MillageRate.com

Over 99% of Georgia’s City Councils, County Commissions and School Boards fail to simply do the math.

Suwanee, GA (Gwinnett County) leaders are boasting about the recent confirmation of their AA-minus bond rating by Fitch Ratings. Knowing what we do about Suwanee’s property taxation practices, we looked at their tax rates for the past five years.

What we found surprised and disappointed us—as the city’s debt millage decreased each year, the City Council arbitrarily increased the M&O millage rate to maintain the same overall rate… apparently with no consideration for the actual cost of government for its property owners:

As you, the Suwanee property owner, paid down the public debt, your tax rate should have decreased accordingly; at least, as long as the City Council held the line on the cost of government. Instead, city leaders maintained the same arbitrary total rate and, in essence, rolled your overpayment into M&O. They have essentially used the decrease in the city’s debt responsibilities to fund increases in the cost of government.

Bragging Rights or Just Overtaxation in Suwanee? | TalkGwinnett.com (Article archived. For a 2010 update on Suwanee’s property tax, click here.)

State Senator Chip Pearson has issued a press release to clarify just who is to blame for a significant jump in property tax bills this year. His publication exposes a primary problem with Georgia’s property tax code—state legislators who do not know what in the hell they are talking about.

Read more…

A two-year-old challenge to the homestead assessment `freeze` in Dade County, GA has finally gone to court. Superior Court Judge Brian House is expected to rule soon in a case that could set a precedence for ending unconstitutional assessment caps across the state.

Former County Commissioner Rex Blevins sued the county, alleging that the law that `freezes` a property’s value for tax purposes creates a special class of taxpayer, which is prohibited by the state Constitution.

We have published numerous articles on the harm to taxpayers inherent in the assessment caps.

Blevins and Townley made the argument during the hearing that granting a tax exemption to people eligible to apply for it in that year puts them in a favored class over those who buy later, offending standards of uniformity. “What you’re basically saying is, if you’re living right here and you’re voting right now, you’re going to get a tax break and we’re going to take care of you, compared to other folks that come in and buy property later,” said Townley.

The Dade County Sentinel

Porterdale, a small town adjacent to Covington in Newton County, Georgia, is considering a small loan to tide it over until tax revenues start rolling in. The long-term hope is that the city can avoid a tax of almost double last year’s rate:

Fox said if the council approved this measure, they would not need to adopt a millage rate of 14.26 as proposed earlier in the month as a solution to the budget gap. Instead the city would adopt a rollback rate of 9.156, which is actually higher than the current millage rate, but would not result in higher tax bills because of depressed property values.

Porterdale discussing tax anticipation loan

Citing an ongoing dispute Service Delivery Strategies dispute with the county’s 15 cities, the Gwinnett County Commission refused to adopt a 2009 millage rate, leaving the responsibility to a Superior Court judge. Tax bills for the county, cities and school system are already delayed by a month:

At the court hearing, the County Commission, in essence, asked the court to set its millage rate for them, a clear abdication of their fiduciary responsibility to the people of Gwinnett. Judge Hamil refused; he essentially told county officials that he would probably approve the “revenue neutral” rate if the Commission would do its job and formally recommend it.

County Commission, Just Do Something! | TalkGwinnett.com