According to the AJC, the DeKalb County Tax Assessor is being sued for failure to follow to new laws relating to property tax values. The Georgia Legislature recently enacted a law mandating that the effect ofproperty foreclosures are to be considered when valuing a property's appraisal and instituted a freeze on increased property values on unimproved homes.
When the original report was released in April the tax assessor had values rising apparently in violation of the mandated value freeze. The newer report released had a decline of 4%. I have no strong opinion on whether this is accurate or not but if the world is ending and real estate has 'collapsed' it seems it would warrant a larger than 4% decline. Also, I'm not sure if a lawsuit is the appropriate means to solve a disagreement over property values although the tax assessor should be in compliance with the law.
This illustrates one of the pitfalls of property taxes in general. Historically, property taxes have been universally hated even more so than income taxes. This is partially explained by a lack of transparency. Tax jurisdictions pat themselves on the back for maintaining low rates. However, those jurisdictions often institute 'backdoor taxes' by arbitrarily raising the base value to which those millage rates are applied.
The DeKalb County School System's tax base is almost entirely dependent upon the property taxes collected. The 2010 school budget assumes a 1.7% deline, but it is probably very likely there will be deeper cuts.
Property owners have until June 19 to file an appeal based on their property's assessment. Expect a bottleneck of appeals this summer. In the end, it may not matter since the millage rate doesn't have to be set until June 23.
Maybe Glen Richardson was onto something.
When the original report was released in April the tax assessor had values rising apparently in violation of the mandated value freeze. The newer report released had a decline of 4%. I have no strong opinion on whether this is accurate or not but if the world is ending and real estate has 'collapsed' it seems it would warrant a larger than 4% decline. Also, I'm not sure if a lawsuit is the appropriate means to solve a disagreement over property values although the tax assessor should be in compliance with the law.
This illustrates one of the pitfalls of property taxes in general. Historically, property taxes have been universally hated even more so than income taxes. This is partially explained by a lack of transparency. Tax jurisdictions pat themselves on the back for maintaining low rates. However, those jurisdictions often institute 'backdoor taxes' by arbitrarily raising the base value to which those millage rates are applied.
The DeKalb County School System's tax base is almost entirely dependent upon the property taxes collected. The 2010 school budget assumes a 1.7% deline, but it is probably very likely there will be deeper cuts.
Property owners have until June 19 to file an appeal based on their property's assessment. Expect a bottleneck of appeals this summer. In the end, it may not matter since the millage rate doesn't have to be set until June 23.
Maybe Glen Richardson was onto something.
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