Lawmakers challenge Cobb tax digest

Cobb County’s contention that its property values held up against the real estate slump has come under fire from a powerful group of state legislators.

The five lawmakers filed a letter Wednesday with the state Revenue Department contending thousands of Cobb residents could pay too much in property taxes because values do not reflect the crisis. They are requesting that Cobb’s tax digest not be approved, which would prevent the county from collecting taxes.

Last month, Cobb mailed about 16,000 notices lowering values. Officials say an additional 4,000 parcels will get lower values in a mailing next week.

That would trim values on about 8 percent of the parcels in Cobb. Meanwhile, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties have each lowered values for at least 70,000 parcels.

“Their position is indefensible,” said Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), chairman of the House Rules Committee. “The argument that Cobb is somehow unique just doesn’t really fly.”

Ehrhart signed the letter along with Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), Sen. John Wiles (R-Marietta), Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta) and Rep. Ed Setzer (R-Acworth).

Ehrhart said angry Cobb residents have complained that their values should have been lowered substantially but were not.

“I’m getting calls, e-mails, people are up in arms,” Ehrhart said.

Their challenge is the second such action over revaluations since April, when counties began trying to adjust values to reflect loss of value in the ongoing crisis.

DeKalb in late April sent out less than 20,000 notices lowering values. CEO Burrell Ellis challenged that, and assessors reconsidered. They eventually sent out a second round of notices lowering the values for about five times as many properties.

Even so, a local lawyer filed suit against DeKalb contending assessors didn’t go far enough.

Phil Hogsed, Cobb’s chief appraiser, said Thursday that he stands by his department’s work.

Two weeks ago he said Cobb sent fewer notices of reductions than its neighbors because it had not revalued about 150,000 residential parcels since 2006.

So, Hogsed noted, many of those may not have been at the peak of the market when the crash came. He added that while foreclosures are up, the county only had about 3,500 last year.

Revenue Department officials said Thursday that they didn’t know how they would respond to the letter. They said the department has never before received such a request from lawmakers.

While the Revenue Department certifies the digest, the Department of Audits actually reviews its accuracy.