Decatur Set To Lower Millage Rate, But Rising Home Values Will Still Increase Taxes Overall
Decatur Metro | May 18, 2016 | 9:45 am
Decatur’s Communication Specialist Renae Madison sends along this announcement…
At their regular meeting on May 16, 2016, the Decatur City Commission adopted a tentative millage rate of 10.68 mills for general operations, capital improvements and downtown development authority operations. This is a reduction from the 2015 millage rate of 11.08 mills; however due to property reassessments, this will represent an average increase of 2.91% in property taxes. This increase is consistent with new development and home sale data tracked by the City. The State’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights requires that this increase be advertised. For property that was not reassessed, there should be a decrease in property taxes.
The Decatur City Commission will hold public hearings regarding this issue on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, June 13, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.; and, Monday, June 20, 2016 at 7:30pm. The final millage will be set at the Decatur City Commission meeting scheduled for Monday, June 20, 2016. All meetings are held in the City Commission Meeting room, Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, Decatur. For more information, contact Meredith Roark, Budget & Performance Measurement Manager or Andrea Arnold, Assistant City Manager at (404) 370-4102 or visit the City’s website at www.decaturga.com/budget.
Photo courtesy of City of Decatur website
Good on you, COD! Now if we could just get Dekalb County to follow suit. Last year they increased our assessed value by 67%, yes in a single year! And they did not change the millage rates so our tax bill went up appropriately. And then residents are forced to ping pong back and forth between the Tax Assessor’s Office and the Tax Commissioner’s Office with no resolution between the two.
Perfect example of how government should and should not be done.
A lot of folks saw big jumps in assessed value in 2015, but most of them were undervalued to prior to that. If you listed your house today for the assessed value, do you think it would be under contract with multiple offers within a couple weeks? If a twister came tonight and leveled your house, the bare lot would very likely sell almost immediately for something near $350k. The large year over year increases are jolting, but If it’s being assessed at or near FMV, then it’s hard to fault the Dekalb assessors office for doing their job.
No, I actually believe the Assessor’s Office isn’t at fault. It would be the Comissioner’s Office for not appropriately adjusting the millage rate for Dekalb. The property valuation I am not shocked at, but they are fully aware of what they were doing and that a near 70% YoY increase in taxes should not have taken place. The city is well aware of the situation and adjusted accordingly.
Dekalb did approve a mileage rate decrease for Decatur that will go into affect this year.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/city-residents-in-dekalb-get-a-tax-cut/nppP3/
Correct, but I am actually referring to an additional property that I own outside of the city limits. I don’t think they have addressed that yet, have they?
They did. http://www.peachpundit.com/2015/06/02/good-news-for-dekalb-homeowners-no-really/