Candidate got tax break he wasn't entitled to

By David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett County Commission candidate and former state Rep. John Heard got a discount on his property taxes for years thanks to a tax break to which he was not entitled.

Heard got an estimated break of more than $22,000 on the property taxes on his Lawrenceville home from 2003 through 2009, according to the county tax commissioner’s office.

The candidate told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he wasn’t aware he was receiving a senior school exemption for his home on Eugenia Terrace. He said county workers may have incorrectly granted him the exemption when he applied for a regular homestead exemption for the property in 1999.

“Evidently there was a data error when it was put in,” he said.

County officials echoed that explanation.

“We’re thinking it was a fat-finger error,” said Chief Appraiser Steve Pruitt.

The county’s Board of Tax Assessors on Wednesday voted to remove the tax exemption from Heard’s property retroactive to 2007. That means Heard will have to pay an estimated $9,591 in back taxes for the years 2007 through 2009.

State law allows the county to collect up to seven years of back taxes if an error is discovered. But Pruitt told the board that requiring Heard to pay three years of taxes would be consistent with the way the county has treated other taxpayers in similar situations.

The county has not yet sent Heard a bill, but he said he plans to pay the back taxes. “I have no problem paying my taxes,” he said.

Under the senior school exemption,  low-income senior citizens are exempted from paying school and school bond property taxes, within certain limits. To qualify, property owners must be at least 65 years old and meet income and other requirements. Heard is 56.

Pruitt said Heard’s improper exemption was discovered because an anonymous letter writer asked county officials to look into the matter.

Tax officials found no application or other paperwork to justify the exemption. So last month the assessor’s office notified Heard it planned to remove the exemption retroactively to 2003.

That would have required Heard to pay seven years of back taxes on the exempted property.

Heard appealed that decision, asking that his taxes be adjusted for three years instead of seven. The Board of Tax Assessors on Wednesday voted unanimously to grant that request.

Pruitt told the board the county did not have a policy on how far back to require property owners to pay taxes if an error is discovered.  But he said in recent years it has asked property owners to repay only three years worth of taxes.

That’s because property owners can only get a refund for three years of taxes if an error is discovered in their favor. Pruitt said it didn’t seem fair to allow the county to go back seven years.

Heard said he’s glad his tax problem was discovered. Other taxpayers also may be unaware they’re getting exemptions for which they’re not qualified, he said.

“If it can be wrong on me it can probably be wrong on a lot of other people,” he said.

The revelation about Heard’s taxes comes as he is seeking election to the District 4 Gwinnett Commission seat. He is one of six candidates for the position.

Heard said whoever asked the county to look into his taxes had a political motivation.

“Obviously there’s politics going on,” he said. “I have no respect for anonymity and anonymous assaults.”