Saving HTRG Saves You Money

September 1, 2008

Governor Perdue recently announced that he has frozen state payments into the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) fund which provides you with relief from your property tax bill. I have a simple two-word response to this decision: NO WAY.

This move would take $428 million out of homeowners’ pockets in order to stem the tide of a decline in other sources of state revenue. One estimate says that failing to fund this property tax relief could cost individual homeowners $250 per year on average.

Property tax relief is a welcome addition to any family budget, particularly in difficult economic times such as these. That $250 translates into a small handful of gas fill-ups or grocery bills. As a homeowner and father of two young children, it’s something I understand. When faced with an economic downturn, our state government should tighten its own belt, not tighten yours.

The reason the Governor is able to freeze these property tax relief grants is that the Georgia Constitution says the grants only exist to the extent they are funded in the state budget and does not provide that the grants must be funded at any specific amount. This should change. In the 2009 session of the General Assembly, I will sponsor a constitutional amendment to specify the amount of the grants.

Governor Perdue makes a point that these grants are often used by county governments as an excuse to increase their own spending without passing along any real savings to taxpayers. That is especially true in DeKalb County, where county government spending has increased more than 40 percent over the past eight years. However, this merely identifies another problem to be solved. It does not justify doing away with one of the solutions to skyrocketing property taxes.

No Comments » | Property Taxes, State Budget | Permalink
Posted by Mike Jacobs

Property Assessment Appeal Deadline

May 11, 2008

It’s that time of the year again.  Spring has sprung.  Every car bears a coat of yellow pollen.  And the DeKalb County Board of Tax Assessors has sent out property assessment change notices.

Not everyone received a property assessment change this year.  However, for those of us who have been reassessed, the increases are quite shocking.  Several constituents have e-mailed me about their reassessment notices.  Here’s an example:  “I just received a notice from DeKalb County with a $70,000 property assessment increase!!!  I filed the form to freeze the value last year and was told that it had been received.  Was the law repealed?  What happened?  Please help ASAP!”

Evan and I received a $44,300 assessment increase this year, which is 15% of the assessed value of our home on Granger Drive.

The headlines tell a different story.  “Atlanta home prices fall 4.8 percent” in 2007, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  “Atlanta home values drop sharply since last summer,” says Creative Loafing.

These artificial, unjustifiable assessment increases are the county government’s and school system’s way of increasing your property taxes without actually holding a public vote of the county commission or school board to increase your property taxes.  They are back-door tax increases.  Worse yet, it doesn’t matter how the real estate market is doing, which is outrageous.

The first step toward fighting back was passing the county property tax assessment freeze back in 2006, which freezes your property assessment for the purposes of calculating the county government’s portion of your property tax bill.  I am proud to have actively supported this measure.  Without my help in passing the property tax assessment freeze, it would not have happened.  The property tax assessment freeze only affects the approximately 25% of property taxes that are levied for use by the county government, which explains why the county continues to increase property assessments year after year.

Another important thing you can do to fight back is to exercise your right to appeal your reassessment.  That is the purpose of this message, to remind you about this right.  You can find information on how to appeal your property assessment increase on the DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department’s website (click for link).  Your letter of appeal must be postmarked no later than this Monday, May 12.

No Comments » | DeKalb County, Property Taxes | Permalink
Posted by Mike Jacobs

North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Survey Results & TAD Hastiness

December 9, 2007

In the midst of the ongoing debate about the future of the community around North Druid Hills and Briarcliff Roads, I decided to ask the neighborhoods in my State House district that would be most directly impacted by the proposed high-density, mixed-use development what they think about it.

318 households from Merry Hills and the North Druid Hills Residents Association responded to a survey conducted in hard copy format and with a follow-up telephone call to households that did not respond to the paper survey.

The question that was asked was as follows:

Do you support the proposed high-density, mixed-use development at the intersection of North Druid Hills and Briarcliff Roads?

Yes, unconditionally;

Yes, but only if the transportation infrastructure, traffic flow, sidewalks, streetscapes, and greenspace are improved; or

No.

The following results reveal that a significant, but not overwhelming, majority of households are opposed to the efforts to redevelop the area:

No :  169 respondents:  53.1%

Yes, with conditions:  135 respondents:  42.5%

Yes, unconditionally:  14 respondents:  4.4%

Thus, 53.1% said “no” and 46.9% said “yes” to the proposed new development.  While these results are not from a true scientific poll, the high number of respondents makes them fairly reliable.  Respondents were not pushed to give a particular response, either positive or negative.

I am surprised at the speed with which the proposed tax allocation district (TAD) for the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff intersection is being rushed through the approval process.  Within the very short time span of two weeks, an informational meeting, a public hearing (held on the first night of Chanukah, for a proposal that will impact the Orthodox Jewish community in Merry Hills and along LaVista Road), and a county commission vote will have been held to adopt the TAD.  The vote is scheduled for the DeKalb County Commission meeting this Tuesday, December 11, at 9:00 a.m., in the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, in Downtown Decatur.

A TAD relies on the property tax increases that result from year-to-year increases in assessed property values.  The annual property tax increases inside the TAD are captured and applied to infrastructure improvements within the TAD boundaries, which in this case is almost entirely comprised of commercial property such as Loehmann’s Plaza, Executive Park, Target, and the potential Sembler property

However, in order to entice the DeKalb County School System (DCSS) to participate in the TAD and give up the property tax revenues from inside the TAD that DCSS otherwise would receive, proponents of the TAD are hoping for a “halo effect” outside the TAD.  The “halo effect” means that tax increases which would result from assessment increases on properties (including residential properties in neighborhoods such as Merry Hills and the North Druid Hills Residents Association) outside the TAD boundaries would be greater than the tax increases from assessment increases on properties inside the TAD boundaries. Thus, in theory, DCSS would give up a little in property taxes, but still net an increase in property taxes, which existing residential property owners would be forced to pay, to fund education.

A “halo effect” in an area like Toco Hills where the median home sale price already is a robust $411,901 could make residential property taxes unbearable.  Any way you slice it, the so-called “halo effect” constitutes a residential property tax hike.

DCSS has not yet made a decision whether to participate in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff TAD, thereby giving up its portion of the property tax increases within the TAD to fund infrastructure improvements within the TAD.  In a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, the board of education appeared to be caught flat-footed by how quickly the county commission is moving to approve the TAD.

Is there an alternative?  Yes, a community improvement district (CID).  A CID is a self-taxing district in which the business owners elect to have additional property taxes assessed against their commercial property in order to help fund infrastructure upgrades within the CID.  A CID would be more akin to the pay-to-play impact fees that the county at one time said it would impose on new development.

No Comments » | DeKalb County, Property Taxes, Toco Hills | Permalink
Posted by Mike Jacobs