Metro property values on the rise

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that property assessments have increased between 7 to 11 percent in four of the larger counties in metro Atlanta for 2016 compared to last year. The assessments are a lagging indicator of a rebounding real estate market. Property owners whose assessments exceed fair market value may want to consider appealing if they have evidence (such as factual corrections to the property characteristics or lower values of comparable properties) to support their appeal. 

Metro Atlanta tax assessments jump, giving residents a jolt 

Gina and Michael Schwartz got a nasty surprise when their DeKalb County tax assessment arrived in the mail recently. According to the county assessor’s office, the value of their Brookhaven home rose 10 percent from last year to $318,300, though they’ve made no improvements and don’t think that’s what the market will bear. Now they’re worried about the property tax bill that will come this fall. 

“It’s unfair,” Gina Schwartz complained at a recent meeting that detailed how to appeal assessments. “Why are we paying bigger taxes when nothing changed? That’s a big jump. I don’t want to pay more money.”

The Schwartzes are among tens of thousands of metro Atlanta homeowners learning their tax assessments increased this year, which could mean paying more when property taxes are due.

In four of the five largest metro counties, the total taxable value of residential property is up 7 percent to 11 percent, a review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found. Some properties are up much more. The exception was Fulton County, where residential values rose just 2.6 percent. The increase for individual properties varies widely.

County appraisers say the assessments reflect a resurgent real estate market that has shaken off the Great Recession. If sales prices rise, so do tax values, they say. Even some professionals who specialize in appealing tax assessments say many taxpayers will have to adjust to new market realities.

Each year, county assessors must determine the value of tens or hundreds of thousands of properties for tax purposes, using real estate sales data and statistical methods. Those values — along with tax rates set by elected officials — determine the size of annual property tax bills.

In the wake of the Great Recession, a series of AJC investigations found typical tax assessments were too high — assessors failed to cut values fast enough to keep up with the plummeting real estate market.

But as the market recovered, the AJC found typical assessments in many areas were too low, reflecting the reality that tax assessments usually lag behind market trends.

Calvin Hicks, DeKalb’s chief appraiser, said his goal is for assessments to match prices that properties would fetch on the open market. He said residents should understand that rising assessments are driven by actual sale prices, not by a need to fatten the county government’s tax base.

“Our primary charge is to value properties and keep those values in line with whatever the market has done,” Hicks said Many individual properties may still be overvalued, and homeowners can appeal their assessments…

Read the rest of the AJC's report here.

AJC runs poll on property tax cap

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running a poll to gauge support for a statewide cap on property assessments. The idea for a cap was floated earlier this year by officials including state senator Fran Millar and former state representative Ed Lindsey. Although this is an unscientific Internet poll, the results are interesting. So far, support for the proposal among 189 respondents is running at 72 percent:

Former lawmaker calls for constitutional cap on tax assessments

Former state representative Ed Lindsey recently wrote that, “The General Assembly needs to put a constitutional amendment to limit property tax assessments on the ballot in 2016” in a Peach Pundit blog post. Mr. Lindsey is calling for “limiting annual increases to no more than 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Kyle Wingfield made a similar proposal a couple of weeks ago for a 2.4 percent cap on annual assessment increases.

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.

Lake Lanier homeowners seek property tax cap

Hall County property owners are asking state legislators to place a cap on the amount that property assessments can increase per year. If they drum up enough support, their proposal could change how assessments are handled statewide.  Access North Georgia reports:

Hall Co. group pushes for law to cap property taxes

GAINESVILLE - Owners of lake property in Hall County say they will not give up when it comes to placing a limit on how much they are charged each year for property taxes.

A group called "Georgia Tax Cap" has been gathering signatures on a online petition to present to lawmakers with the goal of having a new state law that would limit the amount property taxes could increase in a given year.

Group spokeswoman Berly West Baker said the effort was prompted by Hall County's reassessment of lake properties this year.

On average, property owners in the county saw an increase of about 39% in assessed value, but Baker said the bulk of those who faced increases were lake property owners. Plus, she contends most of the increases were much higher than the average - some as much as 300% higher…

But apparently, responses from North Georgia legislators are mixed. Caps have been controversial ever since California’s Proposition 13 which limited assessment increases to 2 percent annually. Lake property owners might have more luck contacting members of a state study committee created during the 2014 legislative session to evaluate property taxes and education funding, or by proposing a separate property tax cap study committee in 2015.

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.

Tax news round-up

Here are some of the latest commentaries on DeKalb County's property assessment notices:

• DecaturMetro:  "Could Decatur Do Its Own Property Tax Assessments?"

• DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader:  "So Your Tax Appraisal Came in High?"

• DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer:  "Diligence on assessments could lower your tax bill"

AJC reports on boards of equalization

Thursday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on boards of equalization that have experienced a sharp rise in property value appeals throughout metro-Atlanta.  The article also described DeKalb County’s “calendar-call format” for BOE hearings:

Instead of an appointment-based system that gave appealing property owners an assigned time to report for their case, [Cobb County] changed the format to a calendar-call system that requires scores of property owners to sign in so their appeals can be heard on a first-come, first-served basis…

Like Cobb, DeKalb County also adopted the calendar-call format to accommodate the extra BOE work.

“It wasn’t popular, but it is what it is,” said Debra DeBerry, the county’s Superior Court clerk. “That way you don’t lose any of your hours to no-shows, and we had large numbers of no-shows here.”

Based on its population, DeKalb is authorized to operate 13 BOEs, but it only uses between three and six panels because there isn’t space to accommodate more, DeBerry said. The BOEs have heard about 14,600 appeals for 2011.

DeBerry asked for additional funding for the BOE budget this year but didn’t get her full request. DeKalb’s BOE office budget is $442,000, including $240,000 for member salaries. She has also asked for additional operating space.

The AJC’s full article here may give local taxpayers some additional insight into how their BOE appeals are being handled, and what the BOE workload means for county budgets.

Message about property values

Please visit the City of Decatur's website here for a message about the property assessment notices that were recently sent out by DeKalb County.

Any update will also be posted as soon as it's available.

Georgia tax news roundup

Last night, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Valerie Edwards reported that “A Senate proposal to revise how property taxes are assessed was withdrawn pending February revenue numbers.” (See this “Lawmakers” video about one-quarter of the way through). The broadcast did not specify whether the bill withdrawn was SB 346 or another property tax measure (although I don’t know of any other property tax bills in the Senate right now). I called the Secretary of the Senate’s office to confirm, but they said that SB 346 was still listed in their paperwork as “in committee.” If the GPB report is true, this would be a surprising reversal from state legislators.

In other news, today’s AJC raises concerns that metro-Atlanta property assessors have overvalued homes in the region.

This morning, WSB’s Clark Howard has written up several tips on appealing your property assessment. As a reminder, property appeals in Decatur are handled by DeKalb County and must be filed with them by March 1.

Lastly, new efforts underway in the Georgia General Assembly may lead to higher occupational tax collections. In an attempt to increase plummeting sales tax revenues, state legislators are moving toward requiring the state Department of Revenue to share sales tax certificate information with local jurisdictions in exchange for local information about which businesses have licenses. The idea is that the information sharing would lead to detection of businesses that are not paying their sales taxes or occupational sales taxes.