Decatur Board of Education to vote on school millage rate tonight

Decatur's school board will consider a 1½ mill decrease in their millage rate for tax year 2015 (their fiscal year 2016) during their regular meeting tonight.  The school millage rate is significant to all local property taxpayers because the school taxes are about 60 percent of your bill.  Under the proposed school millage rate reduction, the property taxes for a $400,000 home in Decatur would be about $300 lower in 2015 than they were in 2014 assuming the property value had not changed and everything else remained the same.

The Board of Education's agenda for tonight includes the following proposal:

Requested Action

Move approval of the Fiscal Year 2016 millage rate of 19.00 mills.

Background

On an annual basis the City Schools of Decatur adopts a millage rate in support of the subsequent year's operating budget. The Superintendent is recommending the millage rate be reduced from 20.50 mills to 19.00 mills for Fiscal Year 2016. It should be noted that last year the Superintendent recommended and the Board approved a reduction in the millage by 0.40 mills. This recommended millage rate of 19.00 mills, if approved would be a decrease to the millage of 1.90 mills over the last two years. This cumulative reduction of 1.90 mills would equate to a loss of revenue to the District in the amount $3.0 million.

Reminder about property appeal deadline

DeKalb mailed annual assessment notices to most property owners on May 29.  Property owners have 45 days to file an appeal with DeKalb County if they disagree with their value.  For most property owners that means that today, July 13, is the last day to file an appeal of your 2015 property value.  Follow the instructions or call the staff contacts at the phone numbers listed on your assessment notice, or call the DeKalb assessors main number at 404-371-0841 for further guidance.  If you wait until you get your next tax bill, it will be too late to appeal.

E-payments on the rise

Online tax payments to the City of Decatur have increased by about 175 percent since Decatur began accepting electronic checks during the 2nd installment property tax billing of 2014. Decatur previously accepted only credit card payments with a convenience fee charged by a third-party payment processor. From July 2014 through June 2015, the city received 945 web payments (credit card or e-check) for taxes totaling $2 million.  The year before that, the city received 345 web payments for $500,000 in taxes. The city has also experienced a doubling in the number of businesses renewing their license and paying their occupation taxes electronically with over 10 percent of businesses now choosing to pay that way.

Paying online at www.decaturgatax.com has several advantages over sending checks through the mail or using an online bill paying service through a personal bank account.  If you currently pay your taxes online through your personal bank account, we encourage you to consider switching to pay with an e-check directly through our website. At www.decaturgatax.com, you can access a full copy of your tax bill, while most major online banking services do not provide detailed bills. Secondly, using an online bill paying feature through your personal bank account may not allow you to include your property ID and tax year with your payment, which are the two essential pieces of information we need to post your payment to your account in a timely and accurate fashion. (Paying with an e-check through our website automatically provides the city with the property ID and tax year information.) Lastly, the e-check service we use is truly electronic, and no paper checks are generated or printed during the process, but with your online bill pay checks, we actually receive those checks as paper.

Taxpayers should be aware that e-checks, like paper checks, generally take three to five days to clear the bank. It is not an immediate debit like online credit card transactions. Considering the clearing period, e-check payers are encouraged to pay at least five days prior to any formal payment deadline to help prevent any last-minute stress over whether your payment was received on time.

Lowndes County explains 6,000 erroneous tax estimates

The Lowndes County assessors office is explaining an error that caused almost 20 percent of the assessment notices they sent out to show an inaccurate doubling of property tax estimates.  All counties in Georgia have been required to send assessment notices annually since 2012, which include a tax estimate for the year.

From the Albany Herald on June 28:

VALDOSTA (TNS) — The Lowndes County Board of Assessors said it sent out 33,858 Notices of Assessments to Lowndes County property owners earlier this month, and about 6,000 of the notices showed a double billing for residential property owners in Special Lighting Districts. "There was a programming error in our software, and we didn't catch it," said Silas Hrobar, Chief Appraiser for the county, who said the lighting fee was figured twice in the calculation of the estimated property tax amounts.

Special Lighting Districts are those in which the developer and then the residents have agreed to share the cost of street lights in the development.

The Notice of Assessments containing the double billing are only estimates of tax amounts which will be due in November of 2015 for the year. "The duplication error will have no impact on the actual property tax bills which will come out later this year," said Hrobar.

The mistake is unfortunate, and I'm sure it alarmed a lot of residents in the Valdosta area.  But these glitches can occur when dealing with that much data.  The Lowndes County assessors office is currently displaying this message on their website:

City Hall closed tomorrow

City Hall, including the tax office, will be closed tomorrow, July 3, in observance of Independence Day.  If you need tax or business license information online during the holiday weekend, please go to www.decaturgatax.com.  Sanitation schedule information is here.  The fireworks show in downtown Decatur will probably start a little after 9 p.m. on Saturday.  City Hall will reopen on Monday, July 6 at 8 a.m.

Now hiring

Decatur is searching for a new administrative assistant who will alternate duties between the Revenue Division and the city's human resources office.  Major job duties and requirements for the position are outlined here.  Applications are due by this Friday.  The position was approved with the adoption of Decatur's budget for the new fiscal year which begins today.

Georgia Court of Appeals rules against tax sale buyers

Two people who bought multiple properties at tax sales in Newton County appealed and then sued to get a lower assessment on those properties. They argued that the amount they bid at the tax sales should have served as the basis for their assessed value the following year. The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled against the buyers.  The court determined that tax sales doesn't constitute an arm's length, bona fide sale because 1) the original owner has a year to redeem the property, and 2) the original owner is not a party to the sale.

In training sessions and conferences I've attended, officials from the state Department of Revenue always emphasize that fair market value is what a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree to at an arm's length sale. In my opinion, a person losing their property at a tax sale isn't normally "willing" nor a "seller." So this seems like a pretty good decision to me. From the Newton Citizen last week:

COVINGTON — The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling in favor of the Newton County Tax Assessor’s Office, affirming that a tax sale does not qualify as an “arm’s length, bona fide” transaction for the purpose of setting property tax values. 

Newton County Attorney Tommy Craig advised commissioners of the court’s ruling at the June 16 Board of Commissioners meeting. “I promised you we would win this case, and now we have,” he said.

According to the Appeals Court, property owners W.D. Ballard and Nancy Mock had purchased 22 parcels of land in Newton County at tax sales during 2012. In April 2013, the Tax Assessor’s Office sent Ballard and Mock the 2013 tax values of the properties, which did not match the 2012 tax sale purchase prices. Ballard and Mock unsuccessfully appealed to the Newton County Board of Equalization and to Newton County Superior Court, which granted summary judgment to the Board of Equalization. 

Ballard and Mock had argued that under Georgia law the 2013 assessed value should have been frozen at the tax sale value. According to the law, ” … the transaction amount of the most recent arm’s length, bona fide sale in any year shall be the maximum allowable fair market value for the next taxable year.” 

However, the trial court noted that the owner of property sold at a tax sale has a one-year right to redeem the property, which would essentially rescind the tax sale, and that the purchaser in a tax sale does not receive a fee simple title to the property. In addition, the court ruled that since the owner is not a participant in the sale, there is no arm’s length, bona fide sale. The Appeals Court upheld those findings. 

According to the Tax Assessor’s Office, Mock and Ballard purchased the 22 parcels, five of which included a house, between March 2012 and December 2012...

If the court had ruled the other way, it could have opened the door to confusion or discrepancies for properties that are sold in tax sales by a county and by a city during the same year.

Most metro-area governments hold millage rates steady

Several of the largest metro-Atlanta governments and school boards are keeping the same millage rates in 2015 as they had in 2014.  Gwinnett County and its school system, Atlanta Public Schools, Cobb county schools, Cherokee County Schools, and the City of Roswell all appear to be keeping the same property tax rate this year as last year.  However, growth in property values in some of those jurisdictions means that some of them may have advertised property tax increases under state law.

A few jurisdictions in the area are actually proposing millage rate decreases.  Those include the City of Decatur, DeKalb County, and Henry County.  But those millage rate reductions may be offset or cancelled out on tax bills by increases in property values.

The Forsyth County school system is proposing an increase in their millage rate of 1 mill.

Governor vetoes tax credits for insurance companies

After approval by the General Assembly, Gov. Nathan Deal signed almost every tax-related bill that made it to his desk this year.  The main exception was House Bill 439, which would have created up to $55 million in insurance premium tax credits for insurance companies that invest in low-income communities in Georgia.  Deal vetoed HB 439 saying that it "would have too much of an impact on the general fund."  The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute called the proposal "complex," "unaccountable," and a "bad investment" that has worked poorly when tried in other states.  GBPI estimated that the credits would have totaled up to $139 million over the next seven years.

Insurance companies pay annual insurance premium taxes to the state which are partly distributed to cities and counties.  The City of Decatur receives approximately $1 million annually in insurance premium taxes.  Insurance companies also pay occupation taxes directly to Georgia's local governments if they write policies in those jurisdictions.

City offers payment grace period until June 15

Property taxes in Decatur were due June 1. But the City offers a 10-business day grace period during which no penalties or interest apply to late payments. That grace period will end on Monday, June 15.

Property tax payments due today, June 1

Real property tax payments for Decatur's first installment billing for 2015 are due today.  Payment for commercial sanitation services including dumpster and cart service for 2015 is also due no later than June 1.

If you recently made a payment but you don't see that payment reflected on our website, please keep in mind that, even for in-person payments, it may take 7 to 10 business days after your check has cleared before your payment is applied to your account. We honor postmarks, so don’t worry about additional interest accruing if you mailed your payment in on time.