FULTON COUNTY, Ga.,None — Fulton County homeowners could see a property tax increase, at least if one county leader has his way.
Commissioner Tom Lowe told his colleagues Wednesday it's time to raise taxes to help balance the budget.
"We may be the only county in the state … that hasn't raised taxes in 15 years," Lowe said.
County finance officials revealed Wednesday the county collected $534 million in revenues last year, but spent $558.4 million, for an operating loss of $24 million. Officials said that was better than expected, but that 2012 wasn't looking much better.
"That is clearly going to catch up with us," said Commissioner Rob Pitts. "We have a responsibility to the taxpayers, and I don't believe that overall we're doing a very good job."
Lowe told his colleagues with high unemployment rate and new businesses not opening, the county needs some breathing room, and a 0.6 millage rate hike could do that.
"We must, ladies and gentleman, we must pass a tax increase and the time to do it is now," Pitts said.
Commissioners directed county finance officials to determine how much an increase would affect homeowners, but they took no action on Lowe's comments. A vote will happen Jan. 18.
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Fulton County Taxpayer's Foundation Executive Director Barbara Payne told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik the commission needs to consider other options.
"The taxpayers of Fulton County, we're not an equity line you can tap into whenever you spend incorrectly and you need extra cash," Payne told Petchenik.
Payne said the commissioner needs to follow the recommendations of a Blue Ribbon panel released in 2006, which suggested ways to balance the budget, including privatizing some county services, while reducing Health and Human Services costs.
"I think it's really insulting and disrespectful during the worst recession, since the Great Depression, to put this on the burden of the taxpayers," Payne said. "It's just not right."
Roswell homeowner Todd Emerson, who also works in real estate, said raising the millage rate would be detrimental to an already fragile housing market.
"I'd encourage them to look elsewhere before they just go ahead and raise property taxes," he said. "That's the easy thing to do."