Nearly three quarters of Gwinnett County residents will see their property tax bills rise, the result of improving home values, even as the county’s property tax rate remains unchanged.
By keeping its rates the same, Gwinnett expects to bring in an additional $20 million in property tax revenue in 2014. In 2013, the county collected $345.5 million from property taxes.
County leaders had the option to roll the collection rate back, so 2014 revenues would be the same as last year’s. But Gwinnett’s coffers are still suffering from the financial crisis, which sent property values spiraling. Even with this most recent increase in property values, the county is on track to collect about $40 million less than it did in 2009, when collections were highest.
“As an individual who has spent as much time as I have dealing with the finances of this county, I believe this is the prudent thing to do,” Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said of the decision to leave rates alone. “There are some things we’ve got to address that we can’t keep putting off.”
The county would be weakened in the future if Gwinnett rolled its rate back, Nash said. Maintenance projects like a new roof on the county administration building have been delayed, jobs have been unfilled and county employees have faced furloughs in order to work around the lower figures.
“If we don’t address these issues that have been deferred, it will lead the county into a downward spiral,” Nash said.
Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to leave the general fund millage rate, the rate at which property taxes are charged, the same as it was in 2013. City residents pay a lower tax rate than those who live in the unincorporated county, though how much lower varies depending on which services – like police and fire – the city provides on its own.
The education rate is decided separately, and residents of Gwinnett’s cities will pay a varying rate depending on the services their city receives from the county.
District 3 Commissioner Tommy Hunter was the lone vote against leaving the rate steady. But he declined to explain his reasons.
“I’ll let the vote speak for itself,” Hunter said.
The county had heard opposition from residents at three public hearings, but no one spoke at Tuesday’s vote.
Gwinnett’s tax digest — the total taxable value of county property, minus exemptions — had fallen since 2008, when it reached as high as $29.4 billion. At its lowest, last year, the tax digest fell to $23.6 billion. In 2014, it is estimated to be $25.4 billion, the first increase since the fall began. The tax digest is the value base that determines what actual collections will be.
Gwinnett and other counties saw their collections fall during the Great Recession, as property values plummeted. But at the start of the recession, Gwinnett raised its rate, forestalling the effects of falling values for at least a little while.
Even though the digest peaked in 2008, Gwinnett collected less in property taxes that year, when its millage rate was just 10.97 mills. Already, the county’s collections have surpassed the $325.4 million that came in in 2008.
The rate went up in 2009, to 13.25 mills. Because it did, the county collected $403.2 million that year, even as values had started to fall.
The rate decreased slightly in 2011, to 13.02 mills. In 2013, it was increased to 13.75 mills in unincorporated Gwinnett. In the cities, the rate ranged from 8.59 mills to 13.39 mills — a new agreement with the cities let them stop paying property taxes for services they didn’t use, like police or fire.
Of the 256,000 residential notices that were sent out in the county, property values fell in 5 percent of cases. In 74 percent, values rose, and in 20 percent, the values were unchanged. If values rise, the property tax bill will be higher.
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