The cities of Smithville, Alexandria, and Liberty will have to share more of the costs for county property reappraisals and personal property audits beginning July 1.
The county commission Monday night voted 11-2 to establish fees for the cities but to keep the municipalities from having to pay the full amount this year the costs will be phased in over a three year period. All voted in favor except commissioners Kevin Robinson and Julie Young. Commissioner Anita Puckett was absent.
Based on 2016 numbers, Smithville’s entire portion would have been a total of $16,232 ($14,718 for real property parcels and $1,514 for its share of personal property auditing). Liberty’s costs would have totaled $1,301 ($1,295 for real property parcels and $6.00 for personal property). Alexandria’s total share would have been $2,834 ($2,814 real property and $20.00 for personal property).
The total extra revenue to the county derived from these fees would have been $20,367 this year.
To lessen the burden on the cities, the county commission adopted a motion by second district member Joe Johnson to charge the cities only one third of their share this year. The cities will have to pay two thirds of their share next year and the entire amount of their share will be due the following year and from then on.
Smithville will be required to pay this year approximately $5,410. Liberty’s share this year will be about $434. Alexandria will be billed for approximately $944 this year.
The new cost sharing fees will be implemented with passage of the 2017-18 fiscal year county budget in July.
Although DeKalb County has never enforced it, a state law was passed in 1989 requiring municipalities that collect a city property tax to ante up more for the county’s costs of real property reappraisals and audits of personal property, unless an agreement is reached to waive the charge.
Mayors Jimmy Poss in Smithville, Dwight Mathis in Liberty, and Bennett Armstrong in Alexandria sent letters to County Mayor Tim Stribling and to the County Commission asking that the county waive the fees saying they are struggling with their own budgets and that the proposed assessment fees are “unreasonable and unnecessary”. The mayors argue that city residents, who are also county taxpayers, already pay for the costs of county reappraisals and that an extra cost sharing fee to them is unfair.
In the letter, the mayors wrote, “We the mayors of the City of Smithville, Town of Liberty, and Town of Alexandria would like to state our opposition to a proposal requiring the towns to pay one half of the reappraisal dues within the town limits of each municipality. Each municipality feels that the attempt to collect this fee is both unreasonable and unnecessary. Each municipality is struggling with their own budgets and do not need another assessment for the citizens. Therefore we respectfully request that the county commission refrain from approving this reassessment fee against the towns,” the letter stated.
Under state law, local costs of reappraisal of real properties within a city shall be paid one half by the county and one half by the city, unless there is an agreement between the city and county to waive the fees. Any city paying one half of local costs of reappraisal shall pay those costs directly to the county government with jurisdiction over the property being reappraised and shall pay those costs during the fiscal year in which the reappraisal is finalized. The cities of Smithville, Alexandria, and Liberty would be affected since they collect city property taxes. Dowelltown does not have a city property tax rate and would not be affected.
State law also requires cities to be responsible for sharing in the county’s costs of contracted personal property audits.
Under state law, cities have the option of paying the real property reappraisal costs on a yearly basis or in a lump sum in the fifth year of the reappraisal cycle.
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