Senate Majority Leader Chip Roger’s property tax reform bill looks sure to pass the Senate with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s support.
“We must bring fairness and equality to an antiquated and subjective system,” Cagle said in a statement today. “Simply put, many citizens are taxed far more than the value of their home and the appeals process is often daunting and confusing. Georgians do not pay higher taxes when the value of their cars decrease and property taxes should be no different. Today we are taking the first step to bring real changes and our goal is simple: increased transparency and fairness to a system that is broken.
“Senator Rogers has been a strong and consistent advocate for property owners and his efforts and leadership are to be applauded. As we continue to work closely together this session to bring change to the property tax system, we will remain committed to the best interest of homeowners throughout Georgia.”
I’m a little confused by Cagle’s car analogy. The “birthday tax” on cars is a property tax, as I’m sure Cagle knows. Nor do homeowners pay higher taxes when the (assessed) value of their property decreases, unless local officials raise the millage rate, which is a transparent political process.
Rogers is from Woodstock, one of those metro Atlanta suburbs where the housing bubble seriously overinflated home prices, and he absolutely despises property taxes.
Local governments have generally opposed efforts to end or substantially change the property tax system - it's their main source of revenue - but Rogers says his proposal will be something they can live with. My question: Are we going to see real, comprehensive tax reform, or another attempt to hog-tie local governments to score points with anti-tax voters?
- Blake Aued's blog
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I can't answer your question
I can't answer your question Blake, but I think Cagle made a soundbite at the expense of garbling his message. He's saying that localities aren't lowering their assessments fast enough, and that not lowering the assessments results in higher property taxes in relative dollars, not absolute dollars. At least that's what I think he's saying. Otherwise it really wouldn't make sense.
Disclaimer: ACC values my property at about 1.4 times more than what I just paid for it, so my sympathies are with efforts to make localities more responsive to changes in the market values of real estate. Also, I don't mind paying the higher-than-normal property taxes I do pay, but only if everyone else's property is inflated at that level too, or if the millage is adjusted to reflect the higher tax. Not only would that be fair, but ACC schools could start competing with Oconee's and all the bus lines could run every 30 minutes instead of every hour, and on more routes too.
You don't mess around with ....
Looks like there is discord amongst the Republican establishment.
Could the Ox be in a ditch he can't get out of ?
http://www.peachpundit.com/2010/02/01/the-beginning-of-the-end-ox-is-toa...
UPDATE
The AJC has a rundown of provisions in Rogers’ bill. They include:
*Year-round property appeals.
*Making sure that every property receive an annual notice of assessment.
*Statewide uniformity of assessment notices and appeal forms.
*Allow counties to accept payment plans for property taxes and discounts for early payments.
*Establish time limits for assessor action in response to appeals.
*Requiring a unanimous vote by Board of Equalization members to increase assessed value.
Those seem like reasonable changes, except maybe the last one. A single unelected person could hijack the entire system.
Needs one more provision ---
If the taxpayer has to appeal to Superior Court, and wins, the county has to pay all the attorney fees.
The county assessor's office relies on the divide and conquer principal. I know because I've heard them tell taxpayers so. Even if there is a monumental increase in taxes on one piece of property, it is not enough to justify THAT individual taxpayer hiring an attorney and pursuing an appeal.
That's why most successful tax appeals are by large corporations that have enough at stake to justify wading through the process.
Likewise, if a taxpayer appeals, even to the Board of Equalization, and wins, that decision should have to stand for a period of years (3?). As the system stands now, and as very often happens, the taxpayer goes to the trouble and expense of the appeals process, wins, and the very next year gets exactly (or greater) assessment than he did the year before.
They'd have to raise taxes for sure
just to cover all the court costs.
P.S.
Your AJC link doesn't work -- well it works to take you nowhere.
P.S.
Your AJC link doesn't work -- well it works to take you nowhere.
Try this
http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/2010/02/01/senate-bill-would-overhau...
I think if you win the
I think if you win the appeal they can't mess with it for the next two years.
Rather than "reform" the property tax system, a real solution would simply get rid of the property tax. I don't know how government could be funded, but this system, imo, is unfair and riddled with exemptions. As it stands, the property tax bite will only grow worse and further undermine the "American dream." ACC, this year, will raise the millage rate, again; and this will only change when there is a political impetus to take on these leaders. On the other hand, this tax affects enough people so that there is a real, building fury that will "change" the system, and probably overreact so that even the most necessary funding will be devastated.
As for Roger's proposal, it appears to have some liberal backing and I think that's because it would over-rule the two-year moratorium on increasing assessments. In other words, it kinda undoes the hog-tying. A pig in a poke at this point and Cagle is taking a big risk getting out in front of it. I'd bet Blake is in on the "fix" and he's faking his criticism. Won't work, probably, but worth a try. BTW, how much did you pay in property taxes last year Blake?
Nope-- they can come right back at you
I think if you win the appeal they can't mess with it for the next two years.
Nope. The assessors can come right back with the same or higher appraisal/assessment than the one that was appealed, and it's not uncommon for them to do so.
The prevailing attitude is "we're the professionals", the Board of Equalizations/jury are rubes.
Long story short I did
Long story short I did appeal, won, and I swear somewhere in the letter it said they can't raise it back for two years. I filed the letter securely and cannot find it. After I won, they did come back exactly two years later to up it again; I appealed and they backed-off for the time being, though because ACC raised the millage rate AND the state dropped the subsidy my rate went from about $750 to over $1,200 per year.
I know it doesn't sound like a bunch of money. And boy would I hate to live in the Five Points area! On the other hand, they technically can raise it up to a very punishing level. Many retirees and elderly folks, I am told, save several hundred dollars each month to try and pay the tax at the end of the year; they too, are subject to yearly increases. I realize that those over 65 do get something of a break, but it only freezes their school tax portion so its not as big a deal as its said to be. Moreover, the cavalier way they zeroed-out the state HE subsidy suggests that all these "breaks" can "go away" if the money is not there to fund them.
As for the Rogers' proposal, it does look more legit for the time being. Blake is probably on the right track bloggin about it.
"but it only freezes their
"but it only freezes their school tax portion so its not as big a deal as its said to be"
Au contraire. In ACC School taxes are 60% of your property tax bill. I'd say 60% IS a big deal, but that's just me.
As I understand it, you
As I understand it, you still pay the school tax. When you reach 65 it is "frozen" at whatever level it is at so that this portion can no longer rise. You are indeed protected from future increases, but you still pay the school portion. As I said, too, these exemptions are not guaranteed and a budget crunch can make them go away; the state HE subsidy already went away.
List of homestead exemptions
If y'all spent half the time looking things up as you did bickering ...
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/~tc/gentax.htm
Yes, homestead exemptions can be taken away, but it is much harder to do than ending HTRC. It's not just an up-or-down vote like HTRC. Homesteads are local legislation, meaning the local government would have to vote to change it and the county's legislative delegation would have to agree unanimously to bring it forward. Only then would the legislature vote and governor sign. I can't see the A-C commission and school board ever voting to lower a homestead exemption and our bipartisan group of five legislators representing Athens all agreeing that it's a good idea.
And here's another list
This one explains in a little more detail all the different variations and permutations.
https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/taxguide/exempt/homestead.aspx
WTF is up with CAPTCHA? Every time I post a link I get this bogus spam alert.
Bet that doesn't happen to the ABH staffers.