State puts stop to Irwin County tax increase

The Georgia Department of Revenue is very serious about the requirements for advertising adoption of local tax rates annually.  Although Irwin County advertised a tax increase, and the Irwin County board of commissioners approved the increase, it was determined that the advertisement was flawed.  Now, rather than moving forward with its planned increase, Irwin will maintain its millage rate from last year.  From WALB:

IRWIN CO., GA (WALB) - Irwin County commissioners approved a property tax increase several weeks ago, but it will not go into effect. Officials said an error in the way they told the public about the change caused their tax digest to be rejected by the state. 

The saying goes that taxes are one of the only certain things in life..

And, an Irwin County millage rate increase of 1.25 seemed locked in when commissioners approved it several weeks ago.  But on Monday, the county got word that the increase in its tax digest would not go into effect.

"We sent in our digest and due to our advertisement of the intention of going up on taxes was worded wrong. So, the Department of Revenue did reject our digest," said Commission Chairman Joey Whitley. Whitley said the county did put out ads and held several public hearings on the proposed increase, but ultimately didn't meet the full requirements needed to tell the public about the change. "In the new format the Department of Revenue has, you have to explain what it would cost for say a $100,000 house, what the actually tax increase was and that was not in our ads," said Whitley. And in response to the rejection of its digest, Whitley said the county commission agreed to keep the millage rate where it currently stands at 12.375.

The group could meet a September first deadline to submit its tax policies for the year. But, Whitley said the rejection of the property tax increase also means the county government may need to make cuts to offset the lack of revenue...

DeKalb sets millage rates

DeKalb County approved its mid-year budget adjustments and millage rates during their July 19 meeting. The millage rates include tax levies for both unincorporated DeKalb County and rates specific to city residents for county property tax billing purposes. The millage rate for county tax bills on properties within Decatur’s city limits is described in DeKalb’s levying resolution as follows:

A Tax of $10.715 per every $1,000.00 of assessed valuation is levied on all taxable property within the corporate limits of Decatur in said County, for General County Purposes to pay expenses of administration of County Government, build and repair public buildings and bridges, and pay expenses of Courts, Sheriffs, litigation and support of prisoners, pursuant to Article IX, Section IV, Paragraph I of the Constitution of the State of Georgia (9.240); to provide for the expenditures designated in the contract with the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority and the DeKalb Hospital Authority (0.740); and to pay expenses of County nonbasic police protection (0.207), and street and road maintenance of curbs, sidewalks, streetlights, and devices to control the flow of traffic on streets and roads, or any combination thereof (0.528), pursuant to the DeKalb County Special Services Tax Districts Act, Ga. L. 1982, p. 4396, as amended. 

The county millage rate on Decatur properties of 10.715 is lower than in 2015, when it was 11.92 mills. Decatur sets its own millage rates for the purposes of city property tax billing separate from the county.

Decatur finalizes millage rates for 2016

During their Monday night meeting, the Decatur City Commission adopted the school millage rate approved earlier by the Decatur Board of Education.  The school millage rate of 18.66 is the same as it was last year.  The City approved its own millage rates in June.  The combined millage rate for 2016 is 31.83 mills as shown in the table below.

Fund	Millage
General Fund	9.3
Capital	1
DDA	0.38
Bond	0.92
School Bond	1.57
School	18.66
Total	31.83

The combined millage rate during the 1st installment billing was 32.23 mills.  The millage rate for 2015 was 30.66 and did not include a school bond charge.

School superintendent recommends steady millage rate

The superintendent and staff of the City Schools of Decatur have made a recommendation to the board of education to maintain the school system's property tax rate of 18.66 mills.  A copy of the presentation appears below, which includes a chart showing changes in the school millage rate over the past 15 years on slide 5.

Taken together with the City's reduction in its general millage rate for operations, the total millage rate for Decatur taxpayers is decreasing for 2016; however, rising property values in 2016 will cause many bills to be higher than in 2015.

Metro jurisdictions consider decreases or no changes to tax rates

Most of the major jurisdictions in metro Atlanta have adopted or are considering to adopt millage rates that are either the same or slightly lower in 2016 compared to 2015:

Atlanta:  Net decrease
Cobb Board of Education:  Increase
Cobb County:  Decrease
Decatur: Decrease
Decatur Board of Education: No change
DeKalb Board of Education:  No change
DeKalb County:  Decrease
Fulton Board of Education:  No change
Gwinnett Board of Education:  No change
Gwinnett County:  Decrease
Marietta:  Decrease
Marietta Board of Education:  No change

Most of the proposed decreases in millage rates will be offset because property values are on the rise throughout the area.  However, Gwinnett County is considering a decrease in the millage rate large enough to offset their rising values.

Overall, city and county governments appear likelier to approve a millage rate decrease this year, while the school systems intend to keep their millage rates steady.  One exception is the Cobb County board of education, which is considering an increase.

Decatur adopts millage rate for 2016

The City Commission approved millage rates for 2016 during its meeting Monday night. The general fund millage rate is decreasing from 9.7 mills in 2015 to 9.3 mills in 2016. The other millage rates for city taxes are the same as they were for the 1st installment property tax billing of 2016.  The rates are shown below:

General fund (operations):  9.3 mills
Capital improvements:  1.0 mills
Downtown Development Authority:  0.38 mills
Bond service:  0.92 mills
Bond (school) service:  1.57 mills

Although the general fund millage rate is decreasing, a tax increase was advertised under the requirements of Georgia law because rising assessments are projected to offset the lower tax rate. The city property tax bill (for a property that didn’t change in value since last year) would decrease by about $40 per $100,000 in assessed value because of the lower rate. For example, the bill for a property assessed at $200,000 ($400,000 fair market value) would decrease by $80 if there were no change in value since last year.

The school millage rate remains to be determined by the school board. Last year the school rate was 18.66 mills.

Decreased millage rate proposed

Decatur’s City Commission is considering a reduction of its property tax millage rate for city operations. Overall tax revenues are expected to increase because of rising property values, but the millage rate would decline. The following explanation is included in the proposed budget for Decatur’s upcoming fiscal year: 

Millage Rates and Potential Increased Homestead Exemptions 

Because of the [projected 7.5 percent] increase in the real estate property digest, it is recommended that the General Fund Millage be reduced from 9.70 mills to 9.30 mills. Lowering the millage will result in a $100 reduction in City of Decatur property taxes for a property valued at $500,000. In addition, as part of the November 8, 2016 election, Decatur voters will be able to consider various homestead exemption increases that will apply to the General Fund, Capital Improvement Fund and the DDA Fund. All approved exemption increases will be reflected in the first installment billing in April, 2017. The 2016-2017 Proposed Budgets were developed assuming that all of the exemptions will be approved. The estimated reduction in general fund real property taxes is $310,000 for fiscal year 2016-2017 and $620,000 for fiscal year 2017-2018. An owner occupied property that qualifies for all of the additional exemptions could see a $135 reduction in the first installment tax billing in early 2017.

Due to capital needs, it is recommended that the Capital Improvement Fund Millage remain at 1 mill and due to resident, business and visitor requests for increased community engagement activities, aesthetics, and business development, it is recommended that the DDA Fund Millage remain at .38 mills. The debt service millage for the 2007 general obligation bond s remains at .92 mills and the 2015 debt service millage for school system capital improvements remain at 1.57 mills. 

A general fund tax rate of 9.3 mills would be the lowest it has been since tax year 2000. If approved, the new rates would take effect July 1, and would be factored into city property tax bills on October 20, 2016.

New “township” tax rates would be capped at half a mill

State lawmakers are proposing an additional form of local government in Georgia: towns. Townships would have limited powers and limited tax rates. Specifically, the ad valorem millage rate would be capped at no more than 0.5 mills. Town supervisors (which is what the legislation calls them) would need to keep a pretty sharp eye on their property tax digests under this proposal, particularly if a new town started out at the 0.5 mill maximum. Any significant downturn in property values could not be offset by increasing the millage rate beyond the cap. As far as I can tell, towns would be subject to the same balanced budget requirements that cities, counties, and the state face.

The breakdown of a tax dollar for LaVista Hills properties

The City of Decatur often provides residents with information about how the average tax dollar is allocated (ie, how much goes to the schools versus government operations). I thought it might be helpful to provide prospective residents of LaVista Hills with a rough estimate along the same lines if their cityhood initiative is approved in the Nov. 3 referendum.

Currently, the combined county millage rate for unincorporated property owners in DeKalb is 44.54 mills. Of that total, 47 percent of tax dollars for non-homesteaded property goes to DeKalb County, and 53 percent goes toward DeKalb schools. The breakdown would vary for properties with homestead exemptions.

If cityhood is approved, homeowners in LaVista Hills would continue receiving property tax bills from the DeKalb County tax commissioner, but the allocation would change. Instead of reflecting taxes based on millage rates for unincorporated DeKalb, the homeowners would receive bills based on adjusted millage rates for county services and a separate millage rate for LaVista Hills. The tax bills would continue including county charges for general operations, hospitals (Grady), county bonds, fire service, debt service for unincorporated bonds that predate cityhood, and for DeKalb County schools.

If cityhood had already been in effect for 2015, we could assume an adjusted current year combined county-school-city millage rate of 43.4 mills. This would be based on the combined 44.54 mills minus 4.69 mills for county police service which LaVista Hills would take over themselves, minus 1.45 mills for special county services which the city would take over, plus 5 mills for operations of the new city as stipulated by the proposed charter for LaVista Hills. The adjusted breakdown of a non-homesteaded property owner’s tax dollar under that scenario would be 33.8 percent going to DeKalb, 54.7 percent going to DeKalb schools, and 11.5 percent going toward the new city.

In other words, unlike Decatur where the bulk of a net tax dollar is allocated to the city and city schools, LaVista Hills property owners would continue paying the bulk of their property taxes to DeKalb and its school system. However, those figures would be subject to change pending actual future year millage rates, homestead exemptions and HOST credits, and would vary by individual tax bill.

DeKalb adopts millage rates for city property owners

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved a millage rate decrease for unincorporated DeKalb County for 2015 during its meeting on Tuesday. It is the first countywide millage decrease since 2004. The commissioners also levied millage rate increases for all city-dwelling county taxpayers.

The levy includes a tax rate increase of 2.34 mills for Decatur property owners. This is totally separate from the property taxes that are billed and collected by the City of Decatur for city and school operations. The DeKalb millage rate for Decatur only affects the bills that will be sent out by the DeKalb County tax commissioner next month. The county taxes help fund services that are provided only by the county such as sheriff’s services.

The county millage rate increase for city taxpayers is offset somewhat by a half-mill decrease in the state millage rate for 2015 which is collected through county property tax bills. Factored together, I would estimate that DeKalb County taxes for a property without a basic homestead exemption valued at $400,000 within Decatur’s city limits would be about $360 higher than DeKalb County property taxes for a property in the same location with the same value in 2014. I am not sure how much the county taxes for a city property with the basic homestead exemption would go up because I’m not sure about the value of this year’s HOST credit yet.

As I noted earlier this week, the combined millage rate set by the City of Decatur and the City Schools of Decatur has been lowered from 33.5 mills in 2014 to 30.66 mills in 2015. Taxes for a property valued at $400,000 with no assessment change would go down by about $560 compared to last year. So once the DeKalb property tax bill increase is factored in, the total property tax liability (city, school, county, and state) for a property with an unchanged $400,000 value would be about $200 lower than last year. But again, individual circumstances will vary due to property values, and exemptions.

The millage rates for DeKalb taxes for city property owners are illustrated by this chart that was included in Chief Executive Officer Lee May’s 2015 midyear budget and millage rate proposal:

Decatur’s combined millage rate OK’d for 2015

The City Commission adopted the millage rate for the school fund last night based on the rate the school board approved last week. Coupled with the June approval by the City of a one mill rate reduction for 2015, the combined property tax millage rate for the City of Decatur and the City Schools of Decatur will be 30.66 mills. In 2014 the combined tax rate was 33.5 mills. The final combined rate reflects an 8 percent rate decrease since last year.

Tax savings or increases will vary based on property values. Here are some sample projections comparing Decatur property taxes for this year and last year for properties with and without the basic homestead exemption.  These are estimates for a full year and exclude fees for stormwater and sanitation which average $315 per home per year.  Any payments made during our first installment billing of 2015 are treated as credits against the total amount owed for the year.

School board approves a rate cut of 1.84 mills

The Decatur board of education approved a 2015 property tax rate of 18.66 mills last week.  The rate is 1.84 mills lower than it was in 2014 (a 9 percent year-over-year decrease), and it is 0.34 mills lower than what the school system's finance department recommended for this year.

The approved rate is higher than the "rollback rate" of 18.1 mills, which is the highest rate that could have been passed to result in an effective tax cut once property values citywide are factored in.  Under the new rate, the school taxes in 2015 for a property valued at $400,000 would be $368 less than they were in 2014.  But given the growth in local property values this year, the decreased tax rate could end up washing out on many tax bills.

Several large school districts in the state, such Cobb County, Gwinnett County, Cherokee County, and Atlanta Public Schools are holding their millage rates steady for 2015.  Muscogee County, Savannah, and Forsyth have adopted millage rate increases.  The Oconee County board of education has approved a decrease, but I'm not familiar of too many other school tax rate cuts at this time.

Decaturish has a good write-up on the school board's decision here.

Per Decatur's charter, the City Commission is required to adopt the levy rate proposed by the school board.  The Commission will take up the measure during their meeting tonight.

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.

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.

Aggregate property tax rates fall in Decatur in 2014

The total, effective tax rate for property owners in Decatur is decreasing by 5.5 percent in 2014 compared to 2013 based on decreases in 1) the Decatur school millage rate, 2) DeKalb’s incorporated millage rate for Decatur, and 3) the State of Georgia millage rate. However, individual property owners’ actual tax bills will vary significantly based on their value assessed by DeKalb County. Bills will also vary on the basis of homestead exemptions and fees.

Here are the details:

1. The property tax millage rate for Decatur’s schools decreased from 20.9 in 2013 to 20.5 mills for 2014. That reduces the combined millage (all city tax rates plus the school rate) from 33.9 in 2013 to 33.5 mills for 2014. 
2. Property owners in Decatur also pay property tax to DeKalb County. (But the bill they pay to DeKalb is about 80 percent less than what property owners in unincorporated DeKalb pay to the County.) The county tax rate for City residents is determined by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. During their July 7 meeting, county commissioners approved a reduction in the county millage rate in Decatur from 12.03 mills in 2013 to 9.58 mills in 2014. 
3. The millage rate charged by the State of Georgia, which is collected through county bills, also fell from 0.15 in 2013 to 0.1 in 2014 as part of a five-year phase-out of state property taxes. 

As an example, if DeKalb determined the value for a non-homesteaded property of $200,000, it would have paid $3,390 in City property taxes and $974.40 in County taxes for a total property tax liability of $4,364.40 for 2013. The same property with the same value in 2014 would owe $3,350 in City taxes and $774.40 in County taxes for a total property tax liability of $4,124.40 for 2014.  Here are some more examples comparing properties with different values year-over-year:

Local government millage rates in Georgia fluctuate in 2014

Like most years, some city and county property tax rates in Georgia are going up, some are holding steady, and some are decreasing.  There doesn’t seem to be a pattern.  Here’s a rundown of some of this year’s property tax changes in north Georgia and other major jurisdictions in the state:

Increases

Fulton County (17 percent)

Cobb County (1.5 percent)

Clayton County (2 percent)

Catoosa County (11 percent)

Walker County (15 percent)

Decreases

Cobb County School District

Polk County School Board

Cherokee County

Floyd County

Chatham County

Brookhaven

Steady

DeKalb County

Gwinnett County (no millage change but exceeds rollback rate)

Macon-Bibb County and the Bibb school board

Savannah

Dunwoody

Duluth

Suwanee

Decatur’s school millage rate is decreasing in 2014 while the City’s non-school millage rates are staying constant.

Officials square off over property tax increase

In 2013, the governor signed House Bill 604 into law, which prohibited the Fulton County board of commissioners from approving a property tax increase until 2015 at the earliest. The law says, “Any proceedings by the governing authority of Fulton County to make or fix a levy of ad valorem taxes for Fulton County at a millage rate which would exceed the roll-back rate shall be suspended until January 1, 2015.”

The Fulton County commission then voted to repeal the state law on the basis of their home rule authority under the state constitution, which says, “a county may, as an incident of its home rule power, amend or repeal the local acts applicable to its governing authority” (Sec. II, Par. 1) under certain conditions.

Last week, the county commission approved a 17 percent millage rate increase.

Former co-sponsors of House Bill 604 immediately sued Fulton County and are seeking an injunction to prevent the county tax commissioner from collecting taxes with the higher rate.  Lawyers for the lawmakers say that the home rule power cited by Fulton County is trumped by a 1951 amendment to the state constitution that specifically authorized the General Assembly to control Fulton County’s ad valorem taxation powers.

The tax increase has revived interest among some north Fulton County taxpayers to secede to create their own “Milton County.”

Decatur adopts new millage rate for school system

Decatur’s school board voted to lower the school’s millage rate from 20.9 in 2013 to 20.5 in 2014 last month—a reduction of almost 2 percent. Tonight, the City Commission has formally approved the new rate. (The Commission is required by the City's charter to adopt the school board’s proposal).

Together with Decatur’s own 13 mill levy, the approval makes for a combined millage rate of 33.5 for 2014. The combined rate had been steady at 33.9 mills since 2011.

A mill represents one tax dollar per $1,000 of assessed property value, so a four-tenths reduction in the millage rate represents a 40¢ tax reduction per $1,000 of assessed value. In practical terms, this means homes in Decatur would see a reduction of their total property taxes for 2014 of $35 to $80 compared to 2013 if the property value didn't change since last year. Individual tax changes will vary based on assessed value. This chart shows a few examples (assuming the property value is the same in 2014 as it was in 2013):

	Example 1	Example 2	Example 3
100% property appraisal	$175,000	$320,000	$400,000
50% property assessment	$87,500	$160,000	$200,000
2014 city property tax bill	$2,931	$5,360	$6,700
2013 city property tax bill	$2,966	$5,424	$6,780
Year-over-year reduction of…	$35	$64	$80

Homeowners who are over the age of 80 and who make less than $40,000 will not see a change in their bills since they are not currently paying school taxes. Certain individuals over the age of 62 who have low incomes and low assessed values may also be paying little or no school taxes, and will likewise see little or no change in their bills.

In addition to real property, the millage rates also apply to "personal property," which are business inventory taxes, so some local businesses that have no change in their property value will see a slight savings.

The new millage rates will be factored into Decatur’s second installment property tax bills, which will be mailed Oct. 20 and due Dec. 22. Payments made during the first installment this spring are treated as credits against the total year’s taxes.

Kennesaw hikes taxes 700 percent on blighted properties

Kennesaw approved a “blight tax” in April aimed at properties that are uninhabitable, unsafe, or have repeated illegal activity. The logic behind the property tax increase is that it costs the city more to perform services such as public safety and code enforcement at blighted properties. The Marietta Daily Journal reports:

KENNESAW — No residents spoke either for or against a proposed blight tax by the city of Kennesaw at two public hearings, resulting in an unanimous approval of the program Monday night. The program establishes a procedure to identify blighted structures and sets an increased rate of property tax at seven times the normal millage rate. The increase would be applied to the next tax bill cycle, which begins Oct. 1 of each year. After the vote, City Manager Steve Kennedy said Kennesaw residents understand the city should have an additional tool to address unsightly concerns, even though no actual properties were pinpointed during the council discussions as fitting the description “blighted.”

It's an interesting idea although the potential tax rate seems very steep, and may open the door to legal challenges if the ordinance is ever enforced.  11 Alive reports that Kennesaw’s new ordinance is “patterned after similar ordinances in other local governments in Georgia.”…

Three DeKalb cities propose millage rate increases

The city councils of Stone Mountain, Brookhaven, and Avondale Estates have all tentatively adopted millage rate increases that would increase property taxes in those communities.

Avondale Estates proposed an increase of 1.75 mills, which would increase property taxes there by about 17 percent. Stone Mountain tentatively adopted an increase of 6.211 mills, or 28 percent, and will have a public hearing on July 2. Brookhaven is considering a 3.35 millage rate which would replace taxes previously levied by DeKalb, with a final vote scheduled for July 8.

Decatur’s City Commission adopted a budget on June 17 that kept millage rates the same as last year.