Taxpayer advocates seek assessor’s resignation

The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation is calling on Donald Johnson to resign from the county’s Board of Assessors. Johnson is one of five board members who oversee the setting of fair market values on parcels throughout the county, which determines how much taxpayers get billed. On Monday, the Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board voted to revoke his professional appraiser’s license for overvaluing four properties between 2005 and 2007, in areas of Atlanta rife with mortgage fraud.

Foundation Executive Director Barbara Payne said in a statement that the revocation shatters public confidence in Johnson. “If he continues to resist after Commissioner [Bill] Edwards officially asks for his resignation this week, drastic steps should be taken, as high up as the governor, to remove Donald Johnson from the Fulton County Board of Assessors,” she said.