DeKalb Co. Parcel Assessment Changes 2015-2016

Commissioner Rader's website has a link to property value assessment changes for the 2015-2016 period (pdf).

Below is a screenshot of our Medlock neighborhood and immediate area in District 2.

Tax Appeals and Land Use Workshop Meeting

via Commissioner Rader...

Tax Appeal 2016 Information & Land Use Workshop Meeting

Recently, DeKalb County sent out 2016 Tax Assessment Notices.  If you do not agree with the valuation of your property, you have an opportunity to appeal your assessment. The DeKalb County website has a link that provides instructions for the entire appeal process.

Click here for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What form do I need to use?             
No specific form required but DeKalb County provides a form on its website that you candownload here.
Along with the form, you should include any supporting documents that help support your position.

2. Can I appeal online?
Yes, you can appeal online. First, view your property tax information here:
Fill in your property information, and then click on "I want to appeal."
You can also call the county at 404-371-0841.

3. When is the appeal due?
The date the appeal is due is on your notice, and it is likely July 18th.  You must submit your appeal on time. If you choose to mail your letter of appeal, it must be postmarked by the appeal deadline to ensure acceptance as a timely appeal. Late appeals will not be processed, and DeKalb County does not accept appeals by email or fax.

Keep a copy of your appeal and any supporting documents that you submit and any correspondence with the county.  You will need these documents for your hearing.

4. Which form of appeal should I use?
As shown on the appeal webpage,  you have three venues:  the Board of Equalization (BoE), a hearing officer, or an arbitration panel. The appeal to the BoE is free, while some cost is involved in the other two options.

5. What documents can I use in my appeal?
There are two primary bases for filing an appeal—fair market value and uniformity.

Fair market value is based on the 2015 calendar year as reflected on January 1, 2016, so you need to find information documenting comparable homes that were sold during that time. You can look online at websites such as zillow.com  or appraisal.com and look for sales in 2015.  (In addition, you may want to include recent sales in 2016 if they are lower than the assessed value of your home. This information can help to show market conditions, because prices likely were not higher in 2015.)

Uniformity is based on the assessed value per square foot for similar homes. To make this determination, divide the 100% assessment value by the total square footage (this information should be on your form and you can also find it by looking up your home on the county’s website—see above for the link).

6. What happens after I file my appeal to the BoE?
The tax assessor’s office will review your appeal and will contact you to let you know if they have decided to grant a reduction in value. They may send you a letter or call you. If they call you and make an offer to reduce the value and you accept, they will confirm this in writing.

If the tax assessor does not grant a reduction, you have the right to go before the BoE.

Generally, a reduction lasts for three years whether granted by the tax assessor or the BoE.

7. If I have a live hearing, how should I prepare for it? 
You have the right to review the tax assessor’s comparable properties and other documents before the hearing. You can either go to the assessor’s office before the hearing or submit written request for this information. You should do this as it will help you prepare your presentation.

At the hearing, you can request for the tax assessor’s representative to present first so you can respond to the points that are raised.

Be organized. Bring five copies of all of your appeal documents with you—three for the BOE members, one for the tax assessor’s representative, and one for yourself.  You should plan ahead of time how you want to present your case, and have the documents to support your position.

8. What about the tax freeze?
The tax freeze covers county government taxes, but not school and city taxes.  County taxes generally account for about 1/3 of your total property tax bill, which means that an increase in property value results in a higher tax bill, even if your County tax remains the same.

Land Use Workshop Public Meeting

For additional information, see http://www.commissionerrader.com/event-details/events/dekalb-comprehensive-plan-update-meeting-land-use-workshop.html
July 14th
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Maloof Center
1300 Commerce Drive
Decatur, GA 30030

Context for cityhood movement sweeping DeKalb County

The following is a summary of remarks made by Davis Fox [Policy Analyst and Project Manager  who works with Kathie Gannon, DeKalb County Commissioner for Superdistrict 6] at the MANA Neighborhood Association Community Meeting – June 17, 2013. Bolded items indicate questions from the audience, followed by Mr. Fox's answer.

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The current cityhood movement in our state can be traced to Sandy Springs (Fulton County) and how
the legislature would not allow them to incorporate because its local delegation refused to support this cityhood plan. When the state legislature swung to a Republican majority, the law was changed (to allow legislators outside the delegation to vote on a cityhood plan) and other cities soon followed (Johns Creek, Milton, Dunwoody, Brookhaven).

To clarify, incorporation means to form a city within a county. City of Decatur is an example of a city within the County. Unincorporated means any land within the county that is not within a city’s boundary. The Medlock area is an example of unincorporated DeKalb.

Before a city can be formed, a financial viability study must be completed. Simply including homes is not enough; commercial and industrial properties pay significantly more than residences. City proponents will draw boundaries that include as much commercial/industrial area as possible and this creates a “panic effect” as the rest of the unincorporated areas fear there will be no tax base to support them. For example, the City of Briarcliff organizers felt pressure when the City of Lakeside proposed to “grab” the Toco Hill commercial area. The City of Lakeside proposes to incorporate most of the Lakeside school district. The City of Briarcliff is a larger area and includes most of the Lakeside proposal. The financial viability of both proposals is unknown until studies are completed.

Fulton County’s new city proposals were deemed financially viable and the cities did ok during the recession in particular because they did not have legacy pensions systems (this was a large burden for older cities whose pension funds decreased dramatically during the economic downturn). Another reason is that these newer cities have fewer employees and outsource a lot of services.

The process to form a new city is as follows: if proposal is made and found to be financially feasible, a charter is approved by the General Assembly. This charter then goes to a referendum for those residing within the proposed city. If the referendum is passed by the affected voters, the Governor then appoints a commission to organize the city, and an election is held to choose a mayor and commissioners. This all can happen fairly quickly, and elections could be held next fall (2014).

How would the overlapping proposals be handled? The Carl Vinson Institute at UGA focuses on doing feasibility studies, it offers no answers about services or boundaries. It could be that both the Lakeside and Briarcliff proposals are found to be viable. This would pose a legislative conundrum; a decision must be made, and studies may need to be revisited unless a compromise is reached.

School impact? It’s unlikely there would be much impact on public schools because the school board is separate. Remember that around 2/3 of your property tax is directly allocated to the public school system. City of Atlanta and City of Decatur both have their own school systems. In the case of annexation, those residents would be incorporated into a city, and instead of their taxes supporting county public schools, they would support the city’s school system [it may be possible for children to continue to be part of a county school system. This occurred in Gainesville and Hall County]. City of Decatur’s schools are expensive and they need to limit the number of children and incorporate only commercial/industrial property. The legislature has left the issue of education to the counties and no new school systems can be established without a constitutional amendment. In very rural areas, the formation of new municipal school systems could leave outlying areas without the resources to fund public schools. It’s unlikely that cities will be able to create their own school system anytime soon. 

Will taxes go up when new cities are formed? New cities begin with financial feasibility studies. The millage rate is proportional to the services the city provides. Police and fire departments cost more than parks, for example. In addition to services, the level of service also goes into the price tag. Shorter response times cost more money. New cities tend to have fewer employees and outsource a lot of services. Dunwoody is the only city with lower taxes than unincorporated DeKalb. One reason Dunwoody has lower taxes than unincorporated DeKalb is their ability to implement franchise fees at higher levels than DeKalb. Dunwoody collects ~ $3 million in franchise fees. [N.B. Per the  GA Municipal Association franchise info page at http://www.gmanet.com/MDR.aspx?CNID=21440, franchise fees are agreements that cities and counties strike with utilities and cable providers, and the money exchanged reflects the cost of placing those utilities in the public right-of-way. Cities can collect franchise fees on all utilities, counties can only collect on cable companies. This can add up to 7%+ of municipal revenues.] Most new cities cap their millage rate at 3 unless citizens authorize an increase. No new city has exceeded this cap but Dunwoody is discussing doing so to create a fire department.  Other cities are also discussing increases to their millage rates. [Reading between the lines… taxes are going up everywhere and regardless??]

Is it true that city residents pay for services twice? No. Their taxes go towards the services they provide. Cities may contract with the county for services, e.g. parks, police, etc. There are some hidden costs and a city may pay for some county services; for example, a county will do an annual financial audit, and some support services may be duplicated somewhat (e.g. information technology, legal). The county can proportionally scale down [for services taken up by a new city], but it is more difficult at least initially to scale back support services.

What happens to those taxes if City of Decatur annexes Suburban Plaza?  Look at your property tax assessment. You will see sections such as County, Bonds, Police, HOST Credit, Homestead Exemption and a % indicating the millage rate that is being calculated against 40% of your property value. Only 2 or 3 items will change position when a property becomes incorporated. Services that the City assumes will not be paid by the County and those taxes go to the City.

To illustrate Mr. Fox's comment, the above compares city vs unincorporated residential property tax based on a $201,000 property. Click to enlarge.

Another thing to remember is office buildings are very desirable and valuable because of business license fees. These are based on the number of employees. So, in addition to the franchise fees mentioned earlier, those license fees would also go to the City of Decatur. It was a big hit for the County to lose Dunwoody.

N.B., City of Decatur does not base license fees on the number of employees but rather on profitability ratios (per applicable class, see http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=174)

Have Lakeside and Druid Hills (proposals) picked services? Not sure but think that Lakeside has picked planning (zoning, permits), police and parks. Briarcliff picked the same as well as roads and drainage.

Regarding the Lakeside/Briarcliff proposal overlap, if one proposal is feasible, will the other one have to pay another $30,000 to re-do its study? Not sure, but the Vinson Institute is part of UGA, UGA is a state school, so hopefully they would adjust the study without gouging.

So, the feasibility study is about money, not a zero-sum game? No interest in the impact in surrounding areas? Yes, the study is about the study area, there is no analysis on impact on unincorporated areas.

Follow-up question: Isn’t that irresponsible? Concern for the unincorporated areas is not what drove the policy and law regarding how cities are formed.

Q: If we work towards improving Medline and there is reinvestment won’t Decatur step in and annex it?

The methods of annexation are limited. DeKalb delegation could approve the Suburban Plaza annexation but they also represent the rest of DeKalb Co. so hopefully they would refuse. Another way is for property owners to ask to be annexed. Given that Selig has a long-running feud with City of Decatur, that is unlikely.

Q: What is the timing on all this? If both groups get their $30K, the study can be done in a 6 month period. The legislative session begins in January could review each proposal if there is a sponsor for each city.  If the proposed cities had non-overlapping boundaries, both could go forward and there could be 2 referendums. Brookhaven was approved in the 2012 legislative session, held elections in 2012 and had a council in place by 2013.

Basically there are three options: support a new city, support annexation into an existing city, or stay and improve the county.

Q: What does it mean for us if Lakeside proposal goes through? You would not be able to vote on Lakeside (you are outside its boundaries), You would only vote on a Briarcliff proposal.

Q: Could overlapping boundaries be hashed out? Unknown! Ideally, the two organizations would work together.

Q: Could the government put a stop on all this hanky-panky? Could there be a lawsuit? Unknown. This is a snowball effect, it’s hard to stop.

Tax increases looming for DeKalb County?

The AJC has another thought-provoking item on annexation, where April Hunt describes how the establishment of new cities impacts us, as unincorporated DeKalb residents:

1) The math will not be pretty for our area because our home property values have fared better than other areas of the County, which means the County must depend on our property taxes to compensate for shortfalls, if services for all County residents are to be protected.

It is important to remember that although our side of DeKalb County boasts very large employers (Emory University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Veteran's Administration Hospital), these organizations are not commercial and therefore do not pay taxes to the County. These organizations are critical to the County (they create jobs, fuel property values for nearby neighborhoods, and by drawing people to the area, create commercial opportunities that feed back into the County's coffers) but, by virtue of their size and the population density they create, they also place significant demands on the Country's infrastructure. City residents derive great gains simply by living close to these employment centers.

2) The removal of commercial tax income unequally impacts County residents.  The formation of new cities such as Brookhaven, or annexation plans such as those proposed by the City of Decatur, (which targets Suburban Plaza and Emory Commons shopping centers) reduces the County's income via commercial property. To cope, the County must increase property taxes, reduce services, and find additional economies. Ms. Hunt's article addresses some changes already being considered (closing a police precinct).

How much of a shortfall is the County facing? Per the AJC:

... Cuts would need to be deep to cover the spread the county already expects. DeKalb projects to start its budget on Jan. 1 with 7 percent less to spend than this year’s $557 million budget. Adjusting for another year of likely property value drops and health insurance increases could further erode the budget.

The formation of Brookhaven alone will cost about $25 million in lost property taxes, business fees and other taxes. If voters just outside Brookhaven’s borders agree to be annexed into Chamblee in November, DeKalb stands to lose an estimated $5 million more.

3) Nearby annexation targets

How would City of Decatur's commercial annexation goals impact the County? Per a document posted on the CoD's website, which the Decatur-Avondale Patch summarizes, Decatur would wind up with

Added population: 2,028 (2010 census was 19,237 for the current city).
Added number of students in the City Schools of Decatur: 230 to start with, 400-430 in eight-10 years (Current student population is 3,627).
Added property tax for city government: About $1 million yearly, without exemptions.
Added property tax for city schools: About $1.7 million yearly, without exemptions.
Total added value: $175,879,561 billion (About $62.8 billion in land, $113.1 billion in buildings.)
Added costs for city government and the school system: Not determined.

This paints a different picture from another document in CoD's annexation page [see questions 20 and 21] that minimizes the impact to the County by saying that annexation lightens DeKalb County's service burden. What does it mean for a municipality to "gain" such 

When City of Decatur (yr. 2011 population of 19,555) sequesters commercial property tax from DeKalb County (yr. 2011 population of 699,893), it is not exactly an equal exchange for all County residents. Another
The article highlights another disturbing reality: the need for better planning. In order to fully understand the situation, we (whether city or county residents) need accurate figures of existing vs. projected needs, and well-considered plans for addressing shortfalls. But the AJC warns us that

... One outside observer said any major changes need to be done only when DeKalb takes time to do some math that it, and other metro counties, don’t do. Simple but time-consuming calculations would reveal how much it costs, per taxpayer, to have a police officer on patrol or keep a library open, said Barbara Neuby, a professor of public administration at Kennesaw State University. 

“If you can’t answer those kinds of questions, you have bigger problems than income,” Neuby said. Neuby has offered to train officials in any county in the math that needs to go into such calculations. So far, no one in DeKalb has taken her up on it... continue reading @ AJC

Is there anything we can do?

Map of property assessment changes (2011-2012)

via CHCA website...

Commissioner Rader shares a map highlighting changes in county residential property assessments for 2011-2012. Visit the CHCA website to view a full-size map and read the rest of Commissioner Rader's statement.

This image highlights changes to our neighborhood; see CHCA link for full-size county map.

60% success rate for DeKalb property tax appeals [AJC]

The AJC reviewed finalized tax appeals for 11 Metro Atlanta counties and DeKalb appealers had some of the highest success rates, at 60%. Other notables: Clayton, Fayette and Gwinnett (75-80%),  Cherokee (60%), Fulton (57%), Henry and Forsyth (56%). "Success" reflects a 10%+ reduction relative to the tax bill being appealed.

Dissatisfied owners can seek a reduction in value through three procedural levels. First they appeal to the local board of tax assessors. If they don’t get what they think is fair, they can turn to a board of equalization, a citizen panel that conducts formal hearings. If they’re still not satisfied, they can appeal to Superior Court.

See the AJC article for recommendations of what documents to bring to your appeals hearing.

The appeal deadline for DeKalb is July 14.  Follow this link for  instructions on how to appeal in DeKalb county.

Commissioner Rader explains how to file a property tax appeal

Commissioner Jeff Rader offers a very informative response to the recent, confusing-to-many property tax statements that DeKalb County issued recently. In his statement, he explains how to file for an appeal:

See http://www.commissionerrader.com/reader-county-news/items/id-2012-property-assessment-notices.html

Update: AJC reports on puzzling property tax assessments in DeKalb County.