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GWINNETT COUNTY, GA-A Gwinnett County group of 210 business owners with $500 million in aggregate real estate holdings is asking the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner for certification as a community improvement district. The group has united as the Southwest Gwinnett Village Community Improvement Association.

That designation will allow the merchants to tax themselves to raise $1.3 million this year for traffic improvements, crime prevention and assorted infrastructure changes, county staffers confirm for GlobeSt.com.

Residential property owners will not be assessed. The association already has authority to tax up to 25% of the commercial property in the district without an owner's consent. Similar community improvement districts exist near Simon Property Co.'s 1.24-million-sf Gwinnett Place Mall in suburban Duluth and along US 78 in Snellville.