I actually asked Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss this question around this time last year after the last go-round with wacky DeKalb County tax assessments.  She confirmed to me last week that her explanation is still up-to-date.

The short answer is “Yes”.

The long answer…well, it’s a bit complicated so I’ll let her explain the process for herself…

In terms of the tax assessment issue, there were actually several things going on at the time the decision was made to use DeKalb County. One, the City was performing what is considered a county function in Georgia (tax assessment) under special local legislation that as I understand it, only applied to the City of Decatur and it was set to expire. Second, the cost of keeping the tax assessment function was increasing and we were going to have to invest money into systems, people and training in order to keep up to date. Third, there was a vocal group of commercial property owners who felt that their properties were overvalued and wanted the City out of the business. Lastly, it is also my understanding that a number of City Commissioners at the time did not feel comfortable serving as the Board of Assessment Appeals. However, I was not the City Manager at the time so I may not know everything that was happening.

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