Property Tax Administration annual report FY 2013

Property Tax Administration Annual Report FY2013
------------------------------
January 2015
Georgia Department of Revenue 1800 Century Boulevard, NE, Atlanta, GA 30345 http://dor.ga.gov

Lynnette T. Riley
Commissioner

State of Georgia
Department of Revenue
1800 Century Boulevard Atlanta, Georgia 30345
(404) 417-2100

January 26, 2015
The Honorable Nathan Deal, Governor Members of the Georgia Legislature 100 State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Members of the General Assembly and Others:
This report has been developed by the Department of Revenue for the purpose of fulfilling the Commissioner's responsibility to provide the General Assembly with the impact of Property Tax Administration and continued enactment of laws created by legislation and administered by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The information contained in this report is provided pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. 48-5-349.5, 48-57.1, 48-5-7.4 and 48-5-7.7. It is hoped that this document will enhance understanding of Property Tax Administration in Georgia.
The staff of the Local Government Services Division and I look forward to working with you and are available to provide more information or clarification of this report upon request.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynnette T. Riley State Revenue Commissioner

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Table of Contents
Highlights of the Annual Report ............................................................ 1 Reporting Requirements ....................................................................... 5 Digest Review Procedures .................................................................... 6
Table 1: Review Year Counties Cited for Deficiencies ............................................................................. 7 Table 2: Non-Review Year Counties Assessed Additional State Tax ....................................................... 8 Figure 1: Average Level of Assessment ................................................................................................. 8 Figure 2: Average Level of Uniformity.......................................................................................................9 Figure 3: Average Level of Assessment Bias ........................................................................................... 9
Value and Revenue............................................................................. 10
Figure 4: Total Assessed Value .............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 5: Average Millage Rate ............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 6: Comparison of Total Revenue ................................................................................................. 11 Figure 7: 2012 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type .................................................................... 11 Figure 8: 2012 County Tax Revenue by Property Class.........................................................................12 Figure 9: Five-Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue ...................................................................... 12 Figure 10: 2012 School Tax Revenue by Property Class. ...................................................................... 13 Figure 11: Five-Year Comparison of Total School Tax Revenue ........................................................... 13 Figure 12: 2012 State Tax Revenue by Property Class..........................................................................14 Figure 13: Five-Year Comparison of State Tax Revenue ....................................................................... 14
Comparison of State Tax Collections to Digest................................... 15
Potential Tax Loss .................................................................................................................................. 15 Table 3: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2010 ................................................................... 16 Table 4: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2011 ................................................................... 22 Table 5: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2012 ................................................................... 28
Performance Reviews of County Boards of Tax Assessors................ 34
List of Counties Where Performance Reviews Occurred........................................................................35
Public Utilities ...................................................................................... 36
Figure 14: Change in Public Utility Digest Value. ................................................................................... 36 Figure 15: Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratios. ............................................. 37 Figure 16: Number of Public Utility Companies by Year ........................................................................ 37

Table 6: 2012 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios ..................................................................... 38
Preferential Agricultural Assessment .................................................. 42
Table 7: Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact..................................................................43 Table 8: Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2012..........................................................................44 Figure 17: Preferential Agricultural Total Tax Dollar. .............................................................................. 50 Figure 18: Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated ............................................................. 50
Conservation Use Valuation................................................................ 51
Table 9: Conservation Use Fiscal Impact. .............................................................................................. 52 Table 10: Conservation Use Valuation Assessment...............................................................................53 Figures 19: Conservation Use Revenue Shift.........................................................................................59 Figures 20: Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated .................................................................... 59
Forest Land Conservation Use ........................................................... 60
Table 11: Forest Land Conservation Use Fiscal Impact ......................................................................... 61 Table 12: Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment...........................................................62
Taxation of Standing Timber ............................................................... 68
Figure 21: Statewide Timber Values.......................................................................................................68 Figure 22: County and School Revenue from Timber.............................................................................68 Table 13: 2011 Timber Revenue Reported on 2012 Tax Digests...........................................................69
Georgia's Unclaimed Property Program ............................................. 75
Unclaimed Property Deposit ................................................................................................................... 75 Percentage of Paid Claims ..................................................................................................................... 76

Highlights of the Annual Report
Digest Review:
The Revenue Commissioner continues to ensure uniformity and equalization between and within counties using the same procedures enacted in 1992, and in the manner prescribed in Article 5A of Chapter 5 of Title 48.
The statutory deadline for submitting annual property tax digests is August 1, however, historically 5% of Georgia's 159 counties actually met this deadline. Since 2004, the Department has taken steps to encourage local tax officials to complete their work more expediently so as to allow taxpayers to receive property tax bills timely and facilitate deposit of state property tax collections. 29 counties submitted their 2012 tax digest by the August 1 deadline. The Department continues to encourage counties to achieve compliance with the law governing the digest submission due date. We hope more counties will be able to meet the August 1 deadline in the future as a result of our continued assistance.
Of the 53 counties falling in the 2012 review year and which underwent extensive review, 17 county ad valorem tax digests failed to meet state standards for approval. None of the 2012 review-year counties were assessed additional state tax. However, three were subject to a $5.00 per parcel penalty totaling $295,590.
Of the other 106 non-review counties examined for 2012, six county ad valorem tax digests failed to have an acceptable overall average assessment ratio1, compared to four in 2011. As a result, additional state tax in the amount totaling $114,294 was assessed.
Assessed values fell to $348.4 billion in 2012 or a 3.06% decrease from the values reported in 2011. The 2012 average millage rate of 27.52 increased approximately 0.77% from the 2011 average millage rate of 27.31.
Several graphs showing the trend of the level of assessment, uniformity, and assessment bias can be found on Figures 1 - 3 of this report.
1 Assessment Ratio - the fractional relationship that the assessed value of property bears to its fair market value.
1

Performance Review
In 2000, legislation was passed which provided that county governing authorities, by resolution, could request that the Commissioner conduct a performance review of the county board of tax assessors. Upon receipt of such a request, the Commissioner appoints a Performance Review Board consisting of 3 members: 1 member who is an employee of the Department of Revenue and 2 members who serve as county tax assessors or chief appraisers. Once appointed, the Performance Review Board performs a thorough and complete investigation of the board of tax assessors, including the technical competency of appraisal techniques and compliance with state law and regulations, and issues a report of its findings to the governing authority.
Since 2003 the Department has performed reviews of 28 county boards of tax assessors. Additional information and a list of the counties where performance reviews have been performed can be found in the section on Performance Reviews of County Boards of Tax Assessors.
Public Utilities
The statewide average equalization ratio2 for public utility property increased slightly from 38.99% in 2012 to 39.20% for tax year 2013.
Equalization ratios for 29 of the 159 counties were proposed at a ratio less than 40% for tax year 2013.
Figure 14 reflects the growth in the Public Utility Digest since 2007. A chart showing the trend of the state proposed average equalization ratio for public utility property
since 2007 can be found beginning on Figure 15 of this report. Figure 16 shows the fluctuation in the number of companies centrally assessed annually due to
mergers, acquisitions, or companies ceasing to conduct business in Georgia.
2 Equalization Ratio - the level of assessment of centrally assessed property proposed by the State Board of Equalization and equal to the level of assessment of all other property valued by the local county board of tax assessors. O.C.G.A. 48-2-18.
2

Preferential Agricultural Assessment
Since the implementation of Preferential Agricultural Assessment3 in 1984, the program continued to grow through tax year 2001. Since that time, the number of taxpayers participating in this special assessment program has steadily declined; a result of the increase in fair market values at the local level and the advantages of Conservation Use Valuation.
Tables and graphs depicting the impact of Preferential Agricultural Assessment can be found on Tables 9 and 10 and Figures 17 and 18 of this report.
Conservation Use Valuation
Since the implementation of Conservation Use Valuation4 in 1992, the number of parcels in this program has risen steadily. The number of parcels enrolled in the program for 2012 is 178,798 representing the elimination of approximately $10.0 billion in value and total tax shift of approximately $269.1 million. These values are expected to increase as county boards of tax assessors perform revaluations.
Charts and graphs depicting the impact of Conservation Use Valuation can be found on Tables 11 and 12, and Figures 19 and 20 of this report.
Forest Land Protection Act of 2008
A new section has been added to this report as a result of 68% of the voters approving Amendment 1 in the 2008 General Election. This amendment to the Constitution, known as the "Georgia Forest Land Protection Act of 2008", provides current use assessment for tracts of forest land consisting of more than 200 acres if the property owner enters into a 15- year covenant. One significant difference in this program and the Conservation Use Assessment Program is the provision for the General Assembly to make an annual appropriation for forest land conservation use assistance grants to counties to offset the revenue shift resulting from properties entering into this program. The grants are to reimbursement local governments for one-half of the first three percent of revenue reduction and 100% of the amount of revenue reduction that exceeds the first three percent. Table 14 shows the number of properties enrolled in this program for 2012; the dollar amount of the revenue shift; and the amount of grants due to local governments.
3 Preferential Agricultural Assessment - Bona fide agricultural property assessed at 75 percent of the assessment of other property or at 30% fair market value. O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7 and 48-5-7.1.
4 Conservation Use Valuation - Bona fide agricultural property assessed at current use value rather than fair market value and developed by the Department in accordance with O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-269.
3

Timber Taxation
Timber harvest values reported on the 2012 digest decreased from $499.6 million in 2011 to $440.6 million in 2012, an 11.81% value decrease. The revenue decreased 11.67% from $13.4 million to $12.0 million.
Timber harvest values and revenue trends can be found on Figures 21 and 22, and Table 15 of this report.
Unclaimed Property
The responsibility for the administration of this program is also handled by the Local Government Services Division. The Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act protects the rights of owners of abandoned property and relieves those holding the property of the continuing responsibility to account for the property. The type of property that is subject to the Unclaimed Property Act consists of wages, company liquidation proceeds, safe deposit boxes, money orders, travelers checks, stocks and bonds. Under the Act, when someone holds property (holder) that belongs to someone else (owner), but has lost contact with the owner for a specified period (holding period), that holder must turn over (remit) the property to the State. The State serves as the custodian for any property remitted under the Act allowing the owners or their heirs an opportunity to claim their property in the future. The information provided includes a five year history on deposits, locatable deposits, and paid claims.
Summary
The Department desires to provide the legislature with all information necessary for the proper evaluation of legislative impacts and promulgation of property tax policies. It fully supports the initiatives of the General Assembly in providing tax relief to the elderly, authorizing special assessment programs and exemptions for certain categories of property, homeowner tax relief grants, and increased homestead exemptions that return value to the citizens of Georgia.
4

Reporting Requirements
The Commissioner's responsibility for continuing to provide the General Assembly with the impact of property tax administration and continued enactment of laws created by legislation and administered by the Department of Revenue, Local Government Services Division, are as follows:
O.C.G.A. 48-5-349.5 requires examination of the digest of each county to ensure that all property valuations are reasonably uniform and equalized among the counties and within the counties. This code section provides for a status report on this review process along with the Commissioner's observations regarding the progress of the counties in ad valorem tax administration. O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.1 requires submission of a report showing the fiscal impact of the law providing for the preferential assessment of tangible real property devoted to agricultural use. Qualified farm property is assessed at 75% of assessed value under this program and this report analyzes the effect of this program on taxpayers and levying authorities. O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.4 requires a report showing the fiscal impact of the law providing for conservation use assessment of certain agricultural properties attendant with this code section. Qualified farm property is assessed at its current use value based upon a table of values established by the Commissioner following specific legal procedures. This report analyzes the adverse fiscal impact, if any, on other taxpayers and levying authorities. O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.7 requires a report showing the fiscal impact of the law providing for current use assessment of properties enrolled in the Forest Land Protection Act of 2008 program attendant with this code section. Qualified forest land property is assessed at its current use value based upon a table of values established by the Commissioner following specific legal procedures. This report analyzes the adverse fiscal impact, if any, on other taxpayers and levying authorities.
5

Digest Review Procedures
The Commissioner, through the Local Government Services Division, has been given the statutory duty in Article 5A of Chapter 5 of Title 48 to review county tax digests and provide guidance to county boards of tax assessors in making adjustments in property valuations so as to ensure uniformity and equalization5 of assessments for all property owners.
As directed by the legislature, the Commissioner has adopted a digest review cycle in which each county's tax digest is reviewed extensively to determine the level of assessment, uniformity and equalization in each property class. In any given year, one third of the county tax digests undergo extensive statistical testing. Counties which do not meet the criteria as set forth in the statute and regulations, are allowed an opportunity during the three-year cycle to correct any deficiencies by the next review year. The other counties that are not being extensively reviewed are examined for level of assessment to equalize the state levy and public utility assessments. The Commissioner approves a county's digest as being reasonably uniform and equalized if it meets certain standards.
For those digests submitted by counties in their digest review year, the Commissioner completes his review on or before August 1 of the following tax year or within 30 days of the date the ratio study results are provided by the State Auditor. Based upon this review, the Commissioner will approve a digest when it is found to be reasonably uniform and equalized by having met the following state standards:
The average level of assessment for each class of property meets the mandated state standard of 36% to 44%;
The average measure of overall equalization, the coefficient of dispersion5, meets the state standard of 15% or less for residential properties and 20% or less for all other property classes; and
The bias ratio, or statistical measure of price-related differential6, meets the state standard of 95% to 110%.
Tax digests are reviewed annually to determine the overall average assessment ratio. If the Commissioner determines that a county's digest does not meet the acceptable ratio of 36%, the county is assessed additional state tax in the amount equal to the difference between the state's one quarter of a mill that would have been produced if the digest had been at the proper assessment level, and the amount the digest actually produced for collection purposes.
Annually one-third of the counties are subject to measuring additional standards of statistical compliance. When measuring this compliance, the Commissioner utilizes information provided by the State Auditor from the sales ratio studies developed for each county. Each county's ratio study measures the statistical standards for level of assessment, uniformity and equalization.
The Commissioner conditionally approves the digest and assesses a penalty of $5 per taxable parcel of real
5 The Coefficient of Dispersion - the statistical representation of equalization. 6 The Price-Related Differential - the statistical measure of assessment bias. This demonstrates whether lower or higher-priced properties are more accurately assessed.
6

property if a county's review year digest contains the same or similar deficiencies as the previous review year digest.
The 2012 digest review process was completed as directed in O.C.G.A. 48-5-343. As noted on Table 1, the review of the 53 counties that fell within the 2012 review year indicated that 17 counties were deficient. None were subject to additional state tax and three (Dade, Stephens and Walker) were assessed the $5 per parcel penalty for failure to correct prior digest deficiencies. The other fourteen counties conditionally approved (Appling, Burke, Butts, Camden, Clayton, Dekalb, Jackson, Morgan, Rabun, Talbot, Towns, Troup, White and Whitfield) had technical deficiencies that did not rise to the level of state assessments or penalties.
The review of the 106 non-review year counties resulted in six counties that were assessed additional state tax (Bacon, Chattooga, Fannin, Jenkins, Laurens and Liberty).
Table 1 Review Year Counties Cited for Deficiencies

County
Appling Burke Butts Camden Clayton Dade Dekalb Jackson Morgan

$5 Per Parcel

Additional State Tax

$47,595

County
Rabun Stephens Talbot Towns Troup Walker White Whitfield Total

$5 Per Parcel

Additional State Tax

$82,215

$165,780 $295,590

7

Table 2 Non-Review Year Counties Assessed Additional State Tax

County
Bacon Chattooga Fannin Jenkins Laurens Liberty Total

Additional State Tax

$

5,880

$

13,119

$

34,758

$

4,376

$

26,652

$

29,509

$

114,294

Figure 1: Average Level of Assessment shows the average Median Ratio from 2011 to 2012.

Acceptable Range: 36% to 44%

42.00%

40.00%

38.00% 36.00%

36.51%

37.71%

38.27%

39.00%

39.21%

34.00%

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

8

Acceptable Range: 36% to 44%

Figure 2: Average Level of Uniformity shows the average level of uniformity, as measured by the Coefficient of Dispersion, and indicates the equality of assessments between individual properties. Case law indicates
that this is the most important measure of fairness within a taxing jurisdiction.

42.00%

40.00%

38.00% 36.00%

36.51%

37.71%

38.27%

39.00%

39.21%

34.00%

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Figure 3: Average Level of Assessment Bias shows the average level of assessment bias for the past six years as measured by the Price Related Differential.

Acceptable Range: 95% to 110%

115.00% 110.00% 105.00% 100.00%
95.00% 90.00%

101.20% 101.47%

2008

2009

101.46% 2010

101.93% 101.86%

2011

2012

9

Value and Revenue
Since the implementation of new digest review procedures, counties have been performing either total or partial revaluations or updates to properties in order to conform to the state standards for acceptable digests. Property values increased significantly from 2001 to 2008. During this time, property values have increased between 6 and 9 percent annually. Decreases In value from 2010 to 2012 is attributable to the downward trends in the real estate market.
Figure 4: Total Assessed Value shows the changes in property values since 2007.

Billions

600.0 500.0 400.0 300.0 200.0 100.0

373.3 2007

396.6 2008

397.9 2009

376.7 2010

359.4 2011

348.4 2012

Figure 5: Average Millage Rate shows the average millage rated since 2007.

30.00 28.00 26.00 24.00 22.00 20.00

25.94 2007

26.10

26.27

26.79

2008

2009

2010

27.31

27.52

2011

2012

Property tax continues to be the primary revenue source for local governments. Currently approximately $10.1 billion in revenue is collected from property taxes in Georgia. Because Department involvement in the collection of city taxes is limited, the information below does not include taxes levied and collected for this purpose.

10

Figure 6: Comparison of Total Revenue shows the total revenues collected.

Billions

18.0

15.0

12.0

11.0

9.0

6.0

3.0 2008

11.2 2009

10.4 10.7

2010

2011

10.1 2012

Figure 7: 2012 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type shows the percentage of the total ad valorem taxes levied for state, county and school purposes.

State, 0.64% School, 60.55%

County, 38.82%

11

Figure 8: 2012 County Tax Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of tax revenue generated from the various classes of property for county tax purposes.

Motor Vehicle, $267.2
Public Utility, $151.9 Industrial, $212.7

Mobile Homes, $11.8

Timber, $5.5
Heavy Duty Equipment, $0.2

Commercial, $1,023.7
Agricultural, $108.0

Residential , $1,766.8

Figure 9: Five-Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue shows the amount of tax revenue levied for 2012 for county tax purposes and a five-year comparison.

Billions

$6.0
$5.0 $3.7
$4.0
$3.0
$2.0
$1.0 2008

$3.9 2009

$3.7 2010

$3.6 2011

$3.5 2012

12

Figure 10: 2012 School Tax Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of tax revenue.

Public Utility, $228.8
Industrial, $330.0
Commercial, $1,573.0
Agricultural, $156.2

Motor Vehicle, $420.1

Mobile Homes, $17.3 Timber, $7.7
Heavy Duty Equipment, $0.3

Residential , $2,801.3

Figure 11: Five-Year Comparison of Total School Tax Revenue shows the amount of tax revenue and a five-year comparison for school tax purposes.

Billions

12.0

10.0

8.0

6.4

6.0

4.0

2.0 2008

6.3 2009

6.0 2010

5.8 2011

5.5 2012

13

Figure 12: 2012 State Tax Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of revenue for state tax purposes.

Public Utility, $2.7 Industrial, $1.9
Commercial, $16.3

Motor Vehicle, $4.5 Mobile Homes, $0.2
Timber, $0.1
Heavy Duty Equipment, 0.0

Agricultural, $1.9

Residential , $30.8

Figure 13: Five-Year Comparison of State Tax Revenue shows the amount of revenue and five-year comparison for state tax purposes.

Millions

100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0

87.9 2008

87.4 2009

82.2 2010

75.9

58.4

2011

2012

14

Comparison of State Tax Collections to Digest

Tables 3, 4, and 5 on the following pages represent the amount of property tax for state purposes earmarked for collection as shown on each county's digest for the applicable tax year. The tables also show the collection percentage rate determined as a result of a state audit for these years, and the application of that percentage rate in calculating the potential tax loss for all tax purposes.
These figures do not include the amount of delinquent tax at the time of the audit which may have been collected since that time. The figures do include adjustments as a result of settlement of appeals, additional homestead exemptions, personal property audits, correction of factual errors, unreturned property, and those accounts that are written off (typically personal property where there is no longer any property on which to levy).

Potential Tax Loss

Below is an aggregate of Tables 3, 4, and 5. The collection percentage rate determined as a result of the state audit for these applicable years, and the application of that percentage rate used to calculate the potential tax loss.

Tax Year
2010 2011 2012

Amount of State Tax
$82,494,567 $76,366,071 $60,197,268

Delinquent Tax Amount
$2,586,231 $2,031,603 $1,513,806

Percentage of State Tax Collected
96.9% 97.3% 97.5%

Percentage of Uncollected State Tax
3.1%
2.7%
2.5%

15

Table 3 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2010

County Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga

State Tax from Digest

$

168,856

$

33,876

$

54,226

$

31,777

$

260,621

$

128,271

$

429,664

$

737,660

$

86,710

$

75,245

$ 1,089,979

$

65,733

$

76,245

$

104,547

$

309,148

$

434,225

$

411,462

$

149,313

$

28,203

$

424,028

$

57,059

$

658,463

$

370,470

$

69,165

$ 3,069,613

$

14,817

$

114,839

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

5,197

$

942

$

3,698

$

442

$

8,806

$

13,246

$

22,632

$

22,292

$

5,075

$

3,147

$

79,622

$

3,060

$

10,265

$

5,943

$

9,244

$

15,032

$

22,573

$

9,281

$

592

$

28,165

$

5,949

$

24,753

$

6,024

$

3,618

$

77,273

$

1,016

$

9,170

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

148

Adjusted State Tax

$

163,511

$

1,808 $

31,126

$

87 $

50,441

$

- $

31,335

$

2,987 $

248,828

$

(2,634) $

117,659

$

332 $

406,700

$

3,222 $

712,146

$

3 $

81,632

$

3,546 $

68,552

$

15,022

$

995,334

$

(41) $

62,714

$

945 $

65,035

$

95 $

98,509

$

737 $

299,168

$

(17) $

419,210

$

491 $

388,398

$

426 $

139,606

$

343 $

27,268

$

9,701 $

386,162

$

(67) $

51,177

$

(780) $

634,490

$

887 $

363,559

$

95 $

65,452

$

(64,584)

$

3,056,924

$

142 $

13,659

$

4,146 $

101,523

Percent of Tax Collected 96.83% 91.88% 93.02% 98.61% 95.47% 91.73% 94.66% 96.54% 94.14% 91.11% 91.32% 95.41% 85.30% 94.22% 96.77% 96.54% 94.39% 93.50% 96.68% 91.07% 89.69% 96.36% 98.13% 94.63% 99.59% 92.18% 88.40%
16

County Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin

State Tax from Digest
$ 1,801,687

$

836,786

$

27,486

$ 1,791,676

$

64,220

$ 6,980,805

$

204,291

$

216,044

$

987,889

$

79,726

$ 1,042,711

$

73,230

$

128,395

$

106,955

$

344,403

$

196,270

$ 5,930,980

$

92,889

$

60,752

$

498,374

$

907,159

$

99,290

$

25,237

$

425,088

$

127,902

$

104,590

$

58,869

$

274,870

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

32,579

$

11,096

$

585

$

90,418

$

2,040

$

73,482

$

11,016

$

156

$

14,079

$

2,502

$

53,687

$

5,120

$

8,952

$

10,274

$

14,485

$

3,691

$

53,140

$

6,278

$

4,345

$

7,552

$

40,641

$

4,629

$

635

$

31,668

$

5,518

$

4,120

$

2,768

$

18,658

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

7,965

Adjusted State Tax

$

1,761,144

$

4,404 $

821,286

$

7 $

26,894

$

3,820

$

1,697,438

$

4,521 $

57,659

$

187,521

$

6,719,803

$

1,428 $

191,847

$

9,698 $

206,190

$

5,656 $

968,153

$

413 $

76,811

$

32,182

$

956,843

$

441 $

67,670

$

1,776 $

117,667

$

367 $

96,314

$

914 $

329,004

$

1,708 $

190,871

$ 168,316

$

5,709,524

$

484 $

86,126

$

138 $

56,269

$

116 $

490,706

$

20,947

$

845,571

$

4,798 $

89,863

$

351 $

24,251

$

478 $

392,941

$

386 $

121,997

$

(150) $

100,621

$

(47) $

56,148

$

1,008 $

255,204

Percent of Tax Collected 97.75% 98.15% 97.85% 94.74% 89.78% 96.26% 93.91% 95.44% 98.00% 96.34% 91.76% 92.41% 91.64% 90.05% 95.53% 97.25% 96.27% 92.72% 92.62% 98.46% 93.21% 90.51% 96.09% 92.44% 95.38% 96.20% 95.38% 92.85%

17

County Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson

State Tax from Digest
$ 1,118,042

$

680,247

$ 2,151,831

$

152,255

$ 12,947,878

$

317,418

$

19,535

$ 1,286,634

$

418,903

$

137,534

$

386,654

$ 7,067,885

$

303,234

$ 1,606,820

$

94,887

$

177,226

$

313,067

$

226,065

$

139,533

$ 1,446,215

$

902,162

$

52,863

$

544,582

$

97,212

$

65,202

$

103,465

$

50,474

$

39,790

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

25,068

$

30,417

$

30,894

$

3,429

$

224,026

$

28,417

$

768

$

75,967

$

34,829

$

3,878

$

9,974

$

151,374

$

13,413

$

31,657

$

15,510

$

8,159

$

6,240

$

29,635

$

4,343

$

52,648

$

27,595

$

6,010

$

27,375

$

7,620

$

3,725

$

4,516

$

2,664

$

3,266

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

17,393

Adjusted State Tax

$

1,075,581

$

12,608

$

637,222

$

27,434

$

2,093,503

$

1,636 $

147,190

$

355,117

$ 12,368,734

$

1,035 $

287,965

$

56 $

18,712

$

- $

1,210,667

$

(1,042) $

385,116

$

1,297 $

132,359

$

1,127 $

375,553

$

149,580

$

6,766,931

$

2,283 $

287,539

$

30,829

$

1,544,335

$

(39) $

79,416

$

358 $

168,710

$

(706) $

307,533

$

1,405 $

195,025

$

31,986

$

103,205

$

18,925

$

1,374,642

$

406 $

874,162

$

93 $

46,760

$

2,643 $

514,564

$

593 $

88,999

$

688 $

60,789

$

1,227 $

97,722

$

1,297 $

46,514

$

26 $

36,498

Percent of Tax Collected 96.20% 93.68% 97.29% 96.67% 95.53% 90.72% 95.79% 94.10% 91.93% 96.24% 97.13% 95.74% 94.82% 96.11% 83.70% 95.19% 98.23% 86.27% 73.96% 95.05% 96.90% 88.46% 94.49% 91.55% 93.23% 94.45% 92.15% 91.73%

18

County Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach

State Tax from Digest

$

183,878

$

111,528

$

39,209

$

280,014

$

212,901

$

295,943

$

69,554

$

59,446

$

676,064

$

276,269

$

79,456

$

155,352

$

51,508

$

142,278

$

113,441

$

130,325

$

38,085

$

134,889

$

347,574

$

48,447

$

202,580

$

220,671

$ 1,186,050

$

590,718

$

371,681

$

99,326

$

787,255

$

153,377

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

5,171

$

5,248

$

2,943

$

14,036

$

5,465

$

20,419

$

3,304

$

4,083

$

27,420

$

20,086

$

5,216

$

10,900

$

2,179

$

2,926

$

28,174

$

12,503

$

433

$

2,380

$

18,406

$

2,912

$

8,216

$

14,912

$

32,790

$

8,557

$

6,578

$

5,421

$

28,190

$

17,375

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

891

Adjusted State Tax

$

177,817

$

1,269 $

105,011

$

14 $

36,252

$

4,248 $

261,730

$

47 $

207,389

$

6,433 $

269,091

$

634 $

65,616

$

408 $

54,955

$

5,736 $

642,908

$

1,734 $

254,449

$

1,965 $

72,275

$

1,203 $

143,249

$

40 $

49,289

$

- $

139,352

$

5,060 $

80,207

$

1,558 $

116,265

$

291 $

37,361

$

1,430 $

131,079

$

642 $

328,526

$

204 $

45,332

$

904 $

193,460

$

1,102 $

204,656

$

10,730

$

1,142,530

$

4,393 $

577,768

$

1,353 $

363,750

$

474 $

93,430

$

7,655 $

751,410

$

(418) $

136,420

Percent of Tax Collected 96.70% 94.16% 92.46% 93.47% 97.41% 90.93% 94.34% 92.45% 95.10% 92.10% 90.96% 92.21% 95.69% 97.94% 70.70% 89.21% 98.10% 97.18% 94.52% 93.57% 95.50% 92.74% 96.33% 97.81% 97.87% 94.06% 95.45% 88.94%

19

County Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns

State Tax from Digest

$

332,758

$

97,762

$

112,381

$

225,924

$

59,208

$

367,745

$

19,918

$

408,576

$

42,388

$ 1,098,077

$

660,785

$

27,617

$

95,228

$

57,999

$

347,661

$

166,282

$

31,658

$

176,503

$

55,965

$

14,294

$

98,719

$

51,222

$

63,240

$

58,144

$

383,218

$

233,304

$

145,830

$

217,379

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

27,882

$

7,789

$

7,179

$

12,702

$

5,139

$

15,652

$

662

$

8,406

$

1,775

$

38,921

$

44,134

$

1,513

$

6,258

$

3,834

$

20,752

$

2,766

$

1,327

$

8,055

$

2,167

$

1,348

$

7,416

$

3,629

$

5,134

$

3,170

$

11,189

$

5,795

$

11,234

$

21,180

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

980

Adjusted State Tax

$

303,897

$

2,089 $

87,884

$

25 $

105,176

$

4,518 $

208,705

$

344 $

53,724

$

(2,392) $

354,485

$

6 $

19,250

$

239 $

399,931

$

- $

40,613

$

10,977

$

1,048,179

$

17 $

616,635

$

6 $

26,098

$

(3,927) $

92,897

$

390 $

53,775

$

11,573

$

315,336

$

1,039 $

162,477

$

3 $

30,328

$

147 $

168,301

$

2,936 $

50,861

$

161 $

12,785

$

737 $

90,567

$

85 $

47,508

$

448 $

57,658

$

177 $

54,797

$

2,645 $

369,384

$

1,884 $

225,625

$

1,523 $

133,073

$

(222) $

196,420

Percent of Tax Collected 91.33% 89.90% 93.59% 92.38% 90.74% 96.39% 96.65% 97.88% 95.81% 95.46% 93.32% 94.50% 97.55% 92.72% 90.70% 97.71% 95.80% 95.35% 90.88% 89.44% 91.74% 92.75% 91.17% 94.24% 96.39% 96.71% 91.25% 90.36%

20

County Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

State Tax from Digest

$

26,880

$

465,748

$

50,453

$

56,613

$

306,353

$

157,273

$

322,111

$

631,433

$

167,758

$

36,326

$

184,151

$

190,063

$

19,598

$

30,028

$

251,308

$

765,567

$

35,036

$

84,614

$

95,636

$

119,609

$ 82,494,567

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

2,353

$

1,836

$

2,467

$

4,549

$

21,099

$

6,974

$

19,869

$

17,913

$

5,895

$

1,040

$

1,850

$

20,311

$

521

$

6,216

$

5,899

$

59,374

$

1,870

$

17,866

$

6,555

$

3,937

$ 2,586,231

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

283

Adjusted State Tax

$

24,244

$

2,198 $

461,715

$

148 $

47,838

$

406 $

51,658

$

1,457 $

283,797

$

4,764 $

145,535

$

775 $

301,467

$

3,067 $

610,453

$

11 $

161,852

$

1,107 $

34,179

$

1,492 $

180,809

$

9,456 $

160,296

$

7 $

19,070

$

347 $

23,465

$

620 $

244,789

$

3,550 $

702,643

$

269 $

32,897

$

790 $

65,958

$

2,807 $

86,274

$

475 $

115,197

$ 1,225,374

$ 78,682,962

Percent of Tax Collected 90.19% 99.13% 94.82% 91.25% 92.64% 92.54% 93.59% 96.68% 96.48% 94.09% 98.19% 84.34% 97.31% 78.14% 97.41% 91.78% 93.89% 77.95% 90.21% 96.31% 95.38%

- These tables also show the collection percentage rate determined as a result of a state audit for these applicable years, and the application of that percentage rate in calculating the potential tax loss.
- These figures do not include the amount of delinquent tax at the time of the audit which may have been collected since that time.
- The figures do include adjustments as a result of settlement of appeals, additional homestead exemptions, personal property audits, correction of factual errors, unreturned property, and those accounts that are written off (typically personal property where there is no longer any property on which to levy).
21

Table 4 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2011

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga

State Tax from Digest

$

165,962

$

33,562

$

49,484

$

30,752

$ 250,467

$ 126,352

$ 397,193

$ 695,031

$

84,998

$

72,542

$ 1,017,331

$

60,002

$

75,176

$ 101,580

$ 290,590

$ 417,024

$ 443,121

$ 143,910

$

26,796

$ 396,353

$

52,115

$ 603,530

$ 352,076

$

68,590

$ 2,756,412

$

15,442

$ 100,175

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

4,955

$

1,279

$

3,008

$

875

$

7,720

$

11,794

$

14,153

$

21,137

$

8,025

$

3,048

$

37,239

$

2,158

$

6,341

$

4,418

$

7,391

$

13,849

$

5,134

$

7,793

$

542

$

30,532

$

5,062

$

21,475

$

11,964

$

4,381

$

29,385

$

1,192

$

7,792

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

(697)

$

1,810

$

(549)

$

(58)

$

1,831

$

1,604

$

2,640

$

(1,596)

$

408

$

2,624

$

17,782

$

152

$

(124)

$

809

$

456

$

2,287

$

206

$

5

$

-

$

-

$

(104)

$

(1,078)

$

1,955

$

-

$

51,968

$

(199)

$

644

Adjusted State Tax

$ 161,704

$

30,473

$

47,025

$

29,935

$ 240,916

$ 112,954

$ 380,401

$ 675,490

$

76,565

$

66,870

$ 962,310

$

57,692

$

68,959

$

96,353

$ 282,743

$ 400,888

$ 437,780

$ 136,113

$

26,254

$ 365,821

$

47,157

$ 583,133

$ 338,158

$

64,209

$ 2,675,060

$

14,449

$

91,739

Percent of Tax Collected 97.43% 90.80% 95.03% 97.34% 96.19% 89.40% 95.77% 97.19% 90.08% 92.18% 94.59% 96.15% 91.73% 94.85% 97.30% 96.13% 98.79% 94.58% 97.98% 92.30% 90.49% 96.62% 96.05% 93.61% 97.05% 93.57% 91.58%
22

County Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin

State Tax from Digest
$ 1,678,514

$ 780,718

$

26,042

$ 1,576,056

$

64,622

$ 6,469,594

$ 189,882

$ 203,993

$ 975,581

$

89,686

$ 951,048

$

71,117

$ 122,191

$

98,191

$ 297,792

$ 186,058

$ 5,144,289

$

91,371

$

61,294

$

460,367

$ 850,818

$

94,576

$

25,331

$ 400,577

$ 120,084

$ 103,374

$

57,185

$ 270,374

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

35,577

$

11,781

$

166

$

79,326

$

1,847

$

-

$

10,908

$

232

$

12,653

$

2,425

$

35,441

$

4,037

$

6,653

$

8,643

$

9,937

$

3,035

$ 161,021

$

8,714

$

4,084

$

10,034

$

35,269

$

2,074

$

826

$

20,202

$

5,356

$

3,828

$

2,594

$

14,865

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

9,071

$

6,347

$

30

$

54,530

$

4,525

$

-

$

(1,202)

$

1,612

$

4,315

$

609

$

50,228

$

56

$

2,789

$

323

$

4,378

$

1,106

$

220,141

$

(193)

$

(202)

$

(10,336)

$

22,509

$

5,065

$

(43)

$

1,219

$

1,189

$

(181)

$

712

$

72

Adjusted State Tax
$ 1,633,867

$ 762,591

$

25,846

$ 1,442,200

$

58,250

$ 6,469,594

$ 180,176

$ 202,149

$ 958,613

$

86,652

$ 865,378

$

67,025

$ 112,749

$

89,225

$ 283,477

$ 181,917

$ 4,763,127

$

82,850

$

57,412

$ 460,669

$ 793,040

$

87,437

$

24,548

$ 379,156

$ 113,539

$

99,727

$

53,878

$ 255,437

Percent of Tax Collected 97.34% 97.68% 99.25% 91.51% 90.14% 100.00% 94.89% 99.10% 98.26% 96.62% 90.99% 94.24% 92.27% 90.87% 95.19% 97.77% 92.59% 90.67% 93.67% 100.07% 93.21% 92.45% 96.91% 94.65% 94.55% 96.47% 94.22% 94.48%

23

County Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart* Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson

State Tax from Digest
$ 1,048,317

$ 645,405

$ 1,975,653

$

138,265

$ 12,272,573 $ 272,257

$

19,521

$ 1,117,503

$ 357,818

$ 122,304

$ 332,158

$ 6,314,211

$ 272,229

$ 1,437,033

$

91,772

$

172,119

$ 307,271

$ 249,589

$ 127,798

$ 1,309,962

$ 897,719

$

53,769

$ 509,581

$

86,219

$

61,099

$

98,749

$

46,844

$

39,566

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

16,165

$

35,941

$

27,455

$

2,730

$ 141,693

$

26,644

$

468

$

78,140

$

22,518

$

3,787

$

8,896

$

95,707

$

4,203

$

25,950

$

11,171

$

5,378

$

5,388

$

26,193

$

3,237

$

38,650

$

25,975

$

4,959

$

19,398

$

5,785

$

3,940

$

4,000

$

1,960

$

2,943

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

18,929

$

5,382

$

25,857

$

1,066

$ 681,144

$

2,528

$

492

$

-

$

19,709

$

885

$

(522)

$ 123,154

$

3,136

$

39,362

$

1,007

$

753

$

(2,544)

$

8,958

$

(26,807)

$

19,061

$

2,379

$

183

$

6,012

$

573

$

64

$

(351)

$

(1,132)

$

269

Adjusted State Tax
$ 1,013,223

$ 604,082

$ 1,922,341

$ 134,469

$ 11,449,737

$ 243,085

$

18,560

$ 1,039,363

$ 315,591

$ 117,632

$ 323,783

$ 6,095,351

$ 264,890

$ 1,371,721

$

79,594

$ 165,988

$ 304,428

$ 214,439

$ 151,368

$ 1,252,250

$ 869,365

$

48,627

$ 484,171

$

79,862

$

57,095

$

95,100

$

46,016

$

36,354

Percent of Tax Collected 96.65% 93.60% 97.30% 97.25% 93.30% 89.29% 95.08% 93.01% 88.20% 96.18% 97.48% 96.53% 97.30% 95.46% 86.73% 96.44% 99.07% 85.92% 118.44% 95.59% 96.84% 90.44% 95.01% 92.63% 93.45% 96.30% 98.23% 91.88%

24

County Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach

State Tax from Digest
$ 175,736

$ 106,755

$

39,655

$

266,823

$ 208,890

$ 288,598

$

66,291

$

62,727

$ 652,730

$ 243,743

$

80,882

$ 154,299

$

50,727

$ 135,861

$ 107,204

$ 126,243

$

37,399

$ 130,857

$ 325,767

$

47,482

$ 169,307

$ 186,881

$ 1,166,934

$ 535,428

$ 349,695

$

96,870

$ 706,561

$ 151,491

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

4,352

$

3,625

$

2,283

$

11,835

$

5,430

$

16,191

$

3,495

$

4,036

$

26,454

$

13,150

$

4,811

$

8,585

$

721

$

3,799

$

8,516

$

9,180

$

812

$

5,010

$

11,630

$

2,929

$

6,322

$

12,211

$

32,476

$

11,916

$

3,929

$

5,200

$

19,390

$

10,653

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

2,119

$

1,699

$

-

$

4,660

$

761

$

4,488

$

(108)

$

272

$

9,515

$

5,391

$

6,108

$

1,140

$

421

$

73

$

-

$

1,231

$

77

$

671

$

(6,097)

$

186

$

(493)

$

2,689

$

4,733

$

6,110

$

1,870

$

63

$

(949)

$

1,128

Adjusted State Tax
$ 169,265

$ 101,430

$

37,372

$ 250,329

$ 202,699

$ 267,919

$

62,904

$

58,419

$ 616,761

$ 225,202

$

69,963

$ 144,573

$

49,585

$ 131,989

$

98,688

$ 115,832

$

36,510

$ 125,176

$ 320,233

$

44,367

$ 163,478

$ 171,980

$ 1,129,725

$ 517,402

$ 343,896

$

91,607

$ 688,120

$ 139,710

Percent of Tax Collected 96.32% 95.01% 94.24% 93.82% 97.04% 92.83% 94.89% 93.13% 94.49% 92.39% 86.50% 93.70% 97.75% 97.15% 92.06% 91.75% 97.62% 95.66% 98.30% 93.44% 96.56% 92.03% 96.81% 96.63% 98.34% 94.57% 97.39% 92.22%

25

County Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns

State Tax from Digest
$ 325,316

$

94,138

$ 109,844

$ 211,103

$

58,806

$ 348,824

$

17,506

$ 386,699

$

41,980

$ 1,064,490

$ 595,831

$

26,577

$

95,297

$

55,018

$ 324,538

$ 157,856

$

31,630

$ 171,792

$

52,017

$

13,635

$

98,556

$

50,016

$

61,023

$

58,103

$ 336,661

$

218,108

$ 143,061

$ 191,803

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

17,519

$

6,279

$

7,426

$

12,549

$

2,841

$

11,214

$

581

$

11,393

$

1,752

$

26,234

$

1,853

$

1,110

$

6,424

$

3,315

$

18,234

$

1,424

$

1,696

$

8,385

$

1,489

$

1,232

$

7,442

$

3,035

$

1,839

$

5,802

$

13,494

$

5,929

$

6,573

$

14,538

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

3,894

$

760

$

112

$

5,281

$

1,006

$

(3,308)

$

80

$

(21,277)

$

367

$

7,609

$

3,323

$

13

$

(933)

$

487

$

2,324

$

3,923

$

352

$

(365)

$

581

$

59

$

715

$

136

$

1,573

$

-

$

1,238

$

174

$

2,158

$

596

Adjusted State Tax
$ 303,903

$

87,099

$ 102,306

$ 193,273

$

54,958

$ 340,918

$

16,845

$ 396,582

$

39,861

$ 1,030,647

$ 590,655

$

25,454

$

89,806

$

51,216

$ 303,980

$ 152,509

$

29,582

$ 163,772

$

49,947

$

12,343

$

90,400

$

46,845

$

57,611

$

52,301

$ 321,929

$ 212,005

$ 134,329

$ 176,669

Percent of Tax Collected 93.42% 92.52% 93.14% 91.55% 93.46% 97.73% 96.22% 102.56% 94.95% 96.82% 99.13% 95.77% 94.24% 93.09% 93.67% 96.61% 93.53% 95.33% 96.02% 90.53% 91.72% 93.66% 94.41% 90.01% 95.62% 97.20% 93.90% 92.11%

26

County Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

State Tax from Digest

$

26,841

$

436,863

$

45,613

$

55,988

$ 272,755

$ 157,870

$ 313,882

$ 565,532

$ 164,634

$

36,318

$ 178,441

$ 174,114

$

18,094

$

29,336

$ 236,243

$ 658,753

$

34,515

$

81,689

$

85,764

$ 116,167

$ 76,366,071

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

2,164

$

1,238

$

1,921

$

4,357

$

18,613

$

6,230

$

22,496

$

12,013

$

7,540

$

1,111

$

2,783

$

29,892

$

1,015

$

4,816

$

4,081

$

29,221

$

1,729

$

7,704

$

4,425

$

4,268

$ 2,031,603

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

352

$

6,682

$

55

$

258

$

(474)

$

8,200

$

4,030

$

2,574

$

2,528

$

166

$

(213)

$

-

$

(56)

$

(279)

$

(4,605)

$

4,734

$

217

$

545

$

(349)

$

442

$ 1,474,437

Adjusted State Tax

$

24,325

$ 428,943

$

43,637

$

51,373

$ 254,616

$ 143,439

$ 287,355

$ 550,946

$ 154,566

$

35,041

$ 175,871

$ 144,222

$

17,135

$

24,799

$ 236,766

$ 624,798

$

32,569

$

73,440

$

81,688

$ 111,457

$ 72,860,032

Percent of Tax Collected 90.63% 98.19% 95.67% 91.76% 93.35% 90.86% 91.55% 97.42% 93.88% 96.48% 98.56% 82.83% 94.70% 84.53% 100.22% 94.85% 94.36% 89.90% 95.25% 95.95% 95.41%

- These tables also show the collection percentage rate determined as a result of a state audit for these applicable years, and the application of that percentage rate in calculating the potential tax loss.
- These figures do not include the amount of delinquent tax at the time of the audit which may have been collected since that time.
- The figures do include adjustments as a result of settlement of appeals, additional homestead exemptions, personal property audits, correction of factual errors, unreturned property, and those accounts that are written off (typically personal property where there is no longer any property on which to levy).
27

Table 5 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2012

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga

State Tax from Digest

$ 137,423

$

28,781

$

42,617

$

25,578

$

197,898

$

99,964

$

289,609

$

552,307

$

70,061

$

65,617

$

807,870

$

49,501

$

63,320

$

79,984

$

238,445

$ 331,160

$

402,117

$

110,962

$

23,295

$ 289,748

$

43,171

$

479,181

$ 290,116

$

55,137

$ 2,224,595

$

13,003

$

77,297

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

4,028

$

1,528

$

2,467

$

616

$

4,734

$

8,311

$

7,324

$

18,646

$

3,787

$

2,642

$

28,353

$

1,899

$

5,233

$

4,955

$

3,937

$

8,593

$

4,513

$

4,397

$

635

$

11,185

$

3,955

$

10,357

$

15,685

$

1,608

$

21,573

$

552

$

3,128

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

2,761

$

1,450

$

(249)

$

(80)

$

1,988

$

1,276

$

1,741

$

1,879

$

468

$

215

$

6,343

$

40

$

805

$

507

$

(665)

$

(1,643)

$

571

$

(369)

$

136

$

3,161

$

89

$

(5,378)

$

248

$

(972)

$

29,267

$

(104)

$

1,524

Adjusted State Tax

$ 130,634

$

25,803

$

40,399

$

25,042

$ 191,176

$

90,378

$ 280,544

$ 531,783

$

65,806

$

62,760

$ 773,175

$

47,561

$

57,282

$

74,522

$ 235,173

$ 324,210

$ 397,033

$ 106,934

$

22,524

$ 275,402

$

39,127

$ 474,203

$ 274,183

$

54,501

$ 2,173,755

$

12,555

$

72,646

Percent of Tax Collected 95.06% 89.65% 94.80% 97.90% 96.60% 90.41% 96.87% 96.28% 93.93% 95.65% 95.71% 96.08% 90.46% 93.17% 98.63% 97.90% 98.74% 96.37% 96.69% 95.05% 90.63% 98.96% 94.51% 98.85% 97.71% 96.55% 93.98%
28

County Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin

State Tax from Digest
$ 1,250,056

$

616,797

$

21,128

$ 1,171,254

$

53,449

$ 5,227,251

$

160,664

$ 175,549

$ 815,231

$

65,174

$

764,150

$

58,689

$

112,149

$

81,778

$

205,936

$ 155,106

$ 3,818,886

$

78,707

$

53,036

$ 393,382

$ 672,959

$

85,154

$

22,710

$

297,651

$

98,846

$

86,291

$

47,430

$ 221,397

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

24,810

$

8,190

$

332

$

63,048

$

1,719

$

26,393

$

7,491

$

443

$

16,051

$

976

$

20,251

$

4,581

$

8,215

$

6,527

$

5,696

$

3,585

$

163,963

$

4,055

$

2,700

$

6,297

$

20,142

$

1,729

$

680

$

11,880

$

5,633

$

3,752

$

1,907

$

11,585

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

2,119

$

3,655

$

187

$

30,910

$

3,783

$ 146,823

$

1,001

$

1,900

$

7,589

$

-

$

43,663

$

302

$

3,501

$

141

$

3,126

$

423

$ 138,487

$

105

$

(148)

$

3,359

$

14,204

$

7,905

$

(24)

$

(268)

$

257

$

(1,459)

$

31

$

2,131

Adjusted State Tax
$ 1,223,127

$ 604,952

$

20,609

$ 1,077,296

$

47,947

$ 5,054,035

$ 152,172

$ 173,206

$ 791,591

$

64,198

$ 700,236

$

53,807

$ 100,433

$

75,109

$ 197,114

$ 151,098

$ 3,516,436

$

74,547

$

50,484

$ 383,726

$ 638,613

$

75,520

$

22,054

$ 286,039

$

92,956

$

83,999

$

45,492

$ 207,681

Percent of Tax Collected 97.85% 98.08% 97.54% 91.98% 89.71% 96.69% 94.71% 98.67% 97.10% 98.50% 91.64% 91.68% 89.55% 91.85% 95.72% 97.42% 92.08% 94.71% 95.19% 97.55% 94.90% 88.69% 97.11% 96.10% 94.04% 97.34% 95.91% 93.80%

29

County Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson

State Tax from Digest
$ 776,162

$

537,073

$ 1,550,602

$ 103,542

$ 9,669,157

$

198,208

$

16,068

$

795,795

$

265,287

$

99,411

$

247,784

$ 4,891,315

$ 205,300

$ 1,140,459

$

72,693

$ 141,031

$

252,807

$

171,072

$ 106,332

$ 947,890

$

740,550

$

45,174

$

393,105

$

66,719

$

55,034

$

80,815

$

44,247

$

32,631

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

9,615

$

21,400

$

14,592

$

2,212

$

166,173

$

13,367

$

358

$

23,116

$

13,590

$

3,529

$

4,905

$

70,105

$

11,130

$

13,878

$

7,937

$

4,260

$

3,266

$

15,044

$

2,880

$

16,892

$

14,286

$

4,361

$

15,108

$

3,990

$

2,013

$

3,673

$

1,428

$

3,806

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

10,079

$

14,618

$

18,349

$

185

$ 514,630

$

297

$

(97)

$

2,020

$

945

$

738

$

385

$ 100,857

$

338

$

17,919

$

727

$

2,228

$

1,990

$

6,645

$

23,147

$

9,271

$

2,585

$

187

$

8,510

$

493

$

528

$

(125)

$

522

$

80

Adjusted State Tax
$ 756,469

$ 501,055

$ 1,517,661

$ 101,145

$ 8,988,354

$ 184,543

$

15,807

$ 770,659

$ 250,752

$

95,144

$ 242,494

$ 4,720,353

$ 193,831

$ 1,108,663

$

64,029

$ 134,544

$ 247,551

$ 149,382

$

80,305

$ 921,728

$ 723,680

$

40,626

$ 369,488

$

62,236

$

52,493

$

77,268

$

42,298

$

28,745

Percent of Tax Collected 97.46% 93.29% 97.88% 97.69% 92.96% 93.11% 98.37% 96.84% 94.52% 95.71% 97.86% 96.50% 94.41% 97.21% 88.08% 95.40% 97.92% 87.32% 75.52% 97.24% 97.72% 89.93% 93.99% 93.28% 95.38% 95.61% 95.59% 88.09%

30

County Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach

State Tax from Digest
$ 136,280

$

81,378

$

33,506

$ 224,293

$ 175,409

$ 238,895

$

52,745

$

52,835

$ 538,949

$ 174,038

$

70,297

$ 112,123

$

41,406

$

114,299

$

97,966

$

103,025

$

31,936

$

110,741

$

269,406

$

52,151

$

118,770

$

169,522

$

984,699

$

396,549

$

272,691

$

76,148

$ 534,294

$

123,526

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

1,446

$

1,908

$

2,075

$

9,756

$

3,230

$

11,857

$

2,805

$

3,036

$

20,549

$

10,398

$

4,137

$

6,430

$

1,822

$

3,055

$

7,372

$

5,384

$

461

$

3,006

$

7,355

$

2,293

$

3,051

$

10,595

$

20,192

$

6,857

$

2,844

$

3,951

$

11,740

$

8,466

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

(6,154)

$

583

$

(52)

$

3,922

$

1,178

$

1,185

$

813

$

100

$

7,737

$

954

$

5,809

$

579

$

(112)

$

2,315

$

(1,575)

$

1,955

$

(36)

$

724

$

1,365

$

58

$

(594)

$

12,702

$

14,357

$

1,022

$

283

$

303

$

(531)

$

755

Adjusted State Tax
$ 140,988

$

78,887

$

31,483

$ 210,615

$ 171,001

$ 225,852

$

49,127

$

49,699

$ 510,663

$ 162,686

$

60,351

$ 105,113

$

39,696

$ 108,929

$

92,169

$

95,687

$

31,511

$ 107,011

$ 260,687

$

49,801

$ 116,313

$ 146,225

$ 950,150

$ 388,670

$ 269,563

$

71,894

$ 523,085

$ 114,304

Percent of Tax Collected 103.45% 96.94% 93.96% 93.90% 97.49% 94.54% 93.14% 94.06% 94.75% 93.48% 85.85% 93.75% 95.87% 95.30% 94.08% 92.88% 98.67% 96.63% 96.76% 95.49% 97.93% 86.26% 96.49% 98.01% 98.85% 94.41% 97.90% 92.54%

31

County Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns

State Tax from Digest

$

258,217

$

83,095

$

89,415

$

179,415

$

47,561

$

269,761

$

15,159

$

320,341

$

35,024

$

886,966

$ 426,610

$

22,074

$

77,862

$

47,145

$ 258,675

$ 122,458

$

26,143

$

140,456

$

40,268

$

10,876

$

82,511

$

41,492

$

52,409

$

49,320

$ 266,942

$ 183,302

$ 121,893

$

145,262

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

16,689

$

5,588

$

2,923

$

13,981

$

1,423

$

6,623

$

488

$

13,592

$

1,896

$

14,696

$

2,171

$

974

$

5,015

$

3,568

$

11,459

$

722

$

669

$

6,134

$

1,240

$

1,270

$

5,449

$

3,159

$

4,061

$

1,775

$

7,950

$

4,569

$

9,128

$

9,627

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

303

$

(3)

$

300

$

3,297

$

464

$

(1,861)

$

27

$

14,250

$

49

$

11,138

$

3,107

$

88

$

(1,847)

$

653

$

6,364

$

498

$

50

$

10

$

728

$

(19)

$

1,831

$

300

$

77

$

-

$

541

$

(52)

$

343

$

110

Adjusted State Tax
$ 241,225

$

77,510

$

86,193

$ 162,137

$

45,674

$ 264,998

$

14,644

$ 292,499

$

33,079

$ 861,132

$ 421,332

$

21,012

$

74,694

$

42,924

$ 240,852

$ 121,238

$

25,424

$ 134,312

$

38,300

$

9,625

$

75,230

$

38,033

$

48,271

$

47,545

$ 258,451

$ 178,785

$ 112,423

$ 135,525

Percent of Tax Collected 93.42% 93.28% 96.40% 90.37% 96.03% 98.23% 96.60% 91.31% 94.45% 97.09% 98.76% 95.19% 95.93% 91.05% 93.11% 99.00% 97.25% 95.63% 95.11% 88.50% 91.18% 91.66% 92.10% 96.40% 96.82% 97.54% 92.23% 93.30%

32

County Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

State Tax from Digest

$

22,734

$ 372,620

$

37,936

$

45,461

$ 220,292

$

122,639

$

253,829

$

420,840

$

141,537

$

30,066

$ 140,783

$

144,684

$

15,069

$

25,267

$

168,321

$

535,709

$

30,111

$

65,793

$

70,315

$

98,900

$ 60,197,268

Delinquent Tax Amount

$

1,641

$

897

$

1,559

$

2,921

$

14,157

$

3,464

$

9,169

$

6,922

$

5,846

$

1,330

$

1,226

$

12,072

$

632

$

3,458

$

2,742

$

17,176

$

1,078

$

2,801

$

3,508

$

4,118

$

1,513,806

Tax Errored and Relieved

$

(18)

$

2,136

$

186

$

(1,582)

$

1,393

$

7,440

$

1,719

$

6,429

$

1,644

$

165

$

790

$

1,928

$

(43)

$

(47)

$

674

$

(5,213)

$

334

$

(36)

$

232

$

335

$ 1,305,620

Adjusted State Tax

$

21,111

$ 369,587

$

36,191

$

44,122

$ 204,742

$ 111,735

$ 242,942

$ 407,490

$ 134,047

$

28,571

$ 138,767

$ 130,684

$

14,480

$

21,856

$ 164,906

$ 523,746

$

28,699

$

63,027

$

66,575

$

94,447

$ 57,377,842

Percent of Tax Collected 92.86% 99.19% 95.40% 97.05% 92.94% 91.11% 95.71% 96.83% 94.71% 95.03% 98.57% 90.32% 96.09% 86.50% 97.97% 97.77% 95.31% 95.80% 94.68% 95.50% 95.32%

- These tables also show the collection percentage rate determined as a result of a state audit for these applicable years, and the application of that percentage rate in calculating the potential tax loss.
- These figures do not include the amount of delinquent tax at the time of the audit which may have been collected since that time.
- The figures do include adjustments as a result of settlement of appeals, additional homestead exemptions, personal property audits, correction of factual errors, unreturned property, and those accounts that are written off (typically personal property where there is no longer any property on which to levy).
33

Performance Reviews of County Boards of Tax Assessors
In 2000, legislation was passed which provided that county governing authorities, by resolution, could request that the Commissioner conduct a Performance Review of the county board of tax assessors. Upon receipt of such a request, the Commissioner appoints a Performance Review Board consisting of 3 members: 1 member who is an employee of the Department of Revenue and 2 members who serve as tax assessors or chief appraisers in counties other than the county being reviewed. Once appointed, the Performance Review Board performs a thorough and complete investigation of the board of tax assessors, including the technical competency of appraisal techniques and compliance with state law and regulations, and issues a report of its findings to the governing authority.
The governing authority may use the results of the Performance Review Report as grounds for removal of any or all members of the board of tax assessors. Bibb, Chatham, Douglas, Fulton and Hart counties have pursued removal of members of the board of tax assessors based on the findings of the Performance Review Board since 2000.
During the years the Department has been conducting Performance Reviews, it has become evident that county governing authorities most often request Performance Reviews whenever the board of tax assessors has concluded a revaluation of all property within the county, particularly if the tax assessors have not kept taxpayers informed of the expected effect the revaluation will have upon property values.
The findings of the Performance Reviews have varied. Some have determined that counties are in compliance with state law, where the board of tax assessors has been diligent in establishing fair market values in an appropriate manner, are conscientious in following proper appraisal methodology, and work well with taxpayers and other county tax officials. Others have found dysfunctional boards who have established property values with no documentation to support their appraisals, without adherence to proper appeal procedures, and lack good customer service to taxpayers.
34

List of Counties Where Performance Reviews Occurred

2009 Camden
Jones Effingham

2010 Pierce

2011

2012 Floyd Lincoln

2013 Fannin

2004 Dade Hart Liberty Madison

2005

2006

2007

2008

Charlton

Bibb

Brantley Jefferson

Gilmer

Fulton

Crawford

Ware Habersham Telfair

Wheeler

Lamar

Morgan

Whitfield

35

Public Utilities

O.C.G.A. 48-2-18 requires the Commissioner to annually propose assessments for public utility property and to ensure that these properties are assessed at the same overall average assessment level as other property in the county. Each utility company is required to annually return their properties indicating location, description, type of property and valuation. The Commissioner's staff inspects these returns to ensure the accuracy of each utility company's declarations and the State Board of Equalization must approve the digest of public utility values and equalization ratios prior to notification to the counties and the public utility companies. The State Board of Equalization at the time the 2013 digest was approved was comprised of Revenue Commissioner Douglas J. MacGinnitie, State Auditor Russell Hinton, and Steve Stancil, Director of the State Properties Commission.

In determining each county's proposed assessed public utility values for 2013, the Commissioner utilized the equalization ratios developed by the State Auditor based on the results of the sales ratio study performed on the 2012 tax digest. This method ensures that proposed public utility values are set at the same overall average assessment level as other properties.

Once the State Board of Equalization approved these values, proposed equalization ratios and assessments were issued to the counties and utility companies. Each county board of tax assessors then determined the final assessment of utility properties by either accepting the State's proposed equalization ratio or substituting their own upon issuing assessment notices to the utility companies.

The Department continues to be engaged in litigation as a result of public utility companies appealing their valuations. Discussions with public utility industry representatives continue in an attempt to reach a mutual understanding of appraisal methodologies so as to reduce the number of appeals and provide a uniform method of appraising property using the unit rule approach.

The Department appraised these properties utilizing recognized and publicly available financial reference data to determine the reported net worth of public utility companies in an effort to eliminate bias, concerning the actual unit value of each company. These nationally recognized financial sources included Reuters, Standard & Poor's, Morningstar, and Value Line, making the process less subjective and more transparent.

Figure 14: Change in Public Utility Digest Value shows the digest history since 2007.
40.00

Billions

35.00

31.57

30.00

31.74

31.54

32.60

33.96

35.71

35.33

25.00

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

36

Figure 15: Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratios below shows the trend of the statewide proposed public utility equalization ratios.

50.00

45.00 40.00

37.40

37.65

38.99

35.00 30.00

37.44

36.40

38.22

39.2

25.00

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Figure 16: Number of Public Utility Companies by Year shows the numbers of companies that are centrally assessed on an annual basis.

250

245

240

235

230

225

230

2007

229 2008

229 2009

230 2010

235 2011

230 2012

232 2013

37

Table 6: 2013 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios shows each county's 2013 proposed equalization ratio for assessment of the public utility properties.

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham

Proposed Ratio

County

36.63 38.55 34.59 39.98 38.15 43.80 37.70 39.86 39.47 38.77 42.00 39.81 39.22 40.40 39.51 40.63 39.16 39.41 37.53 42.27 37.50 39.42 38.64 40.80 38.53

Chattahoochee Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols

Proposed Ratio
39.68 33.48 38.06 40.00 41.16 40.29 38.17 38.53 38.94 38.86 39.43 38.64 38.13 40.20 39.45 40.72 38.59 38.28 37.07 42.23 39.52 39.37 41.03 39.40 39.30

38

Table 6: 2013 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios

County
Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry

Proposed Ratio

County

39.28 40.69 39.60 40.05 35.00 38.71 40.09 39.26 38.52 37.64 36.67 38.88 39.57 37.90 36.32 37.23 39.36 40.51 39.87 40.51 42.16 39.51 37.27 40.99 38.36

Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller

Proposed Ratio
39.20 38.56 38.02 38.70 38.74 40.38 35.64 40.86 42.18 40.71 41.69 35.42 39.05 34.62 38.68 40.05 38.23 42.44 40.42 38.60 39.94 39.30 40.67 40.58 37.51

39

Table 6: 2013 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios

County
Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole

Proposed Ratio

County

38.69 40.38 42.38 36.41 39.52 38.65 38.61 39.15 41.35 38.13 40.32 43.09 38.22 42.02 39.01 40.02 41.52 39.89 39.41 36.12 40.15 42.71 39.30 40.76 38.17

Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington

Proposed Ratio
40.73 38.30 37.53 39.16 37.01 39.37 39.30 39.89 38.79 39.28 39.51 38.60 38.88 39.20 39.34 38.25 38.57 39.89 40.75 37.75 36.85 37.54 38.67 37.74 39.40

40

Table 6: 2013 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios

County
Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Average

Proposed Ratio
42.66 40.69 38.95 37.64 40.06 36.27 39.62 40.72 37.05 39.20

41

Preferential Agricultural Assessment
In the 1983 legislative session, O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.1 was passed establishing preferential assessment of tangible real property devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes. By statute, all real property is assessed at 40% of fair market value. However, the new legislation provided for a 30% level of assessment or 75% of the value at which other taxable real property is assessed. The decrease in the level of assessment creates a tax shift7 from those taxpayers taking advantage of this special assessment program to those taxpayers who cannot qualify for special treatment, in the same manner as any exemption for one class of taxpayers shifts the tax burden to another class of property owners. In making application for preferential assessment, qualifying taxpayers must sign a covenant (contract) agreeing to continuously maintain the property in agricultural pursuits for a period of 10 years. Transfers of ownership are allowed provided the property is transferred to another qualifying entity that agrees to continue the property in agricultural pursuits for the remainder of the covenant period. Otherwise, the covenant has been breached and a penalty imposed. Penalties range from 5 times the tax savings if the breach occurs during the first year of the covenant, to a minimum of 3 times the tax savings if the breach occurs during the tenth year of the covenant.
7 Tax Shift - Providing property tax relief to a particular class of taxpayers through valuation reductions or exemptions, resulting in a higher tax burden for other classes of taxpayers. For example, taxpayers in the preferential tax assessment program are afforded an exemption equal to the difference between an assessment of 40% of fair market value and 30% of fair market value, while the property of residential, commercial, industrial, and other classes of taxpayers is assessed at 40% of fair market value only. As a consequence, the other classes of taxpayers are bearing more of the tax burden.
42

Table 7: Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact shows the total number of parcels and the total dollar tax shift, and the percentage change of each category since 1990. The number of parcels that were in the program was highest in 1997 and has been steadily declining since that time.

Year
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Parcels
19,947 23,086 23,243 18,388 17,836 22,226 23,501 23,915 23,340 22,634 22,449 20,582 18,302 16,435 13,549 13,020 11,168
8,755 7,274 5,742 5,146 4,612 3,988

Percent Change
15.70% 0.68% -20.89% -3.00% 24.61% 5.74% 1.76% -2.40% -3.02% -0.82% -8.32% -11.02% -10.20% -17.56% -3.90% -14.22% -21.61% -16.92% -21.06% -10.38% -10.38% -13.53%

Total Value Eliminated

$

176,780,216

$

204,261,412

$

180,985,796

$

145,151,076

$

137,170,751

$

165,278,063

$

174,157,485

$

181,350,311

$

189,169,970

$

191,204,332

$

191,352,938

$

195,076,035

$

182,041,147

$

177,696,254

$

158,588,308

$

194,743,119

$

193,012,297

$

153,927,964

$

139,281,934

$

104,297,566

$

86,250,878

$

72,078,892

$

61,697,690

Percent Change
15.55% -11.40% -19.80% -5.50% 20.49% 5.37% 4.13% 4.31% 1.08% 0.08% 1.95% -6.68% -2.39% -10.75% 22.80% -0.89% -20.25% -9.51% -25.12% -17.30% -16.43% -14.40%

Total Tax Shift $ 4,010,259 $ 4,657,783 $ 4,232,187 $ 3,542,375 $ 3,362,403 $ 4,249,807 $ 4,410,076 $ 4,654,542 $ 4,701,626 $ 4,760,183 $ 4,824,066 $ 5,011,186 $ 4,768,802 $ 4,803,802 $ 4,304,327 $ 4,270,954 $ 4,175,105 $ 3,983,907 $ 3,636,463 $ 2,725,949 $ 2,313,513 $ 1,960,764 $ 1,691,116

Percent Change
16.10% -9.14% -16.30% -5.08% 26.39% 3.77% 5.54% 1.01% 1.25% 1.34% 3.88% -4.84% 0.73% -10.40% -0.78% -2.24% -4.58% -8.72% -25.04% -15.13% -15.25% -13.75%

43

Table 8: Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2012 illustrates a county-by-county breakdown of the preferential agricultural assessment local impact.

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee

Parcel Count
651 66
263 144
0 6 0 39 6 8 6 1 9 51 8 9 28 5 58 7 12 22 0 1 0 3

Assessed Value
Eliminated $3,459,707 $1,217,103 $2,298,251 $3,602,340 $0 $105,081 $0 $619,640 $60,135 $413,655 $37,299 $7,280 $118,917 $1,616,649 $130,910 $294,330 $923,516 $430,371 $1,107,599 $144,779 $277,472 $318,829 $0 $2,610 $0 $33,674

State Tax Shift
$865 $304 $575 $901
$0 $26
$0 $155
$15 $103
$9 $2 $30 $404 $33 $74 $231 $108 $277 $36 $69 $80 $0 $1 $0 $8

County Tax Shift
$44,804 $21,130 $32,148 $30,656
$0 $944
$0 $4,817
$889 $6,912
$448 $109 $1,842 $17,748 $1,034 $3,073 $5,785 $6,203 $14,407 $1,694 $2,978 $2,710
$0 $50
$0 $291

School Tax Shift
$51,896 $18,027 $33,325 $53,585
$0 $1,525
$0 $11,092
$949 $5,791
$669 $89
$2,204 $24,250
$2,034 $3,061 $12,698 $8,177 $19,199 $2,244 $3,679 $6,217
$0 $48
$0 $552

Total Tax Shift
$97,565 $39,461 $66,048 $85,142
$0 $2,495
$0 $16,064
$1,853 $12,806
$1,126 $200
$4,076 $42,402
$3,101 $6,208 $18,714 $14,488 $33,883 $3,974 $6,726 $9,007
$0 $99
$0 $851

44

County
Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans

Parcel Count
1 0 0 17 0 14 0 45 5 5 25 0 19 22 19 0 40 0 24 33 7 0 51 8 5 3 18 53

Assessed Value
Eliminated $9,305 $0 $0
$354,530 $0
$112,650 $0
$983,088 $101,329 $171,512 $354,054
$0 $388,240 $364,209 $299,686
$0 $1,038,235
$0 $571,733 $829,078 $254,760
$0 $1,088,945
$182,170 $146,480
$16,030 $415,344 $623,097

State Tax Shift
$2 $0 $0 $89 $0 $28 $0 $246 $25 $43 $89 $0 $97 $91 $75 $0 $260 $0 $143 $207 $64 $0 $272 $46 $37 $4 $104 $156

County Tax Shift
$107 $0 $0
$5,377 $0
$1,235 $0
$7,714 $1,365 $1,124 $4,213
$0 $4,865 $3,926 $1,905
$0 $10,029
$0 $5,596 $14,347 $3,030
$0 $13,013
$2,550 $1,254
$159 $4,507 $5,343

School Tax Shift
$135 $0 $0
$4,262 $0
$1,767 $0
$15,940 $839
$3,017 $5,688
$0 $5,241 $6,355 $4,172
$0 $16,601
$0 $6,861 $14,046 $4,699
$0 $16,879
$3,577 $2,475
$257 $5,752 $8,100

Total Tax Shift
$244 $0 $0
$9,728 $0
$3,030 $0
$23,900 $2,229 $4,184 $9,990 $0
$10,203 $10,372
$6,152 $0
$26,890 $0
$12,600 $28,600
$7,793 $0
$30,164 $6,173 $3,766 $420
$10,363 $13,599

45

County
Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins

Parcel Count
0 0 8 0 0 0 9 10 1 64 23 1 0 14 0 82 4 0 1 2 6 14 61 3 15 15 3 270

Assessed Value
Eliminated $0 $0
$233,510 $0 $0 $0
$105,210 $100,186
$2,490 $956,213 $916,200
$28,715 $0
$126,888 $0
$1,672,815 $54,585 $0 $5,498 $28,502 $50,680
$895,340 $903,721
$25,256 $89,040 $345,454 $28,100 $5,815,238

State Tax Shift
$0 $0 $58 $0 $0 $0 $26 $25 $1 $239 $229 $7 $0 $32 $0 $418 $14 $0 $1 $7 $13 $224 $226 $6 $22 $86 $7 $1,454

County Tax Shift
$0 $0 $2,047 $0 $0 $0 $865 $1,230 $14 $9,371 $10,894 $170 $0 $1,222 $0 $30,245 $602 $0 $29 $198 $735 $8,909 $11,184 $217 $1,376 $4,449 $407 $62,194

School Tax Shift
$0 $0 $4,340 $0 $0 $0 $1,867 $1,542 $38 $18,464 $13,010 $402 $0 $1,828 $0 $23,297 $919 $0 $75 $435 $1,014 $11,944 $14,179 $556 $1,691 $4,405 $398 $75,022

Total Tax Shift
$0 $0 $6,445 $0 $0 $0 $2,758 $2,797 $53 $28,074 $24,133 $579 $0 $3,082 $0 $53,960 $1,535 $0 $105 $640 $1,762 $21,077 $25,589 $779 $3,089 $8,940 $812 $138,670

46

County
Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding

Parcel Count
1 1 2 11 3 5 13 0 4 2 0 35 17 27 8 1 6 9 55 1 34 3 4 11 1 4 6 0

Assessed Value
Eliminated $4,867
$14,000 $150,232 $265,740 $173,408 $464,990
$70,268 $0
$55,631 $157,222
$0 $602,295 $129,791 $517,804
$70,952 $6,855
$122,010 $169,978 $1,135,853
$5,010 $387,165
$65,525 $50,920 $94,767
$5,220 $17,904 $208,160
$0

State Tax Shift
$1 $4 $38 $66 $43 $116 $18 $0 $14 $39 $0 $151 $32 $129 $18 $2 $31 $42 $284 $1 $97 $16 $13 $24 $1 $4 $52 $0

County Tax Shift
$70 $186 $1,569 $4,212 $1,096 $5,936 $884
$0 $874 $1,149
$0 $6,204 $1,442 $3,586
$554 $68
$1,652 $2,881 $23,045
$47 $4,877
$589 $295 $1,423
$57 $120 $1,595
$0

School Tax Shift
$67 $249 $2,490 $4,560 $2,775 $7,161 $1,124
$0 $751 $2,317
$0 $10,841
$2,205 $8,407 $1,220
$108 $2,321 $2,744 $16,851
$77 $4,735 $1,160
$789 $2,215
$114 $331 $4,036
$0

Total Tax Shift
$138 $439 $4,097 $8,838 $3,914 $13,213 $2,026
$0 $1,639 $3,505
$0 $17,196
$3,679 $12,122
$1,792 $178
$4,004 $5,667 $40,180
$125 $9,709 $1,765 $1,097 $3,662
$172 $455 $5,683
$0

47

County
Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs

Parcel Count
6 0 6 0 0 16 0 0 0 72 4 0 22 181 22 2 0 43 58 3 19 66 8 65 38 6 1 213

Assessed Value
Eliminated $135,540 $0 $148,763 $0 $0 $365,386 $0 $0 $0
$1,261,475 $23,835 $0
$379,414 $2,581,295 $1,000,760
$40,649 $0
$441,631 $954,283
$30,003 $195,228 $836,731 $190,867 $649,093 $827,604 $419,642
$11,821 $2,012,963

State Tax Shift
$34 $0
$37 $0 $0
$91 $0 $0 $0
$315 $6 $0
$95 $645 $250
$10 $0
$110 $239
$8 $49 $209 $48 $162 $207 $105
$3 $503

County Tax Shift
$1,837 $0
$1,379 $0 $0
$5,039 $0 $0 $0
$21,698 $193 $0
$4,667 $31,156 $13,221
$610 $0
$5,627 $11,189
$480 $4,030 $11,051 $1,565 $9,054 $11,587 $2,390
$144 $19,375

School Tax Shift
$2,304 $0
$2,487 $0 $0
$4,893 $0 $0 $0
$21,294 $455 $0
$7,201 $34,646 $16,267
$791 $0
$7,291 $16,731
$423 $3,514 $11,339 $2,592 $9,893 $13,642 $6,181
$177 $22,889

Total Tax Shift
$4,175 $0
$3,903 $0 $0
$10,023 $0 $0 $0
$43,307 $654 $0
$11,963 $66,447 $29,738
$1,411 $0
$13,028 $28,159
$911 $7,593 $22,599 $4,205 $19,109 $25,436 $8,676
$324 $42,767

48

County
Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

Parcel Count
0 6 0 17 1 0 0 15 3 216 14 22 17 14 5 4 2 52 41 2 19 3,988

Assessed Value
Eliminated $0
$121,170 $0
$299,094 $5,968 $0 $0
$207,745 $46,606
$2,279,732 $235,742 $332,048 $320,203 $324,520 $31,840 $81,811 $20,180 $610,730 $801,140 $15,210 $602,138
$61,697,690

State Tax Shift
$0 $30
$0 $75
$1 $0 $0 $52 $12 $570 $59 $83 $80 $81 $8 $20 $5 $153 $200 $4 $151 $15,425

County Tax Shift
$0 $1,491
$0 $4,791
$99 $0 $0
$1,004 $578
$36,020 $3,065 $2,847 $4,003 $3,539 $512 $752 $122
$11,146 $7,604 $189 $6,175
$743,329

School Tax Shift
$0 $1,454
$0 $4,187
$99 $0 $0
$3,616 $1,063 $38,133 $4,573 $5,433 $6,404 $5,643
$492 $1,385
$378 $9,228 $13,419
$299 $8,574 $932,438

Total Tax Shift
$0 $2,975
$0 $9,053
$199 $0 $0
$4,672 $1,653 $74,723 $7,697 $8,363 $10,487 $9,263 $1,012 $2,157
$505 $20,527 $21,223
$492 $14,900 $1,691,192

49

Figure 17: Preferential Agricultural Total Tax Dollar below illustrates the amount of revenue shift and value removed as a result of the Preferential Agricultural Assessment program for the last 10 years.

Millions

$10.0

$8.0

$6.0

$4.3

$4.2

$3.6

$4.0 $4.8

$2.3

$1.7

$2.0

$4.3

$4.0

$2.7

$2.0

$-

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Figure 18: Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated below illustrates the amount of revenue shift and value removed as a result of the Preferential Agricultural Assessment program for the last 10 years.

Millions

$225.0 $175.0 $125.0

$178.4

$194.7

$158.6

$193.0

$75.0

$153.9 $139.3

$104.3 $86.3

$72.1 $61.7

$25.0

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

50

Conservation Use Valuation
In 1991 the Legislature embraced the "current use" valuation concept. This bill provided for the assessment for ad valorem tax purposes of certain qualifying properties based on current use value, rather than fair market value. The bill also provided for the Commissioner to annually develop a table of current use values to be used in all counties. It is based upon a legislated formula which takes into account the amount of income the land is capable of producing when growing certain crops and timber and factors found in market data using only farmer-to-farmer land sales. The data is grouped into nine agricultural districts in Georgia. Unlike the Preferential Agricultural Assessment Program in which assessments are based on 30% of fair market value rather than 40%, the valuation of property in Conservation Use Covenants is most significant in the urban areas of north Georgia and other parts of the State where strong residential and commercial development is occurring. As a result, agricultural landowners' tax savings are greatest in these transitional areas. The effect of this special assessment program is a tax shift8 from those taxpayers taking advantage of this special assessment program to those taxpayers who cannot qualify for special treatment, just as any exemption for one class of taxpayers shifts the tax burden to other classes of taxpayers. Several reports, graphs, and charts are being included in this report to show the fiscal impact of Conservation Use Valuation.
8 Tax Shift - Providing property tax relief to a particular class of taxpayers through valuation reductions or exemptions, resulting in a higher tax burden for other classes of taxpayers. For example, agricultural property owners qualifying for Conservation Use Assessment are afforded an exemption equal to the difference between fair market value and current use value, while the property of residential, commercial, industrial, and other classes of taxpayers is assessed at fair market value only. As a consequence, the other classes of taxpayers are bearing more of the tax burden.
51

Table 9: Conservation Use Fiscal Impact below represents the 10 counties, ranked by total tax shift, most affected by Conservation Use Assessment. The table lists, by county, the number of applications (parcel count), and assessed value eliminated from the digest, amount of tax shift for each of the tax types, and the total tax shift.

County
Hall Gwinnett Meriwether Cherokee Jackson Worth Oconee Lumpkin Brooks Gordon

Real Parcel
2,446 920 2,379 2,091 2,450 2,039 1,904 1,473 1,601 2,304

Assessed Value Eliminated
$317,055,819 $174,694,500 $168,022,444 $208,554,120 $171,786,531 $185,168,749 $174,428,451 $157,759,593 $151,740,074 $135,528,596

State Tax Shift

County Tax Shift

School Tax Shift

$79,264 $1,981,599 $5,801,671

$43,674 $2,099,828 $3,561,996

$42,006 $2,275,024 $3,195,619

$52,139 $1,214,828 $4,139,799

$42,947 $1,494,692 $3,150,823

$46,292 $1,898,906 $2,636,803

$43,607 $1,171,509 $3,226,926

$39,440 $1,414,411 $2,561,858

$37,935 $1,665,055 $2,276,101

$33,882 $1,328,180 $2,595,852

Total Tax Shift
$7,862,534 $5,705,498 $5,512,649 $5,406,766 $4,688,462 $4,582,001 $4,442,042 $4,015,709 $3,979,091 $3,957,914

52

Table 10: Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2012 lists each county and the number of parcels receiving Conservation Use Assessment, the amount of value eliminated from the taxable digest in each county, the tax dollar shift for State, County, School, and the total tax dollar shift.

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham

Real Parcel
58 909 241 233 818 1,650 1,323 1,082 458 1,913 435 685 956 1,601 297 2,603 1,892 1,152 469 854 1,010 2,395 572 761 153

Assessed Value Eliminated
$375,002 $15,185,315 $2,694,289 $12,701,718 $38,220,516 $142,204,011 $52,917,460 $43,452,470 $10,301,107 $74,649,722 $18,906,230 $33,482,071 $23,792,377 $151,740,074 $13,586,850 $78,416,525 $128,772,923 $96,873,628 $30,677,280 $38,404,828 $33,645,110 $64,037,353 $38,186,969 $15,859,441 $25,973,648

State Tax Shift
$94 $3,796 $674 $3,175 $9,555 $35,551 $13,229 $10,863 $2,575 $18,662 $4,727 $8,371 $5,948 $37,935 $3,397 $19,604 $32,193 $24,218 $7,669 $9,601 $8,411 $16,009 $9,547 $3,965 $6,493

County Tax Shift
$4,856 $263,632 $37,688 $108,197 $335,576 $1,276,850 $713,838 $338,892 $152,302 $1,247,397 $226,931 $501,160 $369,357 $1,665,055 $106,729 $818,669 $807,004 $1,396,240 $398,645 $449,336 $360,381 $543,377 $206,136 $301,329 $288,541

School Tax Shift
$5,625 $224,910 $39,067 $188,938 $652,042 $2,063,096 $978,973 $757,857 $162,624 $1,045,096 $339,272 $410,423 $440,873 $2,276,101 $211,099 $815,532 $1,770,628 $1,840,599 $531,760 $595,275 $446,101 $1,234,280 $644,860 $291,021 $380,020

Total Tax Shift
$10,575 $492,338 $77,429 $300,310 $997,173 $3,375,497 $1,706,040 $1,107,612 $317,501 $2,311,155 $570,930 $919,954 $816,178 $3,979,091 $321,225 $1,653,805 $2,609,825 $3,261,057 $938,074 $1,054,212 $814,893 $1,793,666 $860,543 $596,315 $675,054

53

County Chattahoochee Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel

Real Parcel
82 1,301 2,091
354
476 161 403 537 2,178 2,457 5,057 1,123 2,451 846 923 536 969 1,547 15 1,653 1,336 193 381 1,462 300 1,959 1,469 2,083

Assessed Value Eliminated
$4,310,609 $41,790,842 $208,554,120
$29,658,054
$30,199,866 $12,320,466 $13,172,926 $52,300,589 $133,011,033 $131,486,370 $89,031,677 $63,369,884 $143,389,123 $42,461,534 $45,224,295 $25,682,589 $109,733,981 $122,962,083
$597,200 $66,233,349 $62,113,526 $14,783,330 $35,548,593 $65,095,439 $7,004,708 $78,589,997 $68,366,799 $63,451,768

State Tax Shift
$1,078 $10,448 $52,139
$7,415
$7,550 $3,080 $3,293 $13,075 $33,253 $32,872 $22,258 $15,842 $35,847 $10,615 $11,306 $6,421 $27,433 $30,741 $149 $16,558 $15,528 $3,696 $8,887 $16,274 $1,751 $19,647 $17,092 $15,863

County Tax Shift
$37,226 $483,295 $1,214,828
$406,315
$458,011 $183,723 $144,362 $421,020 $1,043,738 $1,710,168 $583,692 $754,102 $957,402 $532,152 $487,427 $163,542 $893,015 $1,187,814
$8,235 $648,292 $1,074,875 $175,833 $351,931 $777,890 $98,066 $672,573 $677,975 $688,579

School Tax Shift
$70,694 $602,178 $4,139,799
$593,161
$363,033 $246,409 $206,578 $981,773 $2,156,641 $1,089,102 $1,566,067 $1,018,037 $2,665,604 $573,231 $789,164 $357,502 $1,749,818 $1,966,164 $14,321 $794,800 $1,052,327 $272,679 $780,292 $1,008,979 $137,537 $1,327,935 $1,097,766 $878,680

Total Tax Shift
$108,998 $1,095,921 $5,406,766
$1,006,891
$828,594 $433,212 $354,233 $1,415,868 $3,233,632 $2,832,142 $2,172,017 $1,787,981 $3,658,853 $1,115,998 $1,287,897 $527,465 $2,670,266 $3,184,719 $22,705 $1,459,650 $2,142,730 $452,208 $1,141,110 $1,803,143 $237,354 $2,020,155 $1,792,833 $1,583,122
54

County Evans Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson

Real Parcel
280 1,578 573 2,263 797 2,506 610 2,157 527 175 2,304 2,010 1,218 920 1,714 2,446 1,317 1,166 1,607 1,743 1,328 1,473 769 1,509 2,450 1,485 866 1,626

Assessed Value Eliminated
$10,428,056 $120,042,957 $34,383,418 $65,815,188 $136,442,489 $107,589,310 $67,797,960 $118,192,531 $14,534,484 $20,885,495 $135,528,596 $118,712,995 $80,417,758 $174,694,500 $145,151,056 $317,055,819 $65,887,960 $66,940,673 $126,153,408 $111,796,276 $48,697,724 $84,645,920 $65,955,703 $73,940,939 $171,786,531 $85,187,191 $16,958,868 $86,523,824

State Tax Shift
$2,607 $30,011 $8,596 $16,454 $34,111 $26,897 $16,949 $29,548 $3,634 $5,221 $33,882 $29,678 $20,104 $43,674 $36,288 $79,264 $16,472 $16,735 $31,538 $27,949 $12,174 $21,161 $16,489 $18,485 $42,947 $21,297 $4,240 $21,631

County Tax Shift
$89,189 $619,422 $194,094 $577,002 $775,130 $877,380 $715,336 $971,306 $178,338 $118,975 $1,328,180 $1,411,498 $474,786 $2,099,828 $1,398,530 $1,981,599 $1,191,254 $737,686 $774,582 $580,893 $337,962 $1,220,027 $656,259 $915,093 $1,494,692 $1,315,801 $218,430 $1,254,595

School Tax Shift
$135,565 $1,548,554 $737,524 $1,217,600 $2,553,931 $1,814,816 $1,227,812 $2,097,917 $223,686 $319,406 $2,595,852 $1,685,725 $1,125,849 $3,561,996 $2,091,627 $5,801,671 $917,622 $1,125,430 $2,215,254 $1,532,615 $743,614 $1,692,918 $879,849 $1,160,133 $3,150,823 $1,617,705 $216,226 $1,224,053

Total Tax Shift
$227,361 $2,197,987 $940,214 $1,811,056 $3,363,172 $2,719,093 $1,960,097 $3,098,771 $405,658 $443,602 $3,957,914 $3,126,901 $1,620,739 $5,705,498 $3,526,445 $7,862,534 $2,125,348 $1,879,851 $3,021,374 $2,141,457 $1,093,750 $2,934,106 $1,552,597 $2,093,711 $4,688,462 $2,954,803 $438,896 $2,500,279
55

County Jenkins Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe

Real Parcel
540 1,320 1,038 877 578 2,189 449 163 836 499 1,048 1,473 1,322 2,268 869 841 185 2,379 759 1,742 1,350 1,038 1,677 787 103 1,026 1,904 1,852

Assessed Value Eliminated
$32,287,874 $49,467,427 $82,871,599 $49,522,972 $30,435,498 $61,223,753 $65,914,497 $5,363,701 $32,641,834 $22,304,288 $31,847,668 $157,759,593 $62,369,440 $96,843,643 $40,875,659 $42,191,642 $11,828,672 $168,022,444 $18,003,481 $106,076,023 $95,749,804 $25,436,008 $114,536,308 $41,796,050 $9,739,860 $78,122,260 $174,428,451 $98,792,990

State Tax Shift
$8,072 $12,367 $20,718 $12,381 $7,609 $15,306 $16,479 $1,341 $8,160 $5,576 $7,962 $39,440 $15,592 $24,211 $10,219 $10,548 $2,957 $42,006 $4,501 $26,519 $23,937 $6,359 $28,634 $10,449 $2,435 $19,531 $43,607 $24,698

County Tax Shift
$345,319 $710,105 $1,103,062 $517,267 $482,403 $386,934 $841,464 $66,735 $333,600 $350,400 $232,806 $1,414,411 $643,551 $1,077,130 $283,106 $329,155 $116,997 $2,275,024 $305,159 $2,152,176 $893,441 $320,392 $1,029,681 $242,462 $122,079 $852,314 $1,171,509 $758,011

School Tax Shift
$416,546 $685,569 $1,474,120 $820,893 $522,273 $978,723 $1,015,083 $85,819 $645,688 $301,108 $468,464 $2,561,858 $1,122,650 $1,645,373 $663,657 $725,274 $185,509 $3,195,619 $290,594 $1,587,036 $1,468,993 $310,657 $2,027,407 $647,839 $227,621 $1,710,877 $3,226,926 $1,915,596

Total Tax Shift
$769,937 $1,408,041 $2,597,900 $1,350,541 $1,012,285 $1,380,963 $1,873,026 $153,895 $987,448 $657,084 $709,232 $4,015,709 $1,781,793 $2,746,714 $956,982 $1,064,977 $305,463 $5,512,649 $600,254 $3,765,731 $2,386,371 $637,408 $3,085,722 $900,750 $352,135 $2,582,722 $4,442,042 $2,698,305
56

County Paulding Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift

Real Parcel
1,568 531 598 1,301 1,572 1,035 577 597 278 683 997 172 369 471 1,426 819 974 552 312 1,210 1,560 632 1,525 1,219 1,185 1,048 1,267 992

Assessed Value Eliminated
$117,785,728 $25,397,238 $48,534,418 $55,732,383 $78,147,323 $39,380,363 $14,199,230 $67,063,072 $17,863,355 $60,241,094 $42,415,556 $9,140,443 $14,968,568 $26,333,224 $67,793,094 $78,705,187 $54,546,828 $22,970,706 $6,761,393 $60,239,689 $88,097,792 $21,029,707 $48,915,177 $65,387,012 $31,238,479 $45,882,269 $177,129,910 $61,588,717

State Tax Shift
$29,446 $6,349 $12,134 $13,933 $19,537 $9,845 $3,550 $16,766 $4,466 $15,060 $10,604 $2,285 $3,742 $6,583 $16,948 $19,676 $13,637 $5,743 $1,690 $15,060 $22,024 $5,257 $12,229 $16,347 $7,810 $11,471 $44,282 $15,397

County Tax Shift
$1,218,376 $344,260 $322,754 $517,118 $987,001 $427,277 $195,807 $362,141 $278,883 $470,632 $729,586 $73,900 $256,711 $323,899 $818,263 $1,039,774 $818,748 $260,028 $86,140 $706,310 $1,409,917 $433,854 $646,072 $536,318 $435,746 $642,352 $1,010,338 $750,335

School Tax Shift
$2,227,210 $431,753 $781,404 $931,567 $1,289,118 $641,112 $190,128 $787,991 $281,348 $535,483 $715,975 $174,674 $366,730 $499,805 $909,919 $1,279,353 $1,062,027 $422,661 $111,631 $1,056,182 $1,242,972 $378,535 $662,850 $887,956 $476,137 $756,323 $2,607,258 $921,614

Total Tax Shift
$3,475,032 $782,362 $1,116,292 $1,462,618 $2,295,656 $1,078,234 $389,485 $1,166,898 $564,697 $1,021,175 $1,456,165 $250,859 $627,183 $830,287 $1,745,130 $2,338,803 $1,894,412 $688,432 $199,461 $1,777,552 $2,674,913 $817,646 $1,321,151 $1,440,621 $919,693 $1,410,146 $3,661,878 $1,687,346
57

County Toombs Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

Real Parcel
416 489 631 1,287 1,315 977 1,272 1,356 1,115 1,178 600 750 1,430 1,655 473 1,017 1,353 682 1,253 1,689 959 2,039 178,798

Assessed Value Eliminated
$11,888,705

State Tax Shift
$2,972

$33,061,763

$8,265

$14,833,032

$3,708

$93,027,399

$23,257

$55,555,977

$13,889

$36,304,989

$9,076

$110,445,330

$27,611

$58,217,113

$14,554

$40,743,562

$10,186

$65,895,273

$16,474

$18,316,372

$4,579

$28,660,495

$7,165

$52,413,164

$13,103

$78,053,093

$19,513

$25,904,129

$6,476

$31,295,026

$7,824

$98,508,384

$24,627

$23,879,564

$5,970

$12,955,133

$3,239

$72,042,667

$18,011

$37,626,948

$9,407

$185,168,749

$46,292

$10,056,387,557 $2,514,092

County Tax Shift
$114,429 $174,235 $182,652 $982,369 $889,951 $602,663 $597,509 $452,347 $197,222 $816,229 $289,399 $372,586 $449,443 $975,664 $282,510 $504,036 $905,292 $144,734 $236,431 $682,677 $468,079 $1,898,906 $101,940,666

School Tax Shift
$135,808 $198,371 $177,996 $1,753,566 $777,784 $602,663 $1,303,034 $890,722 $709,101 $1,444,815 $306,378 $556,014 $857,584 $1,561,062 $450,421 $484,040 $1,667,747 $443,363 $195,752 $1,206,715 $739,746 $2,636,803 $164,719,089

Total Tax Shift
$253,209 $380,871 $364,356 $2,759,192 $1,681,624 $1,214,402 $1,928,154 $1,357,623 $916,509 $2,277,518 $600,356 $935,765 $1,320,130 $2,556,239 $739,407 $995,900 $2,597,666 $594,067 $435,422 $1,907,403 $1,217,232 $4,582,001 $269,173,847

58

Figures 19: Conservation Use Revenue Shift illustrates the amount of revenue shift and the amount of value removed annually from digests affected by the Conservation Use Valuation program since 2003.

Millions

350.00 300.00 250.00 200.00

$267.4

$295.1

$180.7 $228.6

$292.1

$283.2 $269.2

150.00

$110.1

100.00 $110.1
50.00 2003

$127.3 2004 2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Figures 20: Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated below illustrates the amount of revenue shift and the ever increasing amount of value removed annually from digests affected by the Conservation Use
Valuation program since 2003.

Billions

$15.0 $12.0

11.6

9.2

10.8

$9.0 $6.0 4.3
5.1 $3.0

5.1 7.2

10.8

11.5

10.1

$2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

59

Forest Land Conservation Use
The Georgia Forest Land Protection Act of 2008 provides for current use valuation for property primarily used for the good faith subsistence or commercial production of trees, timber, or other wood and wood fiber products.
The assessment of qualifying properties is based on current use value, rather than fair market value. The bill also provided for the Commissioner to annually develop a table of current use values to be used in all counties. It is based upon a legislated formula which takes into account the amount of income the land is capable of producing when growing timber and factors found in market data using comparable sales with and for the same existing use.
This 15-year covenant agreement between the taxpayer and the local board of assessors is limited to forest land tracts consisting of more than 200 contiguous acres when owned by an individual or individuals or by any entity registered to do business in Georgia. For tax year 2012, a covenant breach is subject to a penalty in an amount equal to three times the tax savings if the covenant is breached in years 1 through 5; two and one half times the tax savings if the covenant is breached in years 6 through 10; and two times the tax savings if the breach occurs in years 11 through 15. The effect of any special assessment program is a tax shift9 from those taxpayers taking advantage of this special assessment program to those taxpayers who cannot qualify for special treatment, just as any exemption for one class of taxpayers shifts the tax burden to other classes of taxpayers. To lessen the fiscal impact on local taxing jurisdictions there is a grant component associated with this program. A grant is paid to the taxing authorities to reimburse up to one-half of the first 3% of revenue loss and 100% of the revenue loss over 3% as a result of taxpayers enrolling property in this program. Several reports, graphs, and charts show the fiscal impact of Conservation Use Valuation.
9 Tax Shift - Providing property tax relief to a particular class of taxpayers through valuation reductions or exemptions, resulting in a higher tax burden for other classes of taxpayers. For example, agricultural property owners qualifying for Conservation Use Assessment are afforded an exemption equal to the difference between 7 market value and current use value, while the property of residential, commercial, industrial, and other classes of taxpayers is assessed at fair market value only. As a consequence, the other classes of taxpayers are bearing more of the tax burden.
60

Table 11: Forest Land Conservation Use Fiscal Impact below represents the 10 counties, ranked by total net tax shift, most affected by Forest land Conservation Use Assessment. The table lists, by county, the number of applications (parcel count), assessed value eliminated from the digest, amount of net tax shift for each of the tax types, and the total tax shift.

County WORTH

Parcel Count

Assessed Value
Eliminated

26

22,482,141

State Tax Shift

County Tax Shift

5,621 230,554

FLPA Grant County
5,597

Net County
Shift

School Tax Shift

224,958 320,146

FLPA Grant School

Net School Tax Shift

Total Tax Shift

7,772 312,374

556,321

Total FLPA Grant
13,368

Net Tax Shift
$542,953

HANCOCK

186

19,277,580

4,819 348,539

62,942 285,596 268,479

53,451 215,028

621,837 116,394 $505,443

MERIWETHER 61

17,717,640

4,429 239,897

58,565 181,332 336,972

75,062 261,910

581,298 133,627 $447,671

TALBOT

177

24,049,520

6,012 384,889 161,304 223,584 339,315 142,802 196,513

730,216 304,106 $426,110

CLINCH

99

19,414,773

4,854 212,766

60,517 152,250 304,462

86,907 217,555

522,082 147,423 $374,659

TWIGGS

99

11,384,255

2,846 188,979

9,345 179,634 188,979

9,345 179,634

380,804 18,690 $362,114

LEE

58

20,703,088

5,176 264,296 114,432 149,864 318,828 134,457 184,371

588,300 248,888 $339,411

JONES

90

16,763,355

4,191 223,120 106,425 116,695 298,187 127,934 170,253

525,498 234,360 $291,139

SCHLEY

53

7,797,162

1,949

95,905

3,007

92,898 147,990

4,078 143,912

245,844

7,085 $238,760

THOMAS

84

54,764,148 13,691 311,934 217,781

94,152 806,676 704,674 102,002 1,132,301 922,456 $209,845

61

Table 12: Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2012 lists each county and the number of parcels receiving Forest Land Conservation Use Assessment, the amount of value eliminated from the taxable digest in each county, the gross tax dollar shift for State, County, and School, the amount of the reimbursement grant paid to the County and School and the net tax shift for the taxing jurisdictions after the application of the grant. This table does not include amounts paid to municipalities or special taxing districts.

County
APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY BRANTLEY BROOKS BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

12

955,164

239

16,583

9,880

6,703 14,147

8,429

5,718 30,969

18,308

$12,660

5

35,673

9

499

242

257

517

251

266

1,025

493

$532

49

22,211,983

5,553 189,170 142,158 47,012 330,403 247,125 83,278 525,126 389,283 $135,843

29

2,976,026

744

26,130 15,414 10,716 50,771 29,950 20,821 77,645

45,364

$32,280

3

1,712,239

428

15,374

8,531

6,843 24,841 13,784 11,057 40,643

22,314

$18,329

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

64

3,077,689

769

45,504 25,631 19,872 48,587 27,368 21,219 94,860

52,999

$41,860

37

7,054,067

1,764 117,873 57,448 60,425 98,757 48,131 50,626 218,394 105,579 $112,815

13

739,058

185

8,871

442

8,429 13,262

661 12,601 22,318

1,104

$21,214

23

3,204,895

801

47,971 11,752 36,219 39,286

9,624 29,662 88,058

21,376

$66,682

77

8,376,228

2,094 129,748 62,070 67,678 155,212 72,128 83,084 287,054 134,198 $152,856

105

41,502,435 10,376 455,116 449,003

6,113 622,537 615,044

7,493 1,088,029 1,064,046

$23,982

17

2,325,893

581

18,374 10,091

8,284 36,137 19,629 16,508 55,092

29,720

$25,373

13

490,083

123

5,116

3,092

2,025

5,097

2,947

2,150 10,336

6,039

$4,298

96

19,208,621

4,802 120,323 56,253 64,070 264,119 123,481 140,638 389,244 179,734 $209,510

9

2,820,731

705

40,655 42,822 -2,166 53,594 56,450 -2,856 94,954

99,272

-$4,317

59

17,448,818

4,362 226,509 235,110 -8,601 302,458 317,270 -14,812 533,329 552,380 -$19,051

34

3,902,236

976

45,656 15,364 30,292 60,485 19,252 41,233 107,117

34,617

$72,501

12

1,116,208

279

11,979 12,014

-35 14,800 14,843

-43 27,058

26,857

$201

6

445,397

111

3,786

1,905

1,881

8,685

4,371

4,314 12,582

6,276

$6,306

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

35

6,577,726

1,644 124,977 125,314

-338 120,701 121,027

-326 247,322 246,342

$980

62

County CHATHAM

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

6

4,224,520

1,056

46,930 23,882 23,049 61,809 31,453 30,356 109,795

55,335

$54,461

CHATTAHOOCHEE

8

1,507,028

377

13,015

6,905

6,110 24,715 13,112 11,603 38,107

20,017

$18,090

CHATTOOGA

19

2,239,999

560

25,836 22,467

3,369 32,480 29,628

2,852 58,876

52,096

$6,781

CHEROKEE

4

1,464,000

366

8,528

6,423

2,104 29,060 21,448

7,612 37,954

27,872

$10,082

CLARKE

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

CLAY

38

5,198,534

1,300

78,841 23,542 55,299 62,492 18,660 43,832 142,633

42,202 $100,431

CLAYTON

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

CLINCH

99

19,414,773

4,854 212,766 60,517 152,250 304,462 86,907 217,555 522,082 147,423 $374,659

COBB

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

COFFEE

31

6,875,974

1,719

53,956 33,633 20,323 111,487 69,495 41,992 167,162 103,128

$64,033

COLQUITT

29

4,629,457

1,157

60,049 32,809 27,239 38,346 20,951 17,395 99,552

53,760

$45,791

COLUMBIA

305

9,907,097

2,477

64,951 33,339 31,612 174,266 91,603 82,663 241,694 124,942 $116,752

COOK

18

3,007,644

752

35,791 17,051 18,740 48,318 23,018 25,300 84,861

40,069

$44,792

COWETA

29

2,033,182

508

13,578

7,599

5,979 37,797 21,156 16,641 51,883

28,755

$23,128

CRAWFORD

82

12,040,843

3,010 150,872 57,185 93,687 162,551 61,612 100,939 316,433 118,797 $197,636

CRISP

14

773,477

193

8,337

4,835

3,501 13,497

7,828

5,669 22,027

12,664

$9,363

DADE

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

DAWSON

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

DECATUR

160

35,547,976

8,887 343,394 425,884 -82,490 568,412 706,303 -137,891 920,693 1,132,186 -$211,494

DEKALB

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

DODGE

76

7,798,279

1,950

76,329 35,390 40,939 93,579 43,388 50,191 171,858

78,778

$93,080

DOOLY

82

6,822,969

1,706 118,072 41,316 76,756 115,595 40,449 75,146 235,373

81,765 $153,608

DOUGHERTY

39

12,412,516

3,103 147,634 72,569 75,066 228,949 112,538 116,411 379,686 185,107 $194,579

DOUGLAS

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

EARLY

277

26,505,105

6,626 316,736 348,968 -32,232 410,829 435,847 -25,018 734,191 784,815 -$50,624

ECHOLS

49

2,075,126

519

29,052 63,609 -34,557 40,745 70,565 -29,820 70,316 134,174 -$63,858

EFFINGHAM

53

8,980,728

2,245

76,857 20,541 56,316 151,747 40,556 111,191 230,849

61,096 $169,753

ELBERT

22

6,164,903

1,541

61,119 31,247 29,872 98,990 50,608 48,382 161,650

81,855

$79,795

63

County EMANUEL EVANS FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

114

8,955,736

2,239

97,187 83,327 13,860 124,019 107,926 16,093 223,445 191,253

$32,193

8

802,571

201

6,814

4,067

2,747 10,433

6,227

4,206 17,448

10,294

$7,154

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

18

986,056

247

8,645

4,868

3,777 18,329 10,321

8,008 27,221

15,188

$12,033

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

33

12,916,040

3,229 136,277 117,468 18,809 238,973 172,693 66,280 378,479 290,160

$88,318

5

1,728,101

432

14,202 16,652 -2,450 30,674 40,949 -10,275 45,308

57,600 -$12,293

35

2,340,670

585

28,720 55,131 -26,411 36,023 66,714 -30,691 65,328 121,844 -$56,516

66

8,078,016

2,020

45,827 21,417 24,409 123,028 57,498 65,530 170,875

78,915

$91,959

7

2,036,093

509

19,954 10,522

9,432 39,315 20,731 18,584 59,778

31,252

$28,525

60

13,584,158

3,396 161,516 106,259 55,257 192,895 128,060 64,835 357,807 234,318 $123,488

76

11,196,993

2,799

66,107 48,874 17,233 156,758 115,894 40,864 225,664 164,768

$60,896

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

1

624,032

156

6,013

3,270

2,742

8,992

4,891

4,101 15,161

8,162

$6,999

1

2,902,350

726

18,140

8,195

9,945 53,664 24,243 29,421 72,530

32,437

$40,093

186

19,277,580

4,819 348,539 62,942 285,596 268,479 53,451 215,028 621,837 116,394 $505,443

15

3,421,108

855

37,701 21,091 16,610 57,577 32,211 25,366 96,133

53,301

$42,831

94

20,952,753

5,238 128,650 89,264 39,386 367,930 245,839 122,091 501,818 335,103 $166,715

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

46

6,409,694

1,602

44,483 29,210 15,273 97,876 64,271 33,605 143,961

93,482

$50,480

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

37

8,044,958

2,011

80,047 52,711 27,336 107,320 70,670 36,650 189,378 123,381

$65,997

18

1,119,055

280

13,849

7,045

6,804 17,558

8,932

8,626 31,687

15,977

$15,711

1

199,434

50

1,717

893

824

3,769

1,960

1,809

5,536

2,853

$2,683

62

11,875,758

2,969 183,433 362,029 -178,596 225,521 446,037 -220,516 411,923 808,067 -$396,144

61

4,684,402

1,171

60,335

8,649 51,686 59,726

8,561 51,165 121,232

17,210 $104,022

64

County JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMERY MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON OCONEE

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

90

13,840,825

3,460 200,692 118,828 81,864 195,806 116,773 79,033 399,958 235,601 $164,357

89

13,073,821

3,268 139,825 128,754 11,070 168,665 155,610 13,055 311,758 284,364

$27,393

58

5,150,711

1,288

73,938 42,871 31,067 71,384 41,940 29,444 146,610

84,811

$61,799

90

16,763,355

4,191 223,120 106,425 116,695 298,187 127,934 170,253 525,498 234,360 $291,139

25

3,918,241

980

40,926 20,425 20,501 64,949 32,414 32,535 106,855

52,839

$54,016

29

5,727,795

1,432

90,786 33,403 57,383 98,289 36,163 62,126 190,507

69,566 $120,940

46

2,778,986

695

17,563

8,856

8,707 44,464 22,420 22,044 62,722

31,276

$31,446

58

20,703,088

5,176 264,296 114,432 149,864 318,828 134,457 184,371 588,300 248,888 $339,411

21

7,507,206

1,877

94,441 51,825 42,616 120,115 65,914 54,201 216,433 117,738

$98,695

24

1,055,790

264

10,790

10,790 20,885

20,885 31,939

0

$31,939

72

11,019,698

2,755 173,119 109,528 63,591 148,766 94,388 54,378 324,640 203,916 $120,724

37

12,582,373

3,146

91,977 55,558 36,419 185,389 85,626 99,763 280,512 141,184 $139,328

2

1,803,173

451

16,160 21,909 -5,749 29,282 39,698 -10,416 45,893

61,606 -$15,713

37

2,859,339

715

29,454 29,573

-118 51,468 51,675

-207 81,637

81,248

$389

3

688,485

172

7,649

4,156

3,493 11,697

6,355

5,342 19,518

10,511

$9,007

133

18,295,241

4,574 126,695 100,863 25,831 297,042 212,158 84,884 428,311 313,021 $115,289

52

7,657,600

1,914

59,729 28,743 30,986 131,634 63,346 68,288 193,277

92,089 $101,188

21

9,378,279

2,345

92,761 36,249 56,512 147,080 57,476 89,605 242,186

93,724 $148,461

61

17,717,640

4,429 239,897 58,565 181,332 336,972 75,062 261,910 581,298 133,627 $447,671

35

2,580,189

645

43,734 26,387 17,347 41,647 24,085 17,562 86,026

50,472

$35,554

34

3,465,919

866

70,320 35,116 35,204 51,933 25,934 25,999 123,119

61,050

$62,069

106

15,810,245

3,953 147,525 243,849 -96,324 242,561 400,949 -158,388 394,039 644,799 -$250,759

24

1,078,475

270

13,585 14,064

-479 13,191 13,656

-465 27,046

27,720

-$675

93

11,834,108

2,959 106,389 419,015 -312,627 209,476 826,123 -616,647 318,824 1,245,138 -$926,314

3

1,529,809

382

8,873

4,036

4,836 23,712 10,787 12,925 32,967

14,824

$18,143

1

29,818

7

355

163

192

697

348

349

1,059

512

$547

11

5,479,800

1,370

59,784 38,317 21,467 116,141 66,570 49,571 177,295 104,887

$72,408

3

376,195

94

2,515

2,759

-244

6,960

7,222

-262

9,569

9,981

-$412

65

County OGLETHORPE PAULDING PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

97

8,125,806

2,031

62,252 37,240 25,012 157,559 87,012 70,547 221,842 124,252

$97,590

3

2,043,492

511

21,138 27,095 -5,958 38,640 61,264 -22,624 60,289

88,359 -$28,070

7

905,513

226

12,274

9,635

2,639 15,394 12,084

3,310 27,894

21,719

$6,175

10

4,546,803

1,137

30,236 16,461 13,776 73,204 39,852 33,352 104,577

56,312

$48,265

24

2,493,278

623

23,113

7,022 16,091 41,675 12,661 29,014 65,411

19,683

$45,728

19

4,668,849

1,167

58,967 35,609 23,358 77,017 40,382 36,635 137,151

75,992

$61,160

0

0

0

0

1,674 -1,674

0

2,512 -2,512

0

4,186

-$4,186

18

1,556,585

389

21,465 12,001

9,464 20,843 11,653

9,190 42,697

23,655

$19,043

43

10,544,376

2,636

56,940 30,642 26,298 123,896 63,588 60,308 183,472

94,231

$89,241

109

16,479,832

4,120 257,283 288,780 -31,497 259,557 255,869

3,688 520,960 544,649 -$23,689

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

121

12,747,128

3,187 219,218 155,596 63,622 215,172 171,160 44,012 437,577 326,755 $110,821

9

1,816,410

454

14,686

5,502

9,184 34,712 11,853 22,859 49,852

17,355

$32,497

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

53

7,797,162

1,949

95,905

3,007 92,898 147,990

4,078 143,912 245,844

7,085 $238,760

142

14,328,089

3,582 172,940 148,469 24,471 192,312 165,716 26,596 368,834 314,185

$54,649

27

13,103,519

3,276 173,111 125,460 47,651 212,998 155,324 57,674 389,385 280,784 $108,601

10

282,267

71

4,237

2,227

2,010

5,496

2,889

2,607

9,804

5,116

$4,688

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

204

11,649,078

2,912 148,409 136,894 11,516 192,326 177,654 14,672 343,647 314,547

$29,100

81

9,184,549

2,296 107,689 54,976 52,713 161,033 82,208 78,825 271,018 137,184 $133,834

177

24,049,520

6,012 384,889 161,304 223,584 339,315 142,802 196,513 730,216 304,106 $426,110

140

14,040,710

3,510 289,448 408,049 -118,601 252,733 355,482 -102,749 545,691 763,531 -$217,840

34

3,258,685

815

43,040 32,397 10,643 44,158 33,238 10,920 88,013

65,635

$22,378

85

9,325,425

2,331

76,468 70,399

6,069 126,639 117,220

9,419 205,438 187,619

$17,819

100

9,286,606

2,322 129,539 48,259 81,280 141,546 52,732 88,814 273,407 100,991 $172,416

86

5,834,684

1,459

81,686 45,278 36,407 96,179 53,312 42,867 179,324

98,591

$80,733

84

54,764,148 13,691 311,934 217,781 94,152 806,676 704,674 102,002 1,132,301 922,456 $209,845

66

County TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH Total

Parcel Count

Assessed Value State Tax County Tax

Eliminated

Shift

Shift

FLPA Grant County

Net County School

Shift

Tax Shift

FLPA Grant School

Net School Total Tax

Tax Shift

Shift

Total FLPA Grant

Net Tax Shift

4

1,040,450

260

12,676

6,359

6,316 15,569

7,811

7,758 28,505

14,170

$14,334

25

115,344

29

1,110

1,291

-182

1,318

1,318

2,457

1,291

$1,165

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

62

6,692,760

1,673

82,354 86,244 -3,889 80,313 79,939

374 164,340 166,183

-$1,842

63

14,341,817

3,585 151,449 87,055 64,394 270,343 160,833 109,510 425,377 247,888 $177,489

66

3,126,277

782

50,080 38,208 11,871 43,768 33,393 10,375 94,630

71,601

$23,029

99

11,384,255

2,846 188,979

9,345 179,634 188,979

9,345 179,634 380,804

18,690 $362,114

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

88

10,124,850

2,531

78,670 51,789 26,881 154,910 101,979 52,931 236,111 153,769

$82,342

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

7

622,546

156

7,674

6,053

1,621 11,325

8,367

2,958 19,155

14,420

$4,735

210

23,059,636

5,765 364,342

364,342 385,719

385,719 755,826

0 $755,826

126

11,308,933

2,827 147,016 115,163 31,853 219,393 154,541 64,852 369,236 269,704

$99,532

149

16,027,646

4,007 137,437 121,223 16,213 262,244 214,847 47,397 403,688 336,070

$67,618

154

48,034,771 12,009 600,435 536,170 64,264 960,695 880,278 80,417 1,573,139 1,416,449 $156,690

79

7,991,724

1,998

87,157 114,023 -26,866 138,960 155,709 -16,749 228,115 269,732 -$41,616

57

4,826,023

1,207

77,622

77,622 74,644

74,644 153,473

0 $153,473

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

$0

2

812,375

203

4,924

3,419

1,505 15,237 10,579

4,658 20,364

13,997

$6,366

35

1,245,773

311

22,735 11,518 11,217 18,824

9,537

9,287 41,870

21,055

$20,815

142

11,783,247

2,946 111,380 93,425 17,955 197,369 166,726 30,643 311,695 260,151

$51,544

43

4,908,980

1,227

61,068 27,553 33,515 96,511 43,544 52,967 158,806

71,097

$87,709

26

22,482,141

5,621 230,554

5,597 224,958 320,146

7,772 312,374 556,321

13,368 $542,953

7460

1,125,409,124 281,353 12,762,435 9,018,992 3,743,443 17,993,938 13,094,469 4,899,469 31,037,726 22,113,461 $8,924,265

67

Taxation of Standing Timber

For ad valorem tax purposes standing timber is taxed only once following its harvest or sale at 100 percent of fair market value. It is subject to taxation even if the land underneath is exempt, unless taxation has been prohibited by federal law or treaty.

Standing timber is defined to include softwood and hardwood pulpwood, chip and saw logs, saw timber, poles, posts, and fuel wood. Standing timber does not include orchard trees, ornamental or Christmas trees, byproducts of harvesting (bark or stumps), and fuel wood harvested by the owner which is used exclusively for heating the owner's home. The taxation of standing timber is triggered at the time of the "sale" of standing timber for harvesting separate and apart from the underlying land. Timber is not taxed if it is included in a simultaneous sale of a tract of land and the timber thereon.

Figure 21: Statewide Timber Values shows the trend in value and revenue since 2006.

Millions

900.0 750.0 600.0 450.0 300.0 150.0

596.0 2006

564.2

479.2

440.7

383.6

499.6

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

440.6 2012

Figure 22: County and School Revenue from Timber shows the trend in value and revenue since 2006.

Millions

$20.0

$15.9

$15.0 $10.0

$14.7

$12.5

$11.5

$10.2

$13.4

$12.0

$5.0 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

68

Table 13: 2011 Timber Revenue Reported on 2012 Tax Digests shows the timber revenue for 2011 which was reported on the 2012 tax digest.

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee

Acres
15,210 57,073
7,938 25,724 31,658
490 112 8,352 11,258 150,245
0 9,869 17,233 4,503 7,844 23,413 61,239 2,986 3,579 2,476,906 929,260 7,694
186 0
5,412 1,162

Assessed Value
5,880,404 3,640,626 4,062,840
640,049 1,217,860
243,370 752
1,436,353 2,678,963 5,533,431
63,783 1,625,638 8,986,971 2,090,042 5,014,318 7,168,503 7,559,381
437,959 797,295 4,995,205 1,822,685 1,266,071 121,782 10,779,085 1,430,748 515,798

State Revenue
1,470 910
1,016 160 304 61 0 359 670
1,383 16
406 2,247
523 1,254 1,792 1,890
109 199 1,249 456 317
30 2,695
358 129

County Revenue
76,151 63,205 56,831
5,447 10,693
2,185 10
11,103 39,608 92,464
766 24,333 139,272 22,934 39,613 74,839 47,412
6,312 10,348 58,444 19,561 10,751
655 204,803
15,894 4,454

School Revenue
88,206 53,921 58,911
9,521 20,777
3,531 14
25,711 42,293 77,468
1,145 19,927 161,765 31,351 77,907 71,327 103,941
8,321 13,820 77,426 24,167 24,524
2,041 197,796
20,933 8,459

Total Revenue
$165,827 $118,036 $116,758
$15,128 $31,774
$5,777 $24
$37,173 $82,571 $171,315
$1,927 $44,666 $303,284 $54,808 $118,774 $147,958 $153,243 $14,742 $24,367 $137,119 $44,184 $35,592
$2,726 $405,294
$37,185 $13,042
69

County Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans

Acres
7,039 1,821
0 66,075
36 81,035
0 20,420
8,211 22,592
2,148 5,966 18,389 1,610 1,043 1,654 24,112
0 11,221 46,897 10,421
1,468 15,995 25,720 18,386 13,279 43,273
0

Assessed Value
1,119,716 284,156 247,554
2,690,802 40,000
18,618,286 0
4,710,407 1,099,570 2,606,827
750,712 937,607 4,046,239 536,177 268,997
72,115 6,403,220
0 4,435,053 2,480,547
842,474 414,555 3,245,040 8,812,956 7,073,546 1,096,605 8,816,732 1,038,153

State Revenue
280 71 62
673 10
4,655 0
1,178 275 652 188 234
1,012 134 67 18
1,601 0
1,109 620 211 104 811
2,203 1,768
274 2,204
260

County Revenue
12,915 1,655 3,391
40,809 596
204,038 0
36,963 14,263 16,659
8,933 6,294 50,699 5,779 1,710
587 61,855
0 43,410 42,926 10,020
4,104 38,778 123,381 60,535 10,872 95,679
8,814

School Revenue
16,236 5,527 4,951
32,346 800
291,972 0
76,375 9,108
45,854 12,060 17,430 54,624
9,356 3,744 1,121 102,387
0 53,221 42,025 15,539
8,229 50,298 136,601 119,522 17,608 122,094 13,496

Total Revenue
$29,431 $7,253 $8,404
$73,828 $1,406
$500,665 $0
$114,516 $23,646 $63,165 $21,181 $23,958
$106,335 $15,269 $5,521 $1,726
$165,843 $0
$97,740 $85,571 $25,770 $12,437 $89,887 $262,185 $181,825 $28,754 $219,977 $22,570
70

County Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins

Acres
78
0

Assessed Value
19,153
8,166

State Revenue
5
2

6,450

2,119,680

530

0 999
0 0 6,675 10,355 1,207 20,766 11,222 0 0 1,152 26,514 8,163 17,937 68 7,917 552 6,019 13,928 1,119 4,142 15,133 27,945 20,185

34,157 388,835
0 313,585 1,077,170 4,799,335 590,574 1,392,223 2,853,603
28,544 0
125,878 6,843,949 2,997,034 4,302,007
232,447 2,648,807
203,371 1,638,128 3,456,798
342,899 1,755,920 5,027,473 3,847,314 2,908,929

9 97
0 78 269 1,200 148 348 713
7 0 31 1,711 749 1,076 58 662 51 410 864 86 439 1,257 962 727

County Revenue
99
46
18,584 164
3,163 0
2,263 13,217 27,227
5,788 16,554 16,848
336 0
787 112,241
33,027 26,414
1,208 18,382
2,899 16,299 42,781
3,036 27,122 64,754 55,786 31,111

School Revenue
247
163
38,939 557
6,559 0
5,566 16,578 73,094 11,403 19,770 39,950
549 0
2,327 95,316 50,440 72,747
3,187 40,447
4,067 21,853 54,237
5,333 33,345 64,100 54,428 37,528

Total Revenue
$351
$211
$58,053 $730
$9,819 $0
$7,907 $30,064 $101,521 $17,339 $36,672 $57,511
$892 $0
$3,145 $209,268
$84,216 $100,237
$4,453 $59,491
$7,017 $38,562 $97,882
$8,455 $60,906 $130,111 $111,176 $69,366
71

County Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding

Acres
15,595 10,229
8,556 5,275 46,687 16,537 36,543 3,298 34,201 5,582
255 13,933
2,421 11,932 18,794
8,646 12,234
8,498 12,775
9,831 17,058
5,780 1,122
0 2,485 1,305
0 7,149

Assessed Value
5,083,421 2,791,840 1,597,765 1,060,626 15,012,947 2,618,574 5,430,481 1,469,113 9,849,610 3,011,591
94,477 2,619,174
336,757 4,424,289 2,779,625 6,281,739 3,279,986 2,449,195 2,736,821 2,935,497 2,885,774
999,690 1,074,509
47,284 600,573 342,702 4,096,667 1,101,951

State Revenue
1,271 698 399 265
3,753 655
1,358 367
2,462 753 24 655 84
1,106 695
1,570 820 612 684 734 721 250 269 12 150 86
1,024 275

County Revenue
72,973 37,159 16,689 16,811 94,882 33,429 68,315 15,014 154,737 22,015
847 26,980
3,741 30,638 21,681 62,133 44,411 41,514 55,527 27,391 36,349
8,987 6,232
741 6,552 2,291 31,385 9,135

School Revenue
70,451 44,669 26,485 18,200 240,207 39,279 86,888 24,724 132,970 43,748
1,534 47,145
5,722 64,356 47,782 98,517 56,921 37,891 41,009 45,036 35,296 17,696 16,655
1,105 12,011
5,997 73,330 20,837

Total Revenue
$144,695 $82,526 $43,573 $35,276
$338,842 $73,363
$156,561 $40,105
$290,169 $66,516 $2,405 $74,780 $9,547 $96,100 $70,158
$162,220 $102,152
$80,017 $97,220 $73,161 $72,366 $26,933 $23,156
$1,858 $18,713
$8,374 $105,739
$30,247
72

County Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs

Acres
1,436 1,927 8,411 1,402 3,557 6,471 5,504 7,245
0 17,082
2,035 237
7,132 14,282
6,081 0
1,818 32,400 13,964
6,788 13,491 63,793 13,888 16,798
2,500 38,515
4,727 153

Assessed Value
495,762 240,664 4,121,140 661,081 1,001,448 1,809,439 1,758,753 2,884,661
0 5,512,325 1,017,570
48,935 1,823,941 9,915,235
645,237 650,043 140,045 5,804,510 4,244,270 1,812,899 2,848,325 5,824,870 1,778,626 6,794,946 1,212,793 5,255,762 543,494 2,838,510

State Revenue
124 60
1,030 165 250 452 440 721 0
1,378 254 12 456
2,479 161 163 35
1,451 1,061
453 712 1,456 445 1,699 303 1,314 136 710

County Revenue
6,720 1,600 38,203 8,349 10,866 24,952 9,497 45,035
0 85,854
8,227 827
22,434 119,677
8,524 9,757 1,586 73,949 49,764 29,014 58,695 76,935 14,585 94,783 16,979 29,935 6,621 27,321

School Revenue
8,428 3,875 68,885 9,469 16,304 24,228 20,665 39,664
0 93,048 19,446
1,199 30,423 133,082 10,488 12,656
2,577 95,832 74,415 25,578 51,270 78,933 24,154 103,569 19,992 77,417
8,133 32,462

Total Revenue
$15,272 $5,535
$108,118 $17,983 $27,420 $49,632 $30,602 $85,420 $0
$180,280 $27,927 $2,038 $53,313
$255,238 $19,173 $22,576 $4,198
$171,232 $125,240
$55,045 $110,677 $157,324
$39,184 $200,051
$37,274 $108,666
$14,890 $60,493
73

County Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth Total

Acres
0 9,120 8,653 3,895 21,124
0 9,256
777 3,490
0 23,059 838,974 23,619
2,926 9,341
224 897 26,214 5,250,314 21,906 21,593 11,400,423

Assessed Value
0 2,927,309 1,714,106 1,857,421 5,431,469
0 1,682,264
376,168 1,304,055 8,196,840 5,717,002 4,208,451 9,964,570 1,187,035 4,015,970
90,647 864,810 3,482,833 5,525,243 4,621,409 6,114,307 440,633,808

State Revenue
0 732 429 464 1,358
0 421
94 326 2,049 1,429 1,052 2,491 297 1,004
23 216 871 1,381 1,155 1,529 110,159

County Revenue
0 36,021 17,489 29,754 90,162
0 13,071
1,819 16,183 129,510 74,321 36,087 124,557 12,946 64,593
833 5,242 63,562 52,225 57,490 62,702 5,201,704

School Revenue
0 35,128 32,311 26,004 90,162
0 25,739
6,547 25,168 137,109 99,476 63,956 199,291 17,673 62,115
1,504 16,220 52,626 92,548 90,857 87,068 6,844,612

Total Revenue
$0 $71,881 $50,229 $56,222 $181,682
$0 $39,231
$8,460 $41,677 $268,668 $175,226 $101,095 $326,339 $30,916 $127,712
$2,360 $21,678 $117,059 $146,154 $149,502 $151,299 $12,156,475

74

Georgia's Unclaimed Property Program
Georgia's Unclaimed Property Program has 14 dedicated professionals who provide customer service to owners, companies, and local governments. The program annually receives property from corporations, banks, insurance companies, local governments, and state agencies. The property represents un-cashed checks, money orders, stocks, bonds, accounts, or safe deposit boxes. Along with the property, the companies are required to furnish reports, which include lost owner information such as name, last known address, account number, or social security number. For fiscal year 2012, the program received over $154 Million dollars in unclaimed funds with $96 Million dollars reported with owner information. U 8nclaimed Property Deposit
Once the reports have processed, owner information is made available on the Department of Revenue's website for an owner search. Potential owners may request a claim form (online) and have it mailed to their address or contact a customer service representative who can mail, email, or fax the claim form. Each claim request is researched to determine if other property is available and to identify the rightful owner.
Each year, Georgia's Unclaimed Property Program returns property to rightful owners. Through the claim process, owners and lost property are reunited. For fiscal year 2013, the rate of return was 17%. In addition, the program returned 108,908 shares of stock to lost owners.

Millions

$180 $140 $100
$60 $20

$94
$65 2008

$105

$119

$61 2009

$65 2010

$114

$112

$79 2011

$77 2012

$154
$96 2013

75

Percentage of Paid Claims
Georgia's Unclaimed Property Program is also involved in outreach to locate owners and to local governments. The program actively researches provided owners information and attempts to locate owners to provide them with the opportunity to claim funds. In addition to finding lost owners, the program also provides support to local governments by providing owner lists specific to an area.

50%
40%
30%
20% 21%
10%
0% 2008

28% 2009

40% 2010

31% 2011

23% 2012

17% 2013

The program's customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm at 855-329-9863. The web address for the online search is located at www.dor.ga.gov.

76