ATLANTA — A new study indicates Georgia is among the leaders when it comes to property tax hikes, and the rise will continue in the coming months.
In the Grant Park neighborhood, homeowners like Nancy Mitchell welcome part of the trend sweeping neighborhoods all over metro Atlanta. However, with soaring property values are soaring taxes.
“I get why they’re doing it because our houses are worth more,” she said. “But I worry about the people who can’t afford that jump and have lived here for years and years and years.”
Inflation strikes again.
According to a report by data analysts at ATTOM, the average property tax bill in Georgia jumped 11% between 2020 and 2021. It’s one of the biggest jumps in the nation but not a surprise when you consider that property values in Georgia jumped 43% over that same time period. Metro Atlanta’s average property tax bill jumped 10% between 2020 and 2021 while values increased 42%.
Emory University Business Professor Roy Black explained as home values pull taxes up, it can be a shock.
“It’s really hurting people who bought their homes 10 or 12 years ago and they’re of moderate income, and their taxes have doubled or tripled,” Black said.
Fulton County homeowners pay the most in the state. Property tax bills there average a little over $5,000, reflecting an 18% jump in taxes that doesn’t compare to the 46% increase in property values.
Black also pointed out that inflation will influence future property tax bills.
“Everything going on is pushing the cost of government up, and it’s logical to think taxes are going to keep going up until we get a handle on the expenses,” he said
Meanwhile, as much as Mitchell loves that property values in Grant Park have increased, she said it has driven property taxes high enough.
Tax assessments are lagging behind rising property values, and will likely continue to go up in 2022.