ATLANTA,None — At least 100 Fulton County taxpayers have signed a petition authorizing the Fulton County Taxpayer Foundation to file a lawsuit, to remove the members of the county's Board of Assessors.
They say the board continues to give huge tax breaks to commercial developers, in violation of a Georgia Supreme Court ruling.
"The bottom line is if commercial buildings are getting tax cuts available to them, then that means everybody else is feeling the burden," says Fulton County Taxpayer Foundation spokesperson Barbara Payne.
The taxpayer foundation says the Board of Assessors is allowing some developers to pay half the taxes they should, in the name of economic development. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that the values weren't being calculated properly, and the companies' tax breaks were too big.
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"I think it's totally unfair, it's really up to us the taxpayer to really kind of be heard and have them pay their fair share," said Fulton County homeowner Tim Etherington.
He says he's fed up with the county continuously overvaluing his home, "Each year the taxes just go up and up and up."
Etherington fought his property assessment in court, and won, lowering his value and his tax bill by thousands of dollars, even though the Board of Assessors stood by the original assessment.
The five-member board oversees property values, which help determine how much you pay in taxes.
"The Board of Tax Assessors is supposed to just assess values and not sort of be collecting the revenue and generating for the city and county because they're bankrupt," said Etherington.
For years the Fulton County Taxpayer Foundation has accused the county of trying to inflate property values to offset deficits. Now, they plan to ask a judge to remove each member of the Board of Assessors, for not doing their job properly.
"In our opinion it's a slam dunk. You're not following the law, so you should go," said Payne.
Investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer reached one member of the Board of Assessors, who said he wasn't worried about the petitions at all. He told Fleischer everything the members have done has been above-board, and with the advice of their legal counsel.
WSBTV
