University.

“If Sembler gets this deal it will place upward pressure on the property tax bill for DeKalb citizens,” District 80 state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Atlanta, said. “The rest of the taxpayers will subsidize the services used by the property.”

Jacobs was to discuss the proposal with residents during a public meeting Monday at the Chamblee United Methodist Church.

Sembler approached the authority, a quasi-governmental body with members appointed by DeKalb’s elected officials, with the proposal last month.

DeKalb County Development Authority Chairman Eugene Walker said Sembler came to the authority because the company needed money to complete construction on the 54-acre, mixed-use development.

“[Sembler will] use the money that would normally be used for [property] taxes to go back into the project,” Walker said. “The county would get sales tax and jobs in return. The county would not yield one penny to Sembler.”

The deal would allow Sembler to forego property taxes on about half of its property, which the Development Authority would own for 20 years and lease back to Sembler.

Walker said the Development Authority has hired an independent financial advisor to review the proposal.

“The decision will be based on data,” Walker said. “And if [benefit to the county] is not shown empirically Sembler can forget it.”

Jacobs said “he doubted” the benefits would outweigh the tax revenue. He said not collecting the taxes could potentially cause a tax increase for DeKalb residents.

The Development Authority is scheduled to discuss the issue at a June 18 meeting.

DeKalb law allows the authority to approve the deal without consent of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners.

Jacobs said that was one of his biggest concerns with the deal.

“I think the elected officials of DeKalb County should be making this decision not a non-elected board operating in the shadows,” he said. “At least then the citizens can take recourse against their elected officials.”

The DeKalb County Development Authority meeting is set for June 18 at 8 a.m. at 150 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Suite 400, in downtown Decatur.