Fulton BOC Announces Proposed Property Tax Increase

ATLANTA, GA — The Fulton County Commission has announced its plans to increase general fund property taxes it will levy this year by 7.9 percent over the rollback millage rate.

Legislation adopted by the commission also notes it will set a millage rate calculated to only "generate enough revenue sufficient to cover the 2018 budget," the county said.

The increase will result in the county setting the general fund millage rate at 10.38 mills, an increase of .76 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate would be no more than 9.62 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $125,000 would be about $15.20, and the proposed tax increase for a non-homestead property with a fair market value of $275,000 is roughly $83.60, according to the county.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here)

Each year the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county shows there's been an increase in the fair market value, the board of tax assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This process is called a reassessment.

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year's digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. Since the budget proposed by the County Commission requires a millage rate that's higher than the rollback rate, it has to hold three public hearings before setting the final rate.

Residents are encouraged to express their thoughts on the increase at hearings scheduled for 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. July 11 and 10 a.m. Aug. 1 at the Government Center Assembly Hall at 141 Pryor Street in Atlanta and through video conference at South Service Center Auditorium at 5600 Stonewall Tell Road in College Park and the North Fulton Service Center Auditorium at 7741 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.

County leaders are scheduled to set the millage rates at the Board of Commissioner's Aug. 1 meeting, which will begin at 10 a.m. at the Government Center Assembly Hall.

Image via Shutterstock