In Gwinnett, a tax protest is heard

The people heard about rising tax rates and protested. Their elected officials listened and retreated. Representative democracy as it’s supposed to be, in Gwinnett County.

The back-and-forth between Gwinnett’s citizens and its county commissioners over a proposed 25 to 30 percent increase in property taxes wasn’t always pretty. And to hear the complaints of protesters forced to stand in the hallways or atrium during public hearings on the tax hike, it wasn’t always comfortable. But it worked.

It might be considered grade inflation to give commissioners a gold star simply for heeding their constituents. Yes, we elect representatives to make decisions on our behalf about sticky problems. That includes budget shortfalls. But when their proposed solutions spur hundreds of citizens to attend public hearings to oppose them, as happened in Gwinnett over the past couple of weeks, politicians are obliged to think again before acting.

And it can’t go without saying that Republicans — like all five Gwinnett commissioners — do their party and conservatism a disservice when they resort to tax hikes. Voters elect Republicans with the expectation that they will promote limited government, even when it’s not easy. The GOP has paid a dear price nationally for ignoring this simple truth. It can also happen at the state and local levels.

All that said, the Gwinnett commissioners did get it right in the end (so far, anyway — the budget is still in limbo and tax increases aren’t completely off the table). Imagine if Congress and the Obama administration would give similar due to the tens of thousands of protesters at the “tea parties” that have been taking place nationwide — a voluble opposition to specific policies, to which even the Democratic majority ought to pay attention.

The chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission, Charles Bannister, pointed out the obvious Tuesday after the tax increase was put off: Cuts will be made, and some of them won’t be popular. There is, however, an equally obvious point here. Taxpayers know what they get from government and what it costs them. And in Gwinnett, they obviously don’t want more of it.

That was especially true for what Suwanee Mayor Dave Williams described as a “double-policing” plan that represented $21 million of the $75 million budget gap. That county police should patrol nine Gwinnett cities that have their own police departments “is so [far] out of left field” in a county known for holding the line on taxes, he said, “that I don’t think anyone even imagined it would be a possibility.”

Even in sunnier times, property taxes are a tough sell to Georgians. In metro Atlanta, governments face the additional challenge of having so many jurisdictions in close proximity. Residents can see what’s going on nearby, press politicians to keep taxes low and question duplicate services like Gwinnett’s policing plan, or garbage collection in some places.

Prospective homeowners like myself can also see that property taxes vary widely even within a small area — and can buy accordingly. For instance, there’s the stretch of Ponce de Leon Avenue that goes from Atlanta in Fulton County to Atlanta in DeKalb County to unincorporated DeKalb to Decatur. Here, yearly taxes on similarly valued houses within a few miles of each other can vary by well over $1,000.

Over the course of a 30-year mortgage, property taxes can rival the interest paid on the loan. Home shoppers like me want to know why some jurisdictions think they’re so much more valuable than others, and whether the level of public services rises commensurately. (That’s a topic for another column, and I welcome your thoughts — positive or negative — about the value for tax dollars where you live. E-mail them to the address below.)

The competition is good for good governance. The Atlanta City Council earlier this year declined to raise property taxes after citizens objected. Taxes are slated to rise in some parts of DeKalb County this year; we’ll see what residents think of that prospect at three hearings later this month.

As in Gwinnett, open ears would be most welcome.

Kyle Wingfield, an Opinion Columnist, writes Thursday. Reach him at kwingfield@ajc.com.