Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said this week he will recommend cutting the rates for taxes that fund fire and debt service.
Along with a previously agreed upon cut to the general fund millage rate, county taxpayers could see a net decrease of 0.5 mills from last year’s rate, but an increase in assessments means some homeowners would still see their tax bills go up.
Lee, who is running for reelection and faces a primary runoff on July 26 from challenger Mike Boyce, credited “strong commercial growth and smart decisions” for the proposed cuts.
Lee’s challenger, Boyce, said he was happy to see tax rates go down, but called Lee’s announcement a “political ploy.”
“Clearly we’re pleased to see that our campaign has already had an impact on public policy,” Boyce said.
The newly proposed cuts would reduce the fire fund and debt service fund millage rates by 0.1 mill each, from 3.06 to 2.96 and .33 to .23, respectively.
In September the county commission approved a budget based on the assumption it would eventually lower the general fund millage rate from 7.12 to 6.82, a difference of 0.3 mills.
On Wednesday the Cobb Board of Tax Assessors approved a final tax digest 8.5 percent higher than last year’s.
Stephen White, director of the Cobb Tax Assessor’s office, said individual tax bills depend on a variety of factors, including whether a property is eligible for a homestead exemption and whether its value was reassessed. Of the 251,000 properties in the county, 133,130 assessment notices had the value increased, while 6,000 had it decreased, White said.
“Some will go up and some will go down,” White said. “The digest increase is attributed to a number of reasons, probably the largest reason is the strong residential real estate market that Cobb County is seeing right now.”
White also pointed to a drop-off in foreclosures as well as growth and development around SunTrust Park, the new Atlanta Braves baseball stadium in Cumberland.
While the increase in property values points to economic recovery following years of recession, not everyone is pleased with their reassessments.
A number of Cobb residents took to social media to express their frustration.
“A little shocked? My valuation almost doubled, with my new projected taxes over $1700 MORE per year,” one East Cobb resident wrote on the social networking site nextdoor.com.
“It was crazy! And we just had an appraisal done on our house two weeks before we got the letter and their new value is $50K above the appraisal!” wrote another.
The first of three public hearings on the proposed millage rate is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 12, with another scheduled for later the same day and the final hearing and vote set for July 26, the same day as the runoff pitting Lee against Boyce. The hearings will take place in the county government building off Marietta Square.
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