Fulton County promising sweeping changes to tax assessment process

In October, the State Department of Revenue rejected the county's 2017 tax digest, citing multiple compliance issues and questioning whether commissioners had the authority over the summer to revert to 2016 property values after outcry from property owners, some of whom saw more than 100% increases year to year.

The county was forced to ask a judge to issue a temporary collection order in November that allowed for a delayed collection.

By then, Atlanta Public Schools had been forced to issue furloughs for some employees and other government entities were threatening to dip into reserves just to pay the bills.

“I think we’ve got a very well laid-out plan,” Fulton County vice chairman, Bob Ellis, said.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Yellow River Game Ranch closes in Gwinnett County
• IKEA is coming to Cobb County
• Police: Man killed at motel may have seen something he shouldn't have

The plan promises improved accuracy of property valuations, deeper analysis of any property that sees an increase over 20%, and an improved web site on which property owners can file appeals and input information.

It also calls for sending tax assessment notices by Tuesday, May 15, with billing dates over the summer of 2018.

“The public is going to have to understand and buy into what we’re doing and believe what we’re doing,” said newly elected Commission Chairman Robb Pitts.

Officials warned that property values that didn’t go up this year will more than likely increase this year as the county comes into compliance with valuing properties within 90%-110% of fair market value.

Commissioner Emma Darnell asked pointed questions of chief assessor, Dwight Robinson after the plan’s presentation.

“The connection between the deficiency and the strategy is what I want to take to my district,” she said. “Do you know what the problem was and are you taking steps to deal with it?”

Tax commissioner Arthur Ferdinand said he expects to have all the county’s taxes collected by June 30, 2018, despite the unexpected delay.

"We had to simulate a situation where you can get our collection curve back on track," Ferdinand told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik. "We had to take people from all of our locations to process tax bills to upload in the system so money could become available earlier."

Ferdinand told commissioners he’s collected more than 52% of taxes so far, and was able to provide Fulton County School District enough funds to issue employee paychecks Dec. 22, instead of after Christmas as had been previously feared.

He said his message to taxpayers was one of urgency.

“I simply told them we had a very difficult situation and that at least the Fulton County part should be paid because the school board is involved and kids are involved and things like that,” he said.

Not everyone is happy with the proposal that went before commissioners.

Board of Assessors member, R.J. Morris, told Petchenik he and his colleagues were not looped into the discussion.

“I fully believe this is a dog and pony show,” he said. “I believe this should have been scrutinized by the board and that everything in this presentation should have been approved by us 100% before it was given to the board of commissioners.”

Morris said he’s specifically concerned about the timeline for allowing his board to sign off on values before assessments are issued.

“The values over the last 10 years have been approved on the very day that they’re given to the board members and if they don’t approve them, they’re threatened saying you will push back the tax bills and hurt the county,” he said.

Morris said he fully expects angry property owners in 2018 and claims, unless lawmakers put caps on the increases allowed, the problem will persist.

“The values in Atlanta are skyrocketing,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about that and the people need to know that ahead of time.”