Comments on: Avondale & Decatur Residents May Receive Revised Tax Assessments

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:43:06 +0000

How is this story in the ajc related to this?

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/fulton-official-personally-profits-930675.html

In the story the reporter indicates that the dekalb county assessor is also paid personally for services provided to some dekalb cities. Who does Decatur pay for tax services and how much do we pay?

Quoting from the story “DeKalb Tax Commissioner Claudia Lawson made $233,176 last year, including $77,506 for collecting taxes for cities.”

By: DEM

DEM — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:59:00 +0000

I’m all for low taxes, believe me. But they need to be low through duly-enacted low millage rates, not because some people have received vastly under-market appraisals.

I posted on free-for-all Friday that my appraisal is over three times what I paid just 8 months ago. I have to appeal that, and in researching my appeal I looked up appraisals for comparable homes in Avondale Estates. Many truly are shockingly low. I won’t mention any particulars but I saw one modern and impecable 5100 square foot house appraised for only $315,000. That’s ridiculous. I saw another that sold for over 500k in Sept of last year appraised for under $200k. Now how DeKalb could screw up that badly is a mystery to me. But hey, they apparently think my house is worth way over $1 million, so I guess anything is possible.

This appraisal fiasco is yet another reason why Ellis’ proposed 4 mil increase should go nowhere. Start collecting the taxes actually due before you mess around with the rates.

By: Occi

Occi — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:55:11 +0000

+ 1

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:56:20 +0000

Calvin Hicks was wrong. This was not the first year the county had to take distressed sales into account when determining appraisal values. Last year DeKalb did not take them into account initially when they sent out assessment notices. It was then brought to the attention of the appraisal department that state law required them to take distressed sales into account. The county then had to send out revised assessment notices one month later. Although it’s uncertain how many values were properly adjusted in that one month’s time.

It’s truly amazing that Hicks would say what he said. It makes me think he’s telling a bald faced lie or else he is incredibly ignorant.

By: karass

karass — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:51:41 +0000

Oh, and if I thought my higher tax assessment was going towards para-professionals, that would be sweet–bittersweet, but sweet. However, if it’s going towards another promotion in Central Office when the teachers are getting a pittance of an increase after frozen salaries, I start to become like my no-government Dad and begrudge every penny. My biggest fear is that residents in Decatur will get frustrated enough with CSD that they passively aggressively move to private school and/or stop supporting adequate taxation. We could become Avondale Estates with nice homes, nice lake and pool, good commute to downtown or CDC/Emory but lousy public schools. (I realize that the DeKalb County School System is a whole other dynamic but it used to be the premiere public school system years ago, not CSD. It could flip again.)