Bragging Rights or Just Overtaxation in Suwanee?
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.)
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