FLOWERY BRANCH – Mayor Mike Miller expressed his frustration with the Hall County Tax Assessor’s Office Thursday morning during the first of three state-mandated public hearings triggered by a property tax increase in the diminutive south Hall municipality.
The city council had just heard Finance Director Tammy Moon recommend that the millage rate remain the same as last year, 3.264 mils. (While the rate is the same an increase in property assessments means a net increase in property tax bills, hence the need for public hearings.)
Some members of the city council had hopes of lowering the rate in order to remain revenue neutral, but an unexpected re-evaluation of one property in particular by the Hall County Tax Assessor’s Office is forcing council members to rethink that move and assume a defensive posture.
The property receiving the attention is Tree Park Apartments. The upscale apartment complex had been appraised by the Hall County Tax Assessor’s Office at $31.5-million dollars in 2016, $27.6-million in 2015.
The 2017 appraisal skyrocketed to $61.5-million, an increase of nearly $30-million or roughly 95-percent.
“My problem is the bigger issue of the problems within the tax accessor’s office,” Miller said. “I don’t see how a property that’s been there for over ten years…can overnight double in value.”
“We’re living on a hope and prayer of an office that can’t even get an estimate right,” Miller added.
Moon was asked if she knew if the owners of Tree Park had appealed their tax appraisal with the county, hoping to get it reduced. Moon said she did not know.
Miller said that because the city council did not know if Tree Park would be granted a lower appraisal, compounded by the unknown of how much other revaluations granted by the Hall County Tax Assessor’s Office might affect their revenues, keeping the millage rate the same as last year was pragmatic.
“We could vote as a body to keep our millage rate at 3.264 and receive significantly less money,” Miller said.
He also chastised the Hall County Tax Assessor’s Office for errantly stating the millage rate on tax notices recently mailed to Flowery Branch property owners.
“Your estimate that was sent out had the millage rate from two (or three) years ago,” Miller said. “They haven’t updated that number in their software when they sent that out and it wasn’t checked before it went out.”
“Our problems, and our tax problems, are with the county tax accessors. It’s not with with this body (city council); we’re doing everything we can to keep things level.”
“There’s still a chance that in a month-and-a-half, when the appeals go through that we could be in a hole deeper than we are in right now. It’s a no win situation. ”
Councilman Fred Richards said, “I would hate to think how much money this city lost for having this property undervalued all these years.”
A second public hearing on the “tax increase" will occur at tonight's called meeting. Also on that agenda, consideration of the FY 2018 budget. Check back here for any updates coming out of tonight's meeting.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/6/542539/flowery-branch-council-pans-hall-county-tax-appraiserssays-it-creates-uncertainty