DeKalb County's property assessment notices on the way

By Andrea Arnold

The DeKalb County Tax Assessor’s office will be mailing annual assessment notices to property owners beginning Friday, May 29th.  These notices communicate 2015 property values set by DeKalb County for residential and commercial property.  Based on reports from the DeKalb County Appraiser’s Office, the total value of property within the City of Decatur increased 20% over last year’s total property value.  Thirty percent of the increase is due to new property being added to the tax digest.  The remainder is due to revaluation of existing properties.  This increase is consistent with residential sales data for the City of Decatur as well as increases in property values in other cities within DeKalb County.

The assessment notice will include information on how to appeal the County’s determination of property value.  There are specific deadlines associated with the process so please look for more information about the property appraisal process on the County’s website at www.dekalbcountyga.gov.  We encourage you to review the appeal information and to file an appeal if you believe the value established by the County is not correct.

In response to the increase in property values, the Decatur City Commission is considering a one mill decrease in the millage rate.  The revenue from property taxes supports the City’s budget which funds operations such as sidewalk maintenance and construction, community parks and playgrounds, and police and fire services. The City’s budget for the next year has been presented to the City Commission will be asked to vote on the budget at their meeting on Monday, June 15, 2015.

Public hearings on the millage rate and budget are scheduled for Monday, June 1, 2015 at 7:30 p.m., Monday, June 8, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., and Monday, June 15, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.  All hearings will be held at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street.  The budget is available for review on the City’s website www.decaturga.com/budget, at Decatur City Hall and the Decatur Library.

Homeowner helps explain property taxes

Decatur resident Hans Utz has written a summary over on Decaturish explaining the major factors that determine your property tax bill in town.  Check it out here!

2015 millage rate recommended to City Commission

During last week’s City Commission meeting, Assistant City Manager Andrea Arnold presented a proposed budget and City millage rates for 2015.  The millage rate proposal is for a 1 mill reduction.  This would be the result of a half mill reduction in the general fund millage rate and a half mill decrease in the bond millage rate.

However, the proposed tax rate reduction does not necessarily mean that your property taxes will decrease in 2015 compared to 2014.  There are a few other factors that could affect your bill.  1)  The school system has not recommended a school millage rate yet, which affects for about three-fifths of the tax liability for most Decatur property owners.  2)  Your property value this year could increase based on the determination of the DeKalb County property assessor’s office.  Summary reports from DeKalb indicate 15 percent growth in property values in Decatur due to revaluation, and 5 percent new growth.

The projected digest growth means that total property taxes paid to Decatur for tax year 2015 will exceed taxes collected for tax year 2014.  Due to state law, the City is required to advertise the proposed millage rate reduction as a 5 percent tax increase once the overall digest growth is factored in.  For more information, take a look at the tax rate announcement on the City’s webpage here.

If paying by e-check, please remit by tomorrow

If you are planning to pay your first installment Decatur property tax bill with an electronic check on our website at www.decaturgatax.com, I encourage you to make your payment today or tomorrow. Like paper checks, e-checks can take three to five business days to clear the bank. It's not an immediate debit. With Memorial Day coming up on Monday, that will further lengthen the amount of time it could take for your e-check to clear. Our formal payment deadline this installment is June 1, 2015. Our website allows for e-check payments with zero convenience fees, and for credit card payments with convenience fees. We also continue to accept payments by mail or in-person up through the payment due date. If you have any issues with the website or the e-check option, please call 404-370-4100.

15 days until Tax Day in Decatur

​​June 1 will be tax day in Decatur—the deadline for residents and businesses to pay the first installment of property taxes to the City for 2015.  Although bills were sent out in April, most taxpayers (about 75 percent) will make a payment to the Revenue Division during the last couple weeks of May.  Division staff Tanya Sims, Shaun Shabazz, Gina Amos, and Russ Madison are ready to welcome you to City Hall!

Tax credit cap raised for historic restorations

Gov. Deal signed House Bill 308 on Tuesday, which raises a $300,000 tax credit cap for historic rehabilitation projects up to $5 to $10 million.  The increase is less than what some advocates had originally proposed in an earlier version of the bill which would have increased the cap to $60 million.  Officials, particularly in the Savannah area, see the increase as a powerful economic development tool.  WSAV reports:

Last but Not Least; Historic Property Tax Credit Law to Give Big Bucks for Restorations

SAVANNAH, GA - It was the last bill to meet the Governor's pen on Decision Day but the historic income tax credit bill is now law and has one Savannah representative excited.

Millions of dollars in tax credits can now go towards restoring some of the largest historical properties in the state of Georgia.

"All this bill is trying to do is bring the developers to ground zero so that the significant cost of renovating these projects, getting an investor to come to the table and put the kind of money it's going to take and capital to get this where it needs to be," says local state representative Ron Stephens who sponsored and wrote the bill.

Locally, historic groups see only growth of big projects coming to Savannah with this new law.

"Now we're gonna have a mechanism to entice, incentivize investors, property owners, buyers to get involved in this get developers engaged in preservation," says Historic Savannah Foundation President Daniel Carey who's non profit helped lobby heavily for the bill.

The governor signed the bill into law Tuesday. It removes the old 300,000 dollar tax credit cap for individual historic structure restorations to upwards of 5 to 10 million dollars or a quarter of the aggregate renovation costs.

These caps Carey says move the state in a right direction to compete with neighboring states in the South.

"We were losing business and we were losing revenue, we were losing preservation projects to those surrounding states so now we have a competitive advantage," Carey says.

In the case of Savannah, it can have a huge impact on the restoration and development of the more than 200 million dollar hotel project slated for the West River Street Georgia Power Plant. Now the Kessler Collection restoring the space could see close to 25 million dollars in aggregate credits over a year for the development...

2 other property tax measures signed into law

In addition to House Bill 202 that modified some procedures for appealing property tax assessments, Gov. Nathan Deal signed two other pieces of legislation last week that affect property taxpayers.  First, HB 215 provides for a referendum on an “equalized HOST” that would increase sales taxes and provide some property tax relief to DeKalb homeowners.  Second, HB 234 provides that no tax payment deadline shall fall on a Federal Reserve bank holiday.  That law doesn’t have much of a practical effect since there are very few Federal Reserve holidays that aren’t already federal or state holidays, and the ones that are don’t fall on any of Decatur's tax due dates.

Governor signs property value appeal bill

Last week Gov. Nathan Deal has signed House Bill 202, a comprehensive local taxation law that modifies some appeals procedures for property taxpayers.  The new law allows taxpayers to request a “description of the methodology used by the board of tax assessors in setting the property's fair market value” after receiving their annual assessment notice.  The act also allows a taxpayer to use a privately commissioned property appraisal in support of a pending appeal.  HB 202 also provides an option to taxpayers to meet with somebody from the tax assessment office to discuss their property value within 30 days of a written request.  The law also amplifies on existing board of equalization, arbitration, and superior court appeals procedures.

Homestead relief proposals in hindsight

Decatur wasn’t the only city to watch its proposals to expand homestead exemptions die in the state House of Representatives this past session. A bill to exempt Atlanta homeowners over the age of 70 from school taxes was defeated a couple days before the session ended. Goes to show that tax relief proposals aren’t always the lead-pipe cinch we thought they were.

Here was the AJC’s report on the Atlanta bill:

A bid to exempt Atlanta seniors from school taxes fails again 

The Georgia House rejected a measure Tuesday that would let Atlanta voters decide whether to exempt many seniors from paying Atlanta Public Schools taxes amid opposition from critics who worry it would undercut the system’s budget. State Rep. Beth Beskin, a Buckhead Republican, said House Bill 633 would help convince older and more affluent residents from bolting to neighboring counties like Cobb and DeKalb that already offer more generous tax exemptions. 

“There’s a reason seniors aren’t moving to the city of Atlanta and they’re not staying here,” said Beskin, a freshman lawmaker. “I know many people, and I’m sure you do too, who move to adjoining counties because the tax burden is onerous.” 

Atlanta already has an exemption for seniors ages 65 and older who earn $25,000 or less annually. Beskin’s bill would broaden the exemption to all seniors once they turn 70. The measure was approved by Atlanta’s local delegation but failed earlier this session in the House. Atlanta schools officials worry the bill would undermine the system’s fiscal health at a tumultuous time, and it failed to earn two-thirds support amid scattered bipartisan opposition. 

But not all property tax relief bills died this year. DeKalb County’s equalized HOST and property value freeze extensions passed the House and Senate. The legislature also passed a homestead exemption measure for the City of Rutledge in Morgan County that is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Entertainment tax credit extended 3 years

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed House Bill 339 which extends the state income tax credit for film, video, and digital production until 2019. The credit had been scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2016.

Decatur has become a popular location for film shoots.  But the credit also has beneficial economic development impacts statewide.  WALB reports that the film and production tax credit is “widely credited with turning Georgia into one of the top production locations in the country and making movies a 5 billion dollar a year industry here.”

The entertainment tax credit had been deemed so successful that some in the industry were pushing for an expansion of the Georgia credit during this legislative session rather than just an extension. However, legislators have been taking a more critical view lately about the number of tax credits currently offered in the Revenue code.