Property tax reform bill seeks residents' input

DALTON, Ga. -- Proposed property tax reform would give residents more say in their home's assessed value, but implementing it would hit local governments in the wallet, local leaders say.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, introduced Senate Bill 346 this week, a 47-page bill that proposes more than 40 "comprehensive" changes to property tax law.

Sen. Rogers said the bill's goal is to ensure values are accurate and "make the system as fair and transparent as possible."

A key element of Sen. Rogers' bill would require counties to send out assessment notices every year and would give property owners a year to appeal. Now, assessments are often sent out only when appraisals change and owners have about 45 days to appeal.

Gordon County Commission Chairman Alvin Long said annual notices and a year-long appeals process would result in much more work and a "dramatic increase" to the county budget.

"The property owner needs to have every opportunity to appeal his assessment, but the way it's done in this bill will be such a burden on the counties that I don't think we can accomplish it," said Mr. Long.

With the downturn in the home values over the past couple of years, homeowners were being stunned by local governments' property tax appraisal of their homes, Sen. Rogers said Wednesday.

"We began hearing a lot of complaints from property owners that their assessed value was considerably more than what they felt market value was and then there were some studies that certainly back that up," he said.

Some property owners near Atlanta were paying 300 to 400 percent more in property taxes than they would have owed if their home appraisals more accurately reflected fair market value, he said.

"One of the biggest frustrations that the average taxpayer has is that they open up their tax bill ... and if it's not the correct value and they never received a notice of assessment, they have no right to appeal," Sen. Rogers said.

Gordon County resident Norris Sexton said annual assessments and year-round appeals would yield positive results for taxpayers.

"That would give people a greater opportunity to find out they could (appeal)," said Mr. Sexton, chairman of Citizens for Good Government in Gordon County, which formed in response to recent countywide appraisals.

Dalton Mayor David Pennington said state leaders "probably need to pay more attention to their own budget and quit worrying about local governments' budgets," adding that he's already working to reduce city property taxes.

Beth Brown, director of communications for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, and John Scott, executive director of Georgia Association of Assessing Officials, said their organizations favor some proposed reforms but are concerned about others, such as the year-long appeals process.