IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO INTERVENE

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1 IN THE MATTER OF: IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA 2017 TAX DIGEST FOR FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA Civil Action No. 2017CV FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO INTERVENE COMES NOW, Fulton County School District, (the District ) a political subdivision of the State of Georgia under the management of the Fulton County Board of Education, and pursuant to O.C.G.A and O.C.G.A , herein moves this Court to allow it to intervene in the above-referenced civil action wherein Fulton County seeks an Order authorizing the immediate and temporary collection of taxes for the year In support of this Motion, the District submits its supporting Memorandum of Law and the attachments thereto, which have been filed contemporaneously with this Motion. In its Memorandum of Law, the District specifies the relief to be sought though its intervention. This 26 th day of October, /s/ Charles T. Huddleston Charles T. Huddleston Georgia Bar No Attorneys for Fulton County School District NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP th Street NW, Suite 1700 Atlanta, GA (404)

2 IN THE MATTER OF: IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA 2017 TAX DIGEST FOR FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA Civil Action No. 2017CV FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO INTERVENE COMES NOW, the Fulton County School District (the District ), a political subdivision of the State of Georgia lying in Fulton County, Georgia, ("Fulton County" or the "County") outside of the City of Atlanta, and in support of its Motion to Intervene pursuant to O.C.G.A , shows this Court why it should be allowed to become a party to the above referenced civil action wherein Fulton County seeks an Order authorizing the immediate and temporary collection of taxes for the year Pursuant to Art. 8, 5, 1 of the Georgia Constitution, the District encompasses the geographic lines of Fulton County, State of Georgia, outside of the City of Atlanta and is under the management and control of the Fulton County Board of Education pursuant to Art. 8, 5, 2 of the Georgia Constitution. 2. Fulton County is authorized under the laws of the State of Georgia to levy and collect ad valorem taxes upon all property located within its jurisdiction. The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors whose creation is authorized by statute and whose members are appointed by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners has assessed the value of all real and personal property

3 located in the County for ad valorem tax purposes. The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessorsprovides these assessed values and exemptions (the digest) to the Fulton County Tax Commissioner for submission to the State. 3. Pursuant to O.C.G.A and Art. 8, 6, 1 of the Georgia Constitution, the Fulton County Board of Education is authorized by law to support and maintain the public schools by levy of ad valorem taxes at the rate fixed by law upon all taxable property within the limits of Fulton County, and outside of the City of Atlanta. 4. Pursuant to O.C.G.A , the Fulton County Tax Commissioner bills and collects taxes for the District and pays those taxes directly to the Fulton County Board of Education. 5. The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors has assessed the value of all real and personal property located in Fulton County for ad valorem tax purposes. The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors provides these assessed values and exemptions (the Digest) to the Fulton County Tax Commissioner for submission to the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue. 6. Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 8 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner submitted the 2017 Tax Digest to the State Revenue Commissioner on October 13, 2017," and attaches the affidavit of Arthur Ferdinand, its Tax Commissioner. 7. Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 8 that "[a]s of the date of this Petition, the Revenue Commissioner has not conditionally approved the Tax Digest for billing purposes."

4 8. Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 9 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner is currently unable to print and forward tax bills for Fulton County, or those municipalities, boards of education, independent school systems and community improvement districts for which he collects to be sent by a date that will allow the tax payments to be received with tax year 2017" and attaches the affidavit of Arthur Ferdinand, its Tax Commissioner. 9. Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 4 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner bills and collects taxes for Fulton County, Georgia, the State of Georgia, the Cities of Atlanta, Chattahoochee Hills, Johns Creek, Mountain Park, Sandy Springs, and South Fulton, the Fulton County Board of Education, the City of Atlanta Independent School System, and the community improvement districts within Fulton County." 10. Out of an abundance of caution, the District seeks to intervene in this action in order to protect its interest in the collection of its taxes and to make clear that all ad valorem taxes on property in Fulton County outside of the City of Atlanta, which is assessed under the 2017 Fulton County Tax Digest, is subject to any order which this Court shall issue pursuant to O.C.G.A allowing Fulton County to undertake immediate, temporary collection of the County's taxes, pending approval of the 2017 Fulton County Tax Digest and the resolution of appeals of 2017 tax assessments.

5 11. State law provides a method whereby this Court may order an immediate, temporary collection of taxes pending approval of the 2017 Tax Digest and the resolution of appeals of 2017 tax assessment for the County. See O.C.G.A Pursuant to O.C.G.A (j), the methods, procedures and conditions for the temporary collection and enforcement of taxes for municipalities are under the same terms and conditions as that for counties. 12. Because Fulton County collects the taxes for the District, the District will not be able to: (a) pay the District's debts as they mature; (b) pay appropriate salaries of employees, and other persons entitled to receive either compensation by or funds from the District as provided by law; (c) maintain an orderly and normal function of the District's affairs; (d) maintain an adequate, proper, or desirable credit rating either to maintain or affect existing or future interest rates on bonded indebtedness or indebtedness on loans incurred or obligated by the District's authority; or (e) avoid by practical means the suffering of immediate and irreparable injury, loss, damage, or any other significant matter, unless the Court authorized the immediate, temporary collection of the 2017 ad valorem taxes by the County. See attached Exhibit A, Affidavit of Robert Morales. 13. The District should be allowed to intervene in this case because its interest in the subject matter of the action, the collection of ad valorem taxes, is so great that unless the disposition of the action includes a clear directive that the temporary collection order applies to the District, such an outcome may as a practical matter impair or impede the District's

6 ability to protect that interest. Pursuant to O.C.G.A (a)(2), the District has a statutory right to intervene in that circumstance. 14. The District should be allowed to intervene in this case because the matters in which the District has an interest set forth questions of law which are common to, if not virtually identical to, the main claim in this action. The District is prepared to go forward with this proceeding at any hearing which may be conducted by the Court and therefore the intervention of the District will not delay the adjudication of the rights of the original parties to this action. See O.C.G.A. 9-1 I -24(b)(2). 15. WHEREFORE: having come forward and moved to intervene in this proceeding and for the reasons set forth herein above, the District respectfully requests: (a) That the District be allowed to intervene and be made a co-petitioner; (b) That the Court order immediate and temporary taxes for the Fulton County School District, for which the Fulton Tax Commissioner collects taxes, be collected pursuant to O.C.G.A and on the basis of the 2017 tax year; provided, however, for any property which is on appeal, the tax bill shall be issued based on the value set forth in O.C.G.A (e)(6)(D)(iii), at the millage rate established by the governing body for the 2017 tax year; (c) That the District be granted such other and further relief deemed just and proper by this Court.

7 This 26 th day of October, /s/ Charles T. Huddleston Charles T. Huddleston Georgia Bar No Attorneys for Fulton County School District NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP th Street NW, Suite 1700 Atlanta, GA (404)

8 EXHIBIT A AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT MORALES See attached.

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13 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that I have on this day served counsel for the opposing parties in the foregoing matter with a copy of FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO INTERVENE, THE MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO INTERVENE, AND THE AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT MORALES by depositing same in the United States Mail with adequate postage thereon addressed as follows and by electronic filing using the Odyssey efilega system: Patrise Perkins-Hooker, Esq. Cheryl Ringer, Esq. Office of the Fulton County Attorney 141 Pryor Street, Suite 4038 Atlanta, Georgia patrise.perkins-hooker@fultoncountyga.gov cheryl.ringer@fultoncountyga.gov The Honorable Lynne T. Riley Commissioner of Revenue 1800 Century Center Blvd. Suite Atlanta, Georgia revenue.commissioner@dor.ga.gov Jeremy Berry, Esq. City of Atlanta Law Department 303 Peachtree Street, N.E. Suite 5300 Atlanta, Georgia jtberry@atlantaga.gov Richard Carothers, Esq. Ronald Benet, Esq. City of Johns Creek Bovis Kyle Burch & Medlin, LLC 200 Ashford Center North Suite 500 Atlanta, Georgia richard.carothers@carmitch.com ron.bennett@carmitch.com

14 Richard P. Lindsey, Esq. Lindsey & Lacy, PC City of Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia 2002 Commerce Drive, Suite 300 Peachtree City, Georgia Brandon L. Bowen, Esq. City of Mountain Park, Georgia Jenkins, Olson & Bowen PC 15 South Public Square Cartersville, Georgia Daniel W. Lee Freeman, Mathis & Gary, LLP City of Sandy Springs 100 Galleria Parkway Suite 1600 Atlanta, Georgia Josh Belinfante, Esq. City of South Fulton 999 Peachtree Street, N.E. Suite 1120 Atlanta, Georgia Jamie Theriot, Esq. Downtown Atlanta Community Improvement District Troutman Sanders, LLP 5200 Bank of America Plaza 600 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia Glenn Brock, Esq. Atlanta Public Schools Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP th Street, N.W. Suite 1700 Atlanta, Georgia

15 J. Lynn Rainey, Esq. Counsel for various Fulton County CID s Rainey & Phillips 358 Roswell Street, Suite 1130 Marietta, Georgia lrainey@pwrlaw.com This 26 th day of October, /s/ Charles T. Huddleston Charles T. Huddleston Georgia Bar No Attorneys for Fulton County School District