5 days until key tax deadline passes

Although property tax payments were due in Decatur on June 2, the City has offered a grace period until June 16 during which no penalties or interest will be applied to unpaid accounts. That grace period expires on Monday.

A 10 percent penalty and 1 percent interest per month will be applied to amounts that remain unpaid after June 16.

Over the last few years we’ve observed that about 80 percent of taxes are paid by the initial deadline in early June, with another 15 percent of property owners taking advantage of the two-week grace period.

City shares tax info during annexation meeting

City staff [from left, Andrea Arnold, Russ Madison, and Shaun Shabazz] discuss taxes and homestead exemptions with Parkwood resident during recent Q&A session

School and City staff from all departments including Administrative Services and the Revenue Division discussed property taxes and homestead exemptions with residents from Parkwood neighborhood during a Jun. 5 meeting at City Hall.

Although Parkwood’s annexation will become effective July 1, 2014, residents in the area will receive their normal tax bill in the fall from DeKalb County and no tax bill from Decatur in 2014.  Property taxes are always based on the status of the property as of January 1, and as of that date the homes were still in unincorporated DeKalb.

Parkwood residents will receive their first tax bill from Decatur in April 2015 during our 1^st installment 2015 billing.  We do not send individual bills to mortgage companies, so property owners should forward the bills to their lenders if paying taxes out of escrow.

I prepared a table showing how taxes may look over the next 18 months for these homeowners based on a few different property values in the neighborhood.  These estimates assume current millage rates, fees, steady property values, and a basic homestead exemption with the City and County.

100% County value	DeKalb 2014 bill	Decatur 1st install 2015 bill	Decatur 2nd install 2015 bill	DeKalb 2015 bill
$230,000	$3,000	$2,145	$1,835	$350
$350,000	$4,580	$3,160	$2,855	$550
$450,800	$5,890	$4,015	$3,705	$725

For a more precise estimate, tax calculators are available on this blog and at www.decaturga.com under “What’s New,” then “Annexation.”

Homestead exemptions are applied for separately with the County and the City.  Exemptions only have to be applied for once, and they renew automatically as long as there are no changes in ownership.  The Parkwood residents should apply for their exemption with the City prior to Mar. 15. 2015.  Our office will send a letter to the neighborhood explaining how Decatur’s exemptions work.

The last item that these new residents may need to know from our office is that any individuals with a home-based business would need to obtain a business license from the City pro-rated this year for $110, and $195 annually after that.

Quick note about DeKalb’s assessment notices

The assessment notices that DeKalb County recently sent to property owners say “City Exemptions May Not be Included in this Estimate” at the bottom of the notice. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have a homestead exemption with the City of Decatur. What it means is that DeKalb does not factor in what City exemptions you have when preparing the estimate.

If you’re not sure whether you have your homestead exemption with the City, you can look at your 2014 1st installment tax bill. If you have the basic homestead exemption, your savings from that exemption will be printed just above the tear-off line of the remittance coupon. Also, look at the exemptions column of your tax bill. You have the basic homestead exemption if a figure of $20,000 appears in the exemptions column on three rows of your bill. If you have all zeroes in the exemptions column, you do not have the basic homestead exemption.

You can also call our office at 404-370-4100 to confirm what exemptions you have.

Property tax payment deadline today

Property tax payments for Decatur's first installment of 2014 are due today. We honor postmarks, so as long as you get your payment in the mail today, no penalties or interest will apply. Payments are also accepted by credit card online with a convenience fee charged by our third party payment processor.

Commercial sanitation payments are also due today in order to maintain service.

New law takes aim at tax digests with big appeals

On Tuesday, Gov. Deal signed House Bill 755, a piece of legislation labeled somewhat misleadingly as a forest land market value bill.

HB 755 addresses several issues beyond forest land, including property values and taxation of all real property in Georgia. The law: 1) specifies what portion of taxes are due in cases of pending superior court litigation, 2) prohibits the approval of county tax digests by the commissioner of the state Department of Revenue when more than 5 percent of the assessed value in the digest is under appeal or arbitration, and 3) makes revisions to refunds and interest schedules in cases of over- and under-payment due to settled appeals.

The provision on digest approval essentially revives language (which had a lower threshold amount of 3 percent) that was purged from state law in 2010.

The governor also signed HB 954 on Tuesday which affects a narrower range of values for properties with rent controls or that are eligible for income tax credits.

Legislative update on property tax assessments

Of the half dozen bills affecting property taxes that were still being considered by the Georgia General Assembly during the final days of its 2014 legislative session, only one bill ended up passing both chambers.

House Bill 954 adds some criteria to the calculation of fair market value by tax assessors; specifically, "Rent limitations, operational requirements, and any other restrictions imposed upon the property in connection with the property being eligible for any income tax credits" would be factored into assessments going forward.

The legislation would probably only affect the assessment of certain multi-family dwellings such as rent-controlled or government-subsidized housing units.  The original House bill was slightly amended by the state Senate before final passage to clarify that such property shall not be considered as comparable for assessments and appeals.  (My interpretation of that amendment is that, for example, the owner of a non-rent controlled apartment complex can't use the value of a rent-controlled apartment complex as a comparable property to justify an appeal.)

The bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Deal before it becomes law.  Even if he approves it, I would expect little if any change to Decatur's total tax digest value from this extremely narrow measure.

Decatur property tax bills online

Decatur's property tax bills for the first installment of 2014 are now online at www.decaturgatax.com. We mailed paper bills last week. If you did not receive your bill in the mail, you can access it online, or call us at 404-370-4100 for us to resend your bill.

Payments can also be made online with a convenience fee equalling 30 cents plus 2.2 percent of the total charges. Payments are processed by PayPal, but you do not have to have a PayPal account to pay online. PayPal will give you the option to select "Don’t have a PayPal account?"  Then you can enter your information and pay by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express. 

Property tax records in Decatur are available online going back to 2009.

If you prefer to mail in your payment, please use the return envelope we enclosed with your bill and include the tear-off remittance coupon with your check. Or just stop by City Hall--we'd like to see you!

Special hours at City Hall--Saturday, March 15

The City of Decatur Revenue Division and the City Manager’s Office will be open today (Saturday), March 15, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., to serve community members who are unable to stop by during the regular workweek. If you want to apply for a homestead exemption, pay a bill, handle a business license matter, or have other needs that could be met by these offices during this time, come to City Hall, 509 N. McDonough St., or call 404-370-4100.

Property tax proposals to watch before the General Assembly adjourns

Dozens of property tax, sales tax, and motor vehicle tax proposals were introduced in the Georgia General Assembly during this legislative session. Only a few have survived as we near the last final days of the legislative session. These property tax and delinquent collections bills have been passed by at least one chamber of the General Assembly already, and will become law if approved by the other chamber over the next week and signed by the governor afterward. Several of the measures are intended to provide more fairness to taxpayers, but there’s not an overall theme to the legislation. Unlike tax proposals during the last couple legislative sessions, most of these bills are pretty narrow in scope. A brief description of each bill follows along with my own thoughts on how these may affect Decatur.

HB 69—Allows for the collection of homeowner, condominium owner, or other property owner association dues in the redemption price after a tax sale.
What this means is that if Decatur (or any other city or county) sells a property during a tax sale, the original owner still has a year to pay to redeem the property from the tax sale purchaser, but would now also be required to pay off any dues paid toward the property between the tax sale and the redemption date as part of the total redemption amount.

HB 412—Authorizes tax officials to provide electronic billing for property tax bills and delinquent notices and adds certain e-billing standards.
Some county tax commissioners in Georgia, such as Walker County, are already providing taxpayers the ability to “go paperless.” This bill puts certain standards in place for tax e-billing, including putting the words “STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE” in the subject line of emails. As Decatur considers launching e-billing during FY14-15, we would need to adhere to this standard if approved.

HB 819—Requires tax officials to carry out further due diligence steps to contact a delinquent taxpayer prior to transferring a tax execution (lien).
Before a tax execution could be transferred, the tax official must conduct a due diligence search using phone directories or Internet databases to identify the property owner’s most current contact information. The City of Decatur does not sell or transfer liens like Fulton County does, so this bill would have little impact here. Nevertheless, more thorough due diligence searches are in the interests of everybody, because it ultimately helps reduce the number of severely delinquent accounts.

HB 954—Adds some criteria to the calculation of fair market value by tax assessors such as whether the property is rent controlled or otherwise eligible for income tax credits.
This could have some affect on DeKalb’s assessments of certain multi-family housing units.

SB 293—Creates a misdemeanor charge and $1,000 fine against anybody at the board of tax assessors who fails to provide certain information requested by taxpayers regarding their assessment. The bill also expands the definition of distressed properties that could further reduce assessed property values in their vicinity.
This is the first bill I’m aware of that would impose individual fines and penalties on tax assessors. The intent is probably to assist taxpayers during the appeal process. Decatur does not assess property values but this legislation would affect the DeKalb assessors and local taxpayers seeking information from them.

SR 783—Provides for a referendum to amend the state constitution to stop the state from levying any property taxes.
The state portion of your property tax bill has undergone a gradual, legislative decrease since 2010 and will no longer be levied at all by 2016. This resolution would make the phase-out moot by prohibiting state property taxes in the constitution. This would not affect your city tax bill either way, because the state always collected its portion with the county billing. You would see a slight decrease (a few dollars) in your county bill either way since the state portion has already been phased out.

HB 390 pertains to sales taxes in DeKalb County for transportation projects.

HB 69, 412, 819, and 954 passed unanimously or near unanimously in the House, while SB 293, SR 783, and HB 390 each have opposition.

Now is a good time to apply for 2014 homestead exemptions

If you need to file for a new homestead exemption in Decatur for 2014, this is the perfect time of year. Filing within the next month will help ensure that your exemption appears on your 1st installment tax bill which will be mailed out April 1.

If you previously applied for a homestead exemption with the City of Decatur, you do not need to re-apply with us. If you filed for an exemption with DeKalb, you must also apply with Decatur. If you only applied with Decatur, you should also apply with DeKalb.  You must also apply if you qualify for a new exemption based on age or income. Further information on local homestead exemptions can be found at www.decaturga.com/homestead.

Eligible residents can apply for the basic homestead exemption on our website here. For exemptions based on age or income, please come to City Hall at 509 North McDonough Street.

Income tax help at Decatur Recreation Center

If you’re a senior and need help with your income taxes, AARP is offering sessions twice a week at the Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore Street, between now and April 11.

From BeActiveDecatur.com:

Tax Help! AARP* Tax Aide counselors will be on hand at the Recreation Center to offer free assistance to seniors with federal income tax returns every Wednesday and Friday from 10am-2pm starting February 5 through Tax Day. So bring your materials, sign in with the counselor, and take a few laps around the indoor walking track while you wait.

*(AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free, individualized tax preparation for low-to moderate-income taxpayers nationwide – especially those 60 and older.)

If you pay local property taxes and itemize deductions on your federal income tax return, you'll want to bring records of what you paid in property taxes to the Tax Aide counselors. You can access your property tax receipts at www.decaturgatax.com.

The DeKalb Library system has information about additional AARP tax sites in the area, and VITA tax assistance which is available to all taxpayers, not just senior citizens here.