Fulton County commissioners failed after five tries Wednesday to set a new property tax rate, a lapse county officials said was unprecedented and that will have legal and financial repercussions.
The last attempt, to keep it the same at 8.87 mills, failed by a 3-2 vote with two commissioners absent. That means they can’t try again until their next meeting Aug. 21, according to County Attorney Y. Soo Jo.
Jo told commissioners the tax office has to meet other governments’ legal deadlines to send out tax bills, while both Finance Director Hakeem Oshikoya and Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand said the delay would negatively affect the amount collected by the end of the year.
Commissioners deadlocked on whether to keep the rate steady or cut it slightly. In June, they essentially ruled out raising the rate, but could still lower it.
Property taxes are the county’s main source of revenue. A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Commissioners stressed that the county’s General Fund rate is not the only property tax that will appear on homeowners’ bills. There are also school district taxes, city taxes and some special district taxes. The county does not set those rates, although the composite bills go out from the Fulton tax commissioner’s office.
If the rate stays steady or even declines slightly, property owners are still likely to see their individual bills increase due to higher assessed values. The average property valuation in Fulton County went up 6.35% this year, according to Oshikoya. It’s a substantial rise, but far less than the year before, Oshikoya said.
Even that projected revenue increase is expected to fall several million dollars short of the budget approved in January. The difference will come from several cost-cutting measures and reserve funds.
To keep average bills the same, the county would have to pass a “rollback rate” compensating for higher valuation. That would leave a $38 million hole in the budget, Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore said.
Commissioner Natalie Hall moved unsuccessfully to do just that.
Commissioner Bob Ellis said the county has cut its tax rate 26% over the past decade, and the 8.87 mill proposal would keep it flat for the third year in a row. He said cities and school districts should look at providing the same exemptions for seniors that the county does.
Commissioner Dana Barrett said a rate cut would impact necessary spending, such as repairs to the county jail.
The commission also approved $3.1 million in repairs to various jail systems Wednesday, and expects to spend much more when a thorough review of the building’s condition is complete next year.
Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman said a rollback would require cuts to county services.
Abdur-Rahman and Ellis both brought up Hall’s affair with her former chief of staff, which resulted in a harassment complaint that cost the county nearly $1 million. Hall lost a June runoff election and will leave office at the end of this year.
Commissioner Bridget Thorne said she opposed expanding any county service programs.
“Enable our nonprofits to step up. Let them take care of seniors,” she said.
Editor’s Note: This story was revised to accurately reflect Thorne’s position that county social service programs should not be expanded. An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated her position on those programs.
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