Fulton County tax debacle: How exactly did we get here?

The Fulton County tax commissioner’s office has been plagued with errors, mistakes, and downright incompetence for years, but in 2017, things have hit a new low. Here are questions I am frequently asked:

Q: John, what’s this all about?

A: Well, if you already have a Notice of Assessment from Fulton County for 2017, you can just tear it up. The tax assessor has decided the first round was just a joke for fun. The real deal is coming up.

Q: Why does that matter to Fulton homeowners?

A: Because the county commissioners received so much pushback on the higher assessments for 2017, they decided to simply institute a freeze and go back to last year’s assessments.

Q: Can they do that?

A: Well, I think they already did, but it is certainly the popular thing to do and, more important, it gets the county commission off the hook for 2017. Q: You’ve got to be kidding, right?

A: No, I am dead serious! Q: So, what happened to get us to this point in 2017?

A: Well, the tax assessor was doing his job, and performed a major revision of property values for 2017.

That revision showed that most residential property values were up dramatically from where they were when last evaluated.

Q: Isn’t that considered good news?

A: Yes, but no one wants higher property taxes, so the homeowners went to the county commission. They protested by the thousands, and demanded relief from the Fulton County Commission, who called the tax commissioner and said ‘Do something — quick!’

So, the tax commissioner told the tax assessor they had to do something quick, and the only thing he could come up with was to revert to 2016 values while they reassessed the entire county residential tax digest once again for 2018.

Q: What’s the problem?

A: Well, the commission has still not set the millage rate, which is applied to the assessment to determine your total tax bill for the current year.

If the total of all assessments (called the digest) goes down (or even up, but not as much as originally anticipated), then the primary source of revenue for the county goes down.

Q: Why is that a problem?

A: The commission feels that it needs more revenue every year to fund the ever-expanding list of county projects, so that presents a serious problem.

So, what will happen next is simple arithmetic!

If the digest is less than you expected and you need more money, you just raise the millage rate.

Q: Won’t most homeowners see through that?

A: No, most homeowners have no idea of what the millage rate is or what it does, so it goes over the head of most owners.

Q: Why can’t the commissioners simply cut spending to live within their means? A: Surely you jest... that kind of thinking is really out of style.

Q: So, if I own a home in Fulton County, what should I do?

A: Tear up your previous Notice of Assessment and get ready for a new one, which will match last year’s assessment. Then get ready to protest that amount. You’ll only have 45 days from the date your new assessment is mailed, which was supposed to happen on Aug. 4. You’ll probably see the new notice this week. That means you will have until Sept. 18 to file your protest.

For a copy of my free Special Report on How To Lower Your Georgia Property Tax, go to my website at Money99.com and click on Free Resources.