Mayors in three of DeKalb’s four municipalities are asking that the county commission not force their cities to pay more for the cost of property reappraisals, an expense that the county could have been charging them for 28 years.
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 in 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 have 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”.
Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell recently learned of the state law during a meeting of assessors and made County Mayor Stribling aware of it. Cantrell also shared what he learned with members of the county budget committee, the city mayors, and the entire county commission at Stribling’s request.
The county commission discussed the issue but took no action during its monthly meeting in May. However the county budget committee has recommended that projected revenue to be derived from the cities share be included in the 2017-18 budget which will be up for passage by the county commission in July. The county commission is expected to revisit the issue during its regular monthly meeting Monday night, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the courthouse.
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.
Based on 2016 numbers, Smithville’s portion would be $14,718 for real property parcels and $1,514 for its share of personal property auditing. Liberty’s costs would be $1,295 ( real property parcels) and $6.00 (personal property auditing). Alexandria’s share would be $2,814 (real property parcels) and $20.00 (personal property auditing).
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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