House passes tax reform bill

By Nancy Badertscher

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia House passed sweeping property tax reform legislation Wednesday that forces counties to consider nearby distress sales when calculating a homeowner’s property tax bill.

The bill, which cleared the House 137-7, also makes it easier for property owners to appeal their assessments.

“It is a major reform of the assessment and appeal process,” said its sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock).

The bill, touted as the biggest reform of the state’s tax system in decades, was sparked in part by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation last year that showed a wide disparity between property tax assessments and sale values in several metro Atlanta counties. In many cases, the newspaper found that tax appraisers had reduced the value of residential properties, but not enough to match the decline in actual market values.

Rogers said that under current law property owners could not appeal their tax bill unless they had received an assessment notice due to a reappraisal.

Under his bill, counties will be required to send out property tax assessments each year.

The time limit for filing appeals also is being expanded from 30 days to 45 days, Rogers said.

In addition, he said property values were being artificially inflated under current law because assessors exempted distressed and bank sales.

“That’s what frustrated so many,” Rogers said. “Now, they absolutely must look at all comparable sales.”

Other provisions call for:

• more training for members of each county’s Board of Equalization;

• the sale price of a home to be used as its value for at least the first year;

• a new option of using a hearing officer to hear appeals on nonresidential properties worth $1 million or more as Tennessee does;

• and, with each annual assessment notice, the property owner will receive an estimate of his or her tax bill.

Rep. Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), who shepherded the bill through the House, called it “a great step forward for Georgia taxpayers.”

“This is an excellent bill worked out by a large group of people to try to make our property tax system more fair,” he said.

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia, representing county officials across the state, has not opposed the bill, despite the fact that it will add to local government costs. Gwinnett County, for example, estimates it will cost about $475,000 to produce and mail annual assessment notices to each property owner.

Rogers said the disparities in land values and assessments have hit low-income areas, including some near the state Capitol. Some homes in that area are taxed at $100,000 and selling at $20,000, Rogers said.

His bill has gone through dozens of revisions, and changes made by the House must be approved by the Senate before the measure can go to the governor to be signed into law.

Property Tax Meltdown

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year analyzed more than 500,000 property records in five metro counties, comparing sales records with tax appraisals. The newspaper found that while tax appraisers often reduced the value of residential property, they often didn’t reduce it by enough to match the decline in actual market value. To review the series or to search for tax valuations for any metro address, go to myproperty.ajc.com.