Fulton Property Tax Court Hearing Set For Nov. 3

ATLANTA, GA -- A Superior Court judge will consider Fulton County's petition to begin collecting property taxes after the state has thrown a wrench into its annual process. The hearing to consider the petition for the order to authorize immediate and temporary collection of taxes will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3.

Judge Alan C. Harvey will take up the case in courtroom 4A at the courthouse. The order was filed soon after Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand was notified by the state Department of Revenue that it could not accept the county's 2017 tax digest.

In its amended petition, which was filed Friday, Fulton County argues the temporary collection order is the "only remedy available to address the exigency of the circumstances -- to begin the billing and collection process so that Fulton County, the cities, school systems and community improvement development districts can realize tax revenue in 2017 and 2018."

Unless the court grants the order, the county's governing body -- the Board of Commissioners -- will not be able to pay its debts; salaries of county employees, government officials or other people entitled to receive compensation; "maintain an orderly and normal function of county business and government affairs;" and maintain a desirable credit rating, among other outcomes, the petition states.

See also: State Rejects 2017 Fulton County Tax Digest

In the letter addressed to the tax commissioner, the state said it can't approve the 2017 digest because it's based upon assessments that were either improperly issued, appear to be "deficient" and "taxpayer appeal rights from those assessments appear to have been truncated."

The 2017 notices, the state recalls, were mailed to property owners on May 19, and indicated an appeal deadline of July 3 -- a date that was later changed to July 10. As readers may well remember, Fulton County commissioners on June 21 approved a resolution requesting the Board of Assessors to roll back the digest to 2016 levels. The Board of Assessors complied, and the county released a second round of assessment notices on Aug. 4 and set an appeal deadline of Sept. 18.

The state notes that since two round of notices and appeal deadlines were issued by the county, it's possible that many taxpayers "did not timely exercise their appeal rights and not all appeals were properly accounted for to determine whether the appeals exceeded the threshold" outlined in state code. It also questioned whether the Board of Assessors had the legal authority to roll back assessments to the 2016 level and send a second round of notices.

The state also charges that assessments for residential properties appear to be deficient, as the level of assessment on residential and agricultural property fell below the 10-percent deviation allowed under state law while assessments on commercial and public utility properties were recorded at higher levels.

Former Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves, a candidate in the Atlanta mayoral race who pushed for a call to rescind the 2017 notices, said he and his former colleagues decided it was in the best interest to provide "immediate relief" to the thousands of homeowners who were close to losing their homes due to high property tax assessments and high tax bills.

"The Georgia Department of Revenue was well aware of this effort and gave the county the 'green light' for Fulton County to find a solution," Eaves said Friday in a statement. "Our goal from the very beginning was to provide real tax relief in stages."

The Board of Commissioners, Eaves added, hosted town hall meetings where they engaged thousands of residents who expressed their support of the freeze.

"This is a real-life problem, not a theory to be discussed in front of a camera with salacious sound bites," he said. "People needed a solution, and I provided that with the unanimous support and buy-in of my former colleagues on the Fulton County Commission."

Candidates seeking to succeed Eaves as Fulton County chair also weighed in on the latest wrinkle in the months-long fiasco. Gabriel Sterling, a Sandy Springs City Council member, said the state's decision was "always the likely outcome given state law."

"The lack of uniformity alone made the band-aid fix that the Commission passed, based on a tenuous 1880's law, an unstable solution at best,” he added, noting there are many people and institutions that are "victims of the chaos surrounding this year’s property tax collections."

"These tax bills have had millage rates attached based on that digest and passed by all of the jurisdictions and they are ready to be mailed," Sterling continued. "If they choose another route, with a different digest, we will see further delays and mounting problems for both taxpayers and governments alike."

On her Facebook page, fellow Fulton chairman candidate Keisha Waites said she was "deeply concerned" about the state not approving the digest. Any delay in property tax collections, she added, could severely impact basic government services.

She also said she'd like to work with her colleagues and state legislators to bring about meaningful property tax reform.

"I look forward to being a part of the solution to bring meaningful tax relief and find permanent solutions streamlining the appeal/dispute process should families and business owners have merit to dispute or disagree with their property tax assessments," she added.

Editor's note: Patch has reached out to Robb Pitts, the former Fulton County commissioner also running in the race to become chairman, for a statement about these developments. We are waiting to hear back from him.

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