County says its assessments violated law

DeKalb County did not follow a new state law requiring assessors to take foreclosures and other distressed sales into account in setting tax values for 2009, according to an April 18 letter mailed to taxpayers.

The letter accompanied revaluation notices mailed to DeKalb taxpayers on Saturday. The document warns residents:

“Foreclosure sales are not considered fair market value sales and so these sales are not considered in our review. In some instances, bank sales can be considered. However, if there are fair market sales in an area, fair market value sales take precedence over the bank sales.”

That position appears to be unique among metro Atlanta assessors, who, considering distressed sales, lowered values for at least four times as many parcels as DeKalb.

The county’s actions also seem to conflict with Senate Bill 55, which the Legislature passed this year. The bill required assessors to consider foreclosure sales when setting taxable values for 2009.

“This is exactly the sort of shenanigans we were trying to deal with,” said state Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta).