Judge Rejects Bid To Halt Fulton County Tax Increase

By Kristal Dixon

A Cobb County Superior Court judge has sided with Fulton County in a bid to prevent the county from implementing a 17-percent tax increase.

Senior Judge G. Grant Brantley rejected an injunction filed by current and former lawmakers to prevent the property tax increase, but did not rule on whether the county’s millage rate increase was legal, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Plaintiffs and Republican State Representatives Jan Jones of Milton, Harry Geisinger of Roswell, Lynne Riley of Johns Creek, Joe Wilkinson of Atlanta, Chuck Martin of Alpharetta and Wendell Willard of Sandy Springs all filed the suit, which claimed the increase violates House Bill 604, which prohibited Fulton County from raising property taxes until January 2015.

Former State Representative Edward Lindsey of Buckhead also signed onto the lawsuit.

The county argued the Georgia General Assembly overstepped its authority when it limited the county’s ability to raise taxes.

The commissioners in August voted 4-3 to raise the millage rate to 11.781 mills from 10.211 mills. A home valued at $275,000 will pay an additional $140 in property taxes while a home valued at $375,000 would pay $263 more in taxes.

The H.B. 604 also required a super majority vote — five of the seven Fulton commissioners — to increase the property tax rate after January 2015. The legislation was based upon a 1951 local constitutional amendment that gives the Georgia General Assembly “broad authority” on the time and place and the amount Fulton County can levy for ad valorem taxes.

The amendment was reauthorized by the state legislature in 1987. The amendment only affects Fulton, and the state legislature has no similar authority in place for other counties.

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