Error causes inflated tax assessments

ROSWELL, Ga. — Fulton County's chief appraiser told Channel 2 Action News that a data entry mistake caused inflated tax estimates for over 27,000 Roswell homeowners.

"We failed to catch that we had misplaced a decimal point and that's why the notices went out with the wrong estimates on them," said Chief Appraiser David Fitzgibbon.

Fitzgibbon told Channel 2's Tom Regan the error was made on the Roswell bond millage rate, which is calculated into the city's property tax rate.

The misplaced decimal resulted in an estimated city tax bill 10 times higher than the actual number. For example, an estimated tax bill of $5,400 should have been $540.

"It's an easy calculation to correct if they realize that last number should not have been there. Of course, we know it's a shocking thing to get, and we know it's embarrassing to us," Fitzgibbons said.

The city of Roswell was notified of the error and will send out accurate property tax notices sometime in August.

WSBTV