Lowndes County to begin appointing assessors

In most of Georgia, property tax assessors are appointed to their positions. In Lowndes County, this has been an elected position. That will change now that voters have approved the appointment of assessors going forward. The stated reason for the change is that elected assessors don't always have the training and expertise to carry out their duties. From the Dalton Citizen:

Assessor referendum passes

By John Stephen

VALDOSTA, Ga. — The Lowndes County special ballot asking if tax assessors should be appointed narrowly passed 50.27 to 49.73 percent, according to the county’s board of elections.

Results show 18,293 people voted for tax assessors to be appointed by county commissioners, and 18,095 people voted for tax assessors to continue being elected by the public — a difference of only 198 votes.

While all votes from local precincts were counted after Election Day on Nov. 8, up to 2,000 provisional, absentee and military ballots still needed to be counted. Until those remaining votes were tallied at the elections office on Tuesday, Nov. 15, the race was too close to call.

Currently, Lowndes County tax assessors are elected by the public. In every other county in Georgia, tax assessors are appointed by the county commissioners.

The ballot asked if the state should repeal the constitutional amendment that mandates Lowndes County tax assessors be elected. Now that the repeal has passed, tax assessors will be appointed by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners starting in 2021.

The county commissioners pioneered the ballot question after discussing the change for several years. Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Slaughter said while the current tax assessors have good intentions, he questioned whether they have the managerial skills necessary to oversee the large tax assessor’s office...

Fulton County chief tax appraiser fired

The chief tax appraiser of Fulton County was fired last month. David Fitzgibbon was blamed for miscalculations that led to a delay in Fulton County's property tax billing. Note that it was the board of assessors, not the tax commissioner nor county commission, that had authority over this matter. From 11 Alive:

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. -- Fulton County's chief tax appraiser has been fired after a miscalculation in property taxes delayed bills from going out by nearly two months. 

Late Thursday, the Tax Assessor's Board voted to terminate David Fitzgibbon's employment after a two-hour meeting. As chief tax appraiser, Fitzgibbon is responsible for setting the county's tax rates and sending out tax bills. He failed at both this year, 11Alive Investigator Catie Beck has uncovered.

A county vendor provided wrong numbers and delayed bills from going out in July to being sent in September. County board members blamed Fitzgibbon's office for not finding the problem sooner and for stalling operating budgets across the county. 

Several members of the county board called for increased accountability for the commissioner after the debacle caused confusion and distraction within several municipalities. 

Fitzgibbon has taken no responsibility for the mistake and claims the board was acting under political pressure from county commissioners. 

"It was the software vendor -- the software vendor's contract is with the IT department and the tax commissioner," he said. "The issues were on the tax commissioner's side and not the assessor's side." 

The tax commissioner of Fulton County is Arthur Ferdinand.

Court clerk explains new appeals process

Rockdale County clerk of courts Ruth Wilson recently wrote a piece in the Newton Citizen describing the practical implications of House Bill 202 on property appeals.  The way she explains it is a bit clearer than the law itself!  Take a look:

Georgia legislators this year amended laws governing procedures for appealing county tax assessments on real and personal property. The changes took effect July 1.

In 2011, the clerk of Superior Court was mandated by law to provide oversight, administration and administrative assistance to the county Board of Equalization (BOE). This year, those provisions were amended, designating the clerk of Superior Court as the “appeal administrator” for the BOE and requiring the clerk to provide administrative and clerical services necessary for taxpayers to appeal decisions of the Board of Tax Assessors (BOA) affecting taxation of real and personal property...

Upon receiving the taxpayer’s notice of appeal, the BOA reviews its preliminary assessment to determine whether a correction or amendment is merited. If changes or corrections are made, the board sends a notice to the taxpayer and, if the taxpayer concurs, the appeal is dismissed and the new assessed value used for taxation purposes. Taxpayers who disagree with any changes made are required to notify the BOA within 30 days of the date the notice of change was mailed.

The BOA then has up to 90 days from the date of receipt of the taxpayer’s notice of appeal to review it and notify the taxpayer of any corrections or changes. The property valuation asserted by the taxpayer on a property-tax return or notice of appeal becomes the assessed fair-market value of the property for the tax year under appeal if the BOA fails to respond within this period. If no valuation was submitted by the taxpayer, the appeal proceeds to the BOE, which requires the BOA to forward the notice of appeal to the appeal administrator (i.e., the clerk of Superior Court) for scheduling on the BOE hearing calendar.

Within 15 days after receipt of the notice of appeal, the appeal administrator sets a date for a hearing within 30 days of the date of notification — but not earlier than 20 days — and notifies the taxpayer and BOA of the date and time for the hearing. If more than one property is under appeal, the BOE is required to consolidate the appeals in one hearing upon the request of the taxpayer. 

Alternatively, the taxpayer may appeal some assessments or issues to an arbitrator or a hearing officer (for non-homestead real property with a fair-market value in excess of $750,000 and any contiguous non-homestead real property owned by the same taxpayer or for one or more wireless properties with a value of more than $750,000). 

The process is much like a civil court hearing. The taxpayer and assessors’ board staff are required to present evidence relating to the issue on appeal, i.e., taxability, uniformity of assessment, value or denial of homestead exemption. The taxpayer has the option of presenting evidence first or waiting until assessors’ board staff concludes its presentation. Each party is typically allowed 10 minutes to present its case. The standard used for deciding issues is a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning that the party with the most convincing evidence prevails. The assessors’ board has the burden of proof for issues involving taxability but, with respect to an issue over tax exemption, the taxpayer has the burden. Either party has the right to respond to the other party’s evidence on any issue and to cross-examine all witnesses...

In Decatur, all values are determined and all appeals are handled by DeKalb County.