Comments on: AJC: DeKalb May Raise Taxes By 4 Mills as Property Values Decline

By: WOHNA Tri-Girl

WOHNA Tri-Girl — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:27:35 +0000

I did have my home re-evaluated this year and it was approved. It was previously valued at over $150,000 above any other comp property in my area. Mind you, this took a 13 month battle and an attorney! But it was finally reduced to my purchase price.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:49:20 +0000

LIBERATE DECATUR!

oh man, if Decatur could leave DeKalb county and have all of the DeKalb offices moved outside of the city, i’d be in heaven!

By: DEM

DEM — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:59:47 +0000

OK, I’ve already spent way too much time on this, but here is what I think I have found:

In the 2010 budget they suddenly took a huge portion of what had always been considered property taxes and threw it into a category simply described as “Other.” This amounts to roughly $50 million/year. They did not disclose this change very well in the budget book, so you have to read closely to find it and compare the books year over year. They don’t explain why they made this change. Or at least, I can’t find the explanation if they did offer one.

The end result is that using their data to make year over year comparsions is very difficult. The total revenue numbers appear to be consistent, but the way they break it up is not consistent at all. So when they are talking about property taxes, it’s hard to know exactly what they mean, since they appear to have changed the definition quite a bit from 2009 to 2010, and presumably beyond that.

I don’t really know if this has any real implications for the current debate about millage rates. But I will tell you that it does make it pretty hard for your average citizen to get a grasp on what the county is collecting and from what sources. Perhaps that is intentional. Perhaps not.

By: Squirrel-headed Bastard

Squirrel-headed Bastard — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:40:02 +0000

Count me in, too, DEM. But I’ll require an outrageously lucrative consulting contract.

By: DEM

DEM — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:53:55 +0000

Yours would be the only vote I would receive, DTR.

By: Decatur's Token Republican

Decatur's Token Republican — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:50:50 +0000

DEM,

We’re going to need your real name so we know who to vote for in the next DeKalb County CEO election. I can’t order my yard sign from cafepress.com until I know.

Looking forward to reading the budget numbers once you track them down. Then again, maybe I’m NOT looking forward to it…

By: DEM

DEM — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:25:27 +0000

The state has done a much better job than DeKalb Co on belt-tightening, and unfortunately for many, pay freezes or cuts have been part of that. It is a clear failure of leadership for DeKalb to freeze or cut pay for some — especially when those folks seem to be core government service like police and fire — while central office functionaries get not just raises, but huge raises. This at a time when we have 9% unemployment nationwide, and even pratice sector employees have had pay cuts, layoffs, the whole nine yards.

Ellis needs to go, and so do many commissioners. How they let the county’s finances get to this stage is hard to explain and, in any event, inexcusable. It will be worse still if they ram through this very large tax increase.

I still haven’t figured out why the budget book numbers don’t jibe. Yet another mystery in the mismanagement of our county, especially since they are paying so many people so much money to get this stuff right. Sigh.

By: cranky old timer

cranky old timer — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:16:54 +0000

Ditto on the clip, thanks for posting DEM. BTW, many many of us are in “pay freeze” mode in this climate. We may deserve pay and merit increases, but we ain’t getting them. I work “for the state” (ok, no wisecracks!) and we haven’t seen a pay raise in more than two years, not even a cost of living raise. So the county needs to wait on these promotions. This is yet another bad publicity move for Burrell Ellis.