Atlanta property taxes: Values fall faster than tax bills

[marmar]

Atlanta property taxes: Values fall faster than tax bills
AJC special investigation: Property tax meltdown

By David Wickert and John Perry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Tax appraisers in five metro Atlanta counties cut home valuations by $17.8 billion this year as they tried to catch up with the tumbling real estate market and respond to pressure from taxpayers and lawmakers.

In many cases, it wasn’t enough.

For the second consecutive year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has compared hundreds of thousands of tax records to tens of thousands of home sales to determine whether county appraisals are in line with what property is actually worth. The newspaper found that the greatest disparity occurred in DeKalb County, where the typical appraisal exceeded market value by more than 25 percent. The reason: DeKalb failed to fully account for the kind of distressed sales that have become a huge part of the slumping real estate market. The analysis also found that:

● Clayton County cut residential tax valuations by 22 percent in 2010. But the county’s typical residential appraisal remained more than 7 percent above market value.

● Gwinnett cut residential appraisals by nearly 10 percent this year. But its typical appraisal was 2.5 percent too high.

● Typical appraisals in Cobb and Fulton were under market value. But even in these counties many homes were appraised too high.

The AJC’s findings on DeKalb didn’t surprise Patricia Benedict. The foreclosed house she bought in Tucker in May for $85,000 was valued by the county this year at $193,500. If the county appraised Benedict’s house at anywhere near what she paid for it, she would save hundreds of dollars on her $3,456 tax bill. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/business/atlanta-property-taxes-values-781069.html

[DCKit]

1. DC taxes are going through the roof.

Please help.

[jwirr]

2. We have a lot of people appealing their property taxes because of

the drop in value. I don't know if it is working.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. Appeals in Ga (Fulton at least) are time consuming, byzantine, and I think

unfairly done. If you know how to work the system, you get approved, if not, you don't. My neighbor 2 doors down lives in a house valued at 50K more than mine and pays the same county taxes. And the city tax is 1/3 of what I pay. Does that make sense? Is that fair? No.

[alex cross]

4. The cost of police, fire protection, libraries and parks,

schools and city and county management isn't going down. How can taxes needed to pay for them fall? I suppose the t-baggs just want to eliminate all services.

[Digit]

5. If you have a modest home, you may want to compare

Your assessment vs the assessments of your wealthier neighborhoods.

I could not get near the amount of my assessment if I were to sell my home, but have noticed the wealthier neighborhoods are more realistic in their valuations.

I am a broker, I should know.

They get us coming and going.