The soaring housing costs already squeezing renters and homebuyers in Cobb County will soon be felt by longtime homeowners in the form of higher property taxes.
The county Tax Assessors Office last month notified the owners of more than 166,000 residential properties that their home values are going up in the latest tax assessment, with higher property tax bills likely to follow in August. That represents 68% of all residential parcels in Cobb County, and the most widespread increase in years.
Credit: ArLuther Lee
Credit: ArLuther Lee
As a result, even if elected officials across the county keep millage rates the same when they approve their budgets this summer, most homeowners should expect to pay higher property taxes this year.
Stephen White, the county’s chief appraiser, said the average increase was $66,091, nearly double the $36,000 average annual increase over the prior four years.
“Our goal is to put the fair market value on the property: what we feel you could sell the home for if you were to put the property on the market,” White said. “...This is not a Cobb County situation. Really, it’s a national situation.”
High demand and supply chain problems in the wake of the pandemic have collided with an already insufficient supply of homes to send housing prices soaring nationwide. But the Atlanta area has been particularly hard hit, attracting more cash purchases from large investment firms than any other metropolitan area in 2021.
In Cobb County, the average home sale price rose nearly 15% in 2021 to $396,000, up from $345,000 in 2020, White said. That’s more than double the $184,000 that the typical home sold for in 2012.
The rise in home values will be a boon to government coffers at a time when the Cobb Board of Commissioners is weighing a large budget increase and pay hikes for public workers in order to combat a public sector staffing shortage. Departments initially requested $1.2 billion in spending, but a final budget proposal won’t be presented to the board until later this month.
By then, homeowners should have a better idea of what their property tax bill will look like. The Board of Commissioners is required to advertise the proposed millage rate in the Marietta Daily Journal by the end of June, will final adoption of the tax rate and budget scheduled for July.
To look up your property tax assessment, check comparable sale prices in your neighborhood or file an appeal, visit cobbassessor.org or call 770-528-3100. Appeals are due within 45 days of when the notice went out.
