January 2011 Georgia Department of Revenue PROPERTY TAX ADMINISTRATION ANNUAL REPORT FY2010 Sonny Perdue Governor Bart L. Graham State Revenue Commissioner
Bart L. Graham Commissioner State of Georgia Department of Revenue 1800 Century Boulevard, Suite 15300 Atlanta, Georgia 30345 (404) 417-2100 January 2011 The Honorable Sonny Perdue, 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, 48-5-7.1, 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, Bart L. Graham State Revenue Commissioner
Table of Contents Table of Contents Highlights of the Annual Report...1 Reporting Requirements...5 Digest Review Procedures...6 Table 1: Review Year Counties Cited for Deficiencies... 8 Table 2: Non-Review Year Counties Assessed Additional... 9 Figure 1: Average Level of Assessment... 10 Figure 2: Average Level of Uniformity... 10 Figure 3: Average Level of Assessment Bias...11 Value and Revenue...12 Figure 4: Total Assessed Value... 13 Figure 5: Average Millage Rate... 13 Figure 6: Comparison of Total Revenue... 14 Figure 7: 2009 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type... 14 Figure 8: 2009 Tax Revenue by Property Class... 15 Figure 9: Five-Year Comparison of Tax Revenue... 15 Figure 10: 2009 School Tax Revenue by Property Class... 16 Figure 11: Five-Year Comparison of Total School Tax Revenue... 16 Figure 12: 2009 Revenue by Property Class... 17 Figure 13: Five-Year Comparison of Revenue... 17 Comparison of Collections to Digest...18 Potential Tax Loss... 19 Table 3: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005... 20 Table 4: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006... 27 Table 5: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007... 34 Table 6: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008... 41 Table 7: Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009... 48 Performance Reviews of Boards of Tax Assessors...55 List of Counties Where Performance Reviews Occurred... 56 Public Utilities...57 Figure 14: Change in Public Utility Digest Value... 58 Figure 15: Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratios... 59 Figure 16: Number of Public Utility Companies by Year... 59 Table 8: 2010 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios... 60
Preferential Agricultural Assessment...62 Table of Contents Table 9: Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact... 63 Table 10: Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009... 64 Figure 17: Preferential Agricultural Total Tax Dollar... 71 Figure 18: Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated... 71 Conservation Use Valuation...72 Table 11: Conservation Use Fiscal Impact... 73 Table 12: Conservation Use Valuation Assessment... 74 Figures 19: Conservation Use Revenue Shift... 81 Figures 20: Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated... 81 Forest Land Conservation Use...82 Table 13: Forest Land Conservation Use Fiscal Impact... 83 Table 14: Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment... 85 Taxation of Standing Timber...99 Figure 21: Statewide Timber Values... 100 Figure 22: and School Revenue from Timber... 100 Table 15: 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digests... 101 Georgia s Unclaimed Property Program...108 Unclaimed Property Deposit... 109 Percentage of Paid Claims... 109 FY2009 and FY2010 Table Comparison... 111 Front Cover Photograph: Piedmont Park - Atlanta, Georgia
Highlights of the Annual Report 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 2009 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 2009 review year and which underwent extensive review, 24 county ad valorem tax digests failed to meet state standards for approval. It is important to note here that legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2010 temporarily stays the Commissioner s authority to assess additional state tax or impose the $5 per parcel penalty. Without the passage of this legislation, as a result of the 2009 reviews, five counties would have been assessed additional state tax totaling $49,666, three would have been subject to a $5.00 per parcel penalty totaling $238,075, and one county would have been assessed the $5 per parcel penalty in the amount $36,045 and additional state tax in the amount of $9,299. Of the other 106 non-review counties examined for 2009, 19 county ad valorem tax digests failed to have an acceptable overall average assessment ratio 1, compared to 34 in 2008. As a result, additional state tax in the amount totaling $465,064 was not assessed due to the 2010 legislation noted in the paragraph above. Assessed values reached a high of $389.3 billion in 2009 or a 4.13% increase from the values reported in 2008. The 2009 average millage rate of 26.27 increased approximately 0.65% from the 2008 average millage rate of 26.10. Several graphs showing the trend of the level of assessment, uniformity, and assessment bias can be found on Figures 1-3 of this report. 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 1 Assessment Ratio - the fractional relationship that the assessed value of property bears to its fair market value. 1
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. Highlights of the Annual Report Since the passage of that legislation, the Department has performed reviews of 30 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 Boards of Tax Assessors. Public Utilities: The statewide average equalization ratio 2 for public utility property increased slightly from 37.40% in 2009 to 37.65% for tax year 2010. Equalization ratios for 73 of the 159 counties were proposed at a ratio less than 40% for tax year 2010, as compared to the 105 counties whose proposed equalization ratio was less than 40% in 2009. Figure 14 reflects the growth in the Public Utility Digest since 2003. A chart showing the trend of the state proposed average equalization ratio for public utility property since 2003 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. Preferential Agricultural Assessment: Since the implementation of Preferential Agricultural Assessment 3 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. 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. 3 Preferential Agricultural Assessment - Bona fide agricultural property assessed at 75 percent of the assessment of other property or at 3% of fair market value. O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7 and 48-5-7.1. 2
Highlights of the Annual Report Conservation Use Valuation: Since the implementation of Conservation Use Valuation 4 in 1992, the number of parcels in this program has risen steadily. The number of parcels enrolled in the program has increased to 168,673 representing the elimination of approximately $11.6 billion in value and total tax shift of approximately $292.1 million. These dramatic increases are expected to continue as county boards of tax assessors perform revaluations and property valuations increase. 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 Conservation Use: A new section has been added to this report as a result of 68% of the voters voting Yes on Amendment 1 in the 2008 General Election. This amendment to the Constitution knows 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 reimburse 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. Information on the number of properties enrolled in this program for 2009, the dollar amount of the revenue shift and the amount of grants due to local governments may be found in this new section of this report beginning on page 82. Timber Taxation: Timber harvest values reported on the 2009 digest decreased from $479.2 million in 2008 to $440.7 million in 2009, a 8.15% decrease. The revenue decreased from $12.5 million to $11.6 million, a 8% decrease. Timber harvest values and revenue trends can be found on Figures 21 and 22, and Table 13 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 3 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.
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. Highlights of the Annual Report 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 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 its 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 equalization 5 of assessments for all property owners. Digest Review Procedures 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. 5 Equalization - the measure of equality of assessment. In order to possess good equalization, a county tax digest should value all properties at about the same level of assessment. 6
Digest Review Procedures 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 dispersion 6, meets the state standard of 15% or less for residential properties and 2% or less for all other property classes; and the bias ratio, or statistical measure of price-related differential 7, 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 property if a county s review year digest contains the same or similar deficiencies as the previous review year digest. 7 6 The Coefficient of Dispersion - the statistical representation of equalization. 7 The Price-Related Differential - the statistical measure of assessment bias. This demonstrates whether lower or higher-priced properties are more accurately assessed.
The digest review process was completed as directed in O.C.G.A. 48-5-343; however, neither the $5 per parcel penalty nor the assessment of additional state was imposed due to the General Assembly passing legislation that set aside these penalties during the tax years affected by the moratorium on increases in value. The moratorium began on January 1, 2009 and extends through January 10, 2011. As noted on Table 1 below, the review of the 53 counties that fell within the 2009 review year indicated that 24 counties were deficient. Six would have been subject to additional state tax and four (Charlton, Walker, Washington and Webster) would have been assessed the $5 per parcel penalty for failure to correct prior digest deficiencies. The other fifteen counties listed (Appling, Berrien, Catoosa, Clay, Dade, Decatur, Dodge, Heard, Jackson, Miller, Mitchell, Morgan, Stephens, Taylor and Whitfield) had technical deficiencies that did not rise to the level of state assessments or penalties. Digest Review Procedures Table 1 Review Year Counties Cited for Deficiencies $5 Per Parcel Additional $5 Per Parcel Additional Appling Jackson Berrien Miller Brantley $ 8,657 Mitchell Catoosa Morgan Charlton $ 36,045 $ 9,299 Stephens Clay Talbot $ 6,684 Crisp $ 16,107 Taylor Dade Telfair $ 8,240 Decatur Walker $165,230 Dodge Washington $ 63,650 Dooly $ 9,978 Webster $ 9,195 Heard Whitfield Total $274,120 $ 58,965 8
Digest Review Procedures The review of the 106 non-review year counties resulted in 19 counties would have been assessed additional state tax. Table 2 Non-Review Year Counties Assessed Additional Additional Additional Bacon $ 5,109 Oglethorpe $ 11,364 Chattooga $ 18,942 Pierce $ 14,324 Fannin $ 58,791 Spalding $ 60,655 Glascock $ 3,239 Stewart $ 3,008 Greene $ 52,418 Taliaferro $ 1,690 Jenkins $ 4,963 Tift $ 29,860 Laurens $ 50,742 Treutlen $ 4,093 Lincoln $ 14,819 Warren $ 7,542 Lowndes $ 82,167 Wilcox $ 4,139 McIntosh $ 37,199 Total $ 465,064 9
Several graphs are included to provide a snapshot of the various measurable statistical standards for residential properties: Digest Review Procedures Figure 1: Average Level of Assessment shows an increase in the average Median Ratio from 2008 to 2009. Average Level Assessment Acceptable Range: 36% to 44% 42.00% 40.00% 38.00% 36.00% 34.00% 32.00% 37.97% 37.52% 36.51% 37.81% 37.50% 37.70% 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 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. The increase in 2009 indicates that assessments are less uniform compared to previous years since 2004. Average Level of Uniformity Acceptable Range: 15% or less 18.00% 15.00% 12.00% 9.00% 6.00% 3.00% 12.53% 10.54% 10.56% 10.63% 10.88% 11.72% 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 10
Digest Review Procedures 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. This standard has remained relatively stable during these years, indicating that lower and higher price properties are being assessed on an equal basis. Average Level of Assessment Bias Acceptable Range: 95% to 110% 130.00% 120.00% 110.00% 100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 100.92% 101.35% 101.20% 101.14% 101.26% 101.48% 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 11
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 2007. During this time, property values have increased between 6 and 9 percent annually. The small increase of 1.43% in value from 2008 to 2009 is attributable to the recent trends in the real estate market as well as the moratorium on assessment increases enacted by the General Assembly in 2009. Value and Revenue 12
Value and Revenue Figure 4: Total Assessed Value shows the increases in property values since 2004. Total Assessed Value (Billions) Billions 600.0 500.0 400.0 300.0 200.0 272.7 289.4 310.3 339.4 373.3 383.8 389.3 100.0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Figure 5: Average Millage Rate shows the average millage rated since 2004. For 2009 the average millage increased slightly. Average Millage Rate 30.00 28.00 26.00 24.00 25.88 25.97 26.68 26.53 25.94 26.10 26.27 22.00 20.00 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 13
Property tax continues to be the primary revenue source for local governments. Currently approximately $11 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. Value and Revenue Figure 6: Comparison of Total Revenue below shows the total revenues collected. Comparison of Total Revenue (Billions) Billions 18.0 15.0 12.0 9.0 8.8 9.7 10.5 11.0 11.2 6.0 3.0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Figure 7: 2009 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type shows the percentage of the total ad valorem taxes levied for state, county and school purposes. 2009 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type State 0.85% School 61.49% 37.65% 14
Value and Revenue Figure 8: 2009 Tax Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of tax revenue generated from the various classes of property for county tax purposes. 2009 Tax Revenue by Property Class (Millions) Industrial $219.9 Public Utility $136.1 Motor Vehicle $268.7 Mobile Homes $12.8 Commercial $1,043.7 Timber $5.4 Heavy Duty Equipment $1.0 Agricultural $121.9 Residential $2,046.2 Figure 9: Five-Year Comparison of Tax Revenue shows the amount of tax revenue levied for 2009 for county tax purposes and a five-year comparison. Five Year Comparison of Tax Revenue (Billions) Billions $6.0 $5.0 $4.0 $3.0 $3.1 $3.4 $3.5 $3.7 $3.8 $2.0 $1.0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 15
Figure 10: 2009 School Tax Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of tax revenue. Value and Revenue 2009 School Tax Revenue by Property Class (Millions) Industrial $352.0 Public Utility $208.6 Motor Vehicle $443.7 Mobile Homes $18.8 Commercial $1,654.6 Timber $6.6 Heavy Duty Equipment $0.6 Agricultural $171.1 Residential $3,439.0 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. Five Year Comparison of Total School Tax Revenue (Billions) Billions $12.0 $10.0 $8.0 $6.0 $4.0 $5.7 $5.5 $6.0 $6.4 $6.3 $2.0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 16
Value and Revenue Figure 12: 2009 Revenue by Property Class shows the amount of revenue for state tax purposes. 2009 Revenue by Property Class (Millions) Industrial $4.9 Public Utility $3.1 Motor Vehicle $6.1 Mobile Homes $0.3 Commercial $21.9 Timber $0.1 Heavy Duty Equipment $0.01 Agricultural $2.9 Residential $48.1 Figure 13: Five-Year Comparison of Revenue shows the amount of revenue and five-year comparison for state tax purposes. Five Year Comparison of Revenue (Millions) Millions $100.0 $90.0 $80.0 $70.0 $72.8 $79.6 $83.2 $87.9 $87.4 $60.0 $50.0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 17
Comparison of Collections to Digest Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 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). Comparison of Collections to Digest 18
Comparison of Collections to Digest Potential Tax Loss Below is an aggregate of Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 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 Amount of Delinquent Tax Amount Percentage of Collected Percentage of Uncollected 2003 $63,988,610 $1,291,256 97.7% 2.3% 2004 $67,915,011 $1,487,919 96.8% 3.2% 2005 $73,154,073 $2,507,584 95.6% 4.4% 2006 $80,475,849 $2,751,939 95.1% 4.9% 2007 $83,862,986 $2,437,636 95.4% 4.6% 2008 $88,221,202 $3,942,115 95.5% 4.5% 2009 $86,667,109 $4,328,964 95.0% 5.0% 19
Table 3 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Appling $ 147,510 $ 2,248 $ 3,026 $ 142,236 96.40% Atkinson $ 31,370 $ 693 $ 1,671 $ 29,006 92.50% Bacon $ 45,707 $ 2,043 $ 361 $ 43,302 94.70% Comparison of Collections to Digest Baker $ 29,691 $ 503 $ 69 $ 29,118 98.10% Baldwin $ 224,028 $ 3,270 $ 928 $ 219,831 98.10% Banks $ 129,206 $ 5,224 $ 566 $ 123,417 95.50% Barrow $ 400,978 $ 18,441 $ (1,486) $ 384,024 95.80% Bartow $ 669,864 $ 14,370 $ 756 $ 654,738 97.70% Ben Hill $ 81,944 $ 12,132 $ 22 $ 69,789 85.20% Berrien $ 64,949 $ 801 $ 1,515 $ 62,633 96.40% Bibb $ 951,514 $ 13,319 $ 6,358 $ 931,837 97.90% Bleckley $ 53,113 $ 2,056 $ 597 $ 50,460 95.00% Brantley $ 51,611 $ 1,842 $ 492 $ 49,277 95.50% Brooks $ 82,454 $ 2,335 $ 443 $ 79,677 96.60% Bryan $ 215,984 $ 1,383 $ 851 $ 213,750 99.00% Bulloch $ 334,124 $ 5,667 $ 1,543 $ 326,914 97.80% Burke $ 385,583 $ 5,875 $ 2,232 $ 377,476 97.90% Butts $ 151,587 $ 3,314 $ 1,096 $ 147,178 97.10% Calhoun $ 23,913 $ 1,186 $ 0 $ 22,728 95.00% Camden $ 274,909 $ 10,545 $ 143 $ 264,221 96.10% Candler $ 49,137 $ 3,275 $ 2,122 $ 43,740 89.00% Carroll $ 613,101 $ 12,765 $ 1,455 $ 598,882 97.70% Catoosa $ 353,273 $ 14,380 $ 1,792 $ 337,101 95.40% Charlton $ 56,858 $ 2,543 $ 252 $ 54,063 95.10% Chatham $ 2,470,607 $ 123,532 $ 32,233 $ 2,314,842 93.70% 20
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Chattahoochee $ 13,120 $ 320 $ 199 $ 12,602 96.00% Chattooga $ 127,929 $ 4,137 $ 2,900 $ 120,891 94.50% Cherokee $ 1,653,114 $ 9,233 $ (1,784) $ 1,645,665 99.50% Clarke $ 746,399 $ 30,524 $ 1,521 $ 714,355 95.70% Clay $ 22,174 $ 228 $ 21,947 99.00% Clayton $ 1,904,340 $ 166,615 $ 17,384 $ 1,720,341 90.30% Clinch $ 40,211 $ 270 $ 3,285 $ 36,656 91.20% Cobb $ 6,668,638 $ 81,444 $ 113,773 $ 6,473,421 97.10% Coffee $ 190,883 $ 6,573 $ 2,626 $ 181,683 95.20% Colquitt $ 179,160 $ 207 $ 8,321 $ 170,633 95.20% Columbia $ 745,484 $ 4,506 $ 2,495 $ 738,483 99.10% Cook $ 75,561 $ 1,700 $ 175 $ 73,686 97.50% Coweta $ 880,497 $ 81,558 $ 1,224 $ 797,715 90.60% Crawford $ 57,246 $ 4,829 $ 689 $ 51,728 90.40% Crisp $ 114,362 $ 4,392 $ 269 $ 109,701 95.90% Dade $ 79,276 $ 6,481 $ 3,442 $ 69,354 87.50% Dawson $ 269,947 $ 5,080 $ 840 $ 264,027 97.80% Decatur $ 167,714 $ 771 $ 675 $ 166,267 99.10% Dekalb $ 5,723,191 $ 160,427 $ 79,240 $ 5,483,524 95.80% Dodge $ 76,403 $ 5,613 $ 510 $ 70,280 92.00% Dooly $ 62,266 $ 2,023 $ 3,191 $ 57,053 91.60% Dougherty $ 472,403 $ 3,692 $ 3,657 $ 465,054 98.40% Douglas $ 881,508 $ 19,070 $ 3,840 $ 858,598 97.40% Early $ 75,587 $ 365 $ 4,740 $ 70,481 93.20% Echols $ 26,308 $ 240 $ 300 $ 25,768 97.90% 21
Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Effingham $ 302,196 $ 7,529 $ 513 $ 294,155 97.30% Elbert $ 115,239 $ 2,465 $ 766 $ 112,008 97.20% Emanuel $ 103,527 $ 2,285 $ 1,486 $ 99,757 96.40% Comparison of Collections to Digest Evans $ 51,539 $ 1,721 $ 190 $ 49,628 96.30% Fannin $ 196,860 $ 2,326 $ 1,211 $ 193,323 98.20% Fayette $ 1,152,536 $ 23,456 $ 18 $ 1,129,062 98.00% Floyd $ 665,379 $ 19,469 $ 4,900 $ 641,010 96.30% Forsyth $ 1,755,284 $ 28,637 $ 11,531 $ 1,715,116 97.70% Franklin $ 152,737 $ 8,390 $ 2,586 $ 141,761 92.80% Fulton $ 10,730,800 $ 408,508 $ 28,540 $ 10,293,752 95.90% Gilmer $ 260,702 $ 15,249 $ 645 $ 244,808 93.90% Glascock $ 15,076 $ 199 $ (96) $ 14,973 99.30% Glynn $ 1,024,731 $ 15,000 $ 6,900 $ 1,002,831 97.90% Gordon $ 337,701 $ 19,341 $ 546 $ 317,814 94.10% Grady $ 115,994 $ 1,558 $ 555 $ 113,882 98.20% Greene $ 248,528 $ 4,260 $ (517) $ 244,785 98.50% Gwinnett $ 6,540,067 $ 464,180 $ 23,111 $ 6,052,777 92.50% Habersham $ 291,666 $ 9,380 $ 1,494 $ 280,791 96.30% Hall $ 1,287,569 $ 13,752 $ 6,960 $ 1,266,857 98.40% Hancock $ 66,491 $ 5,196 $ (44) $ 61,338 92.30% Haralson $ 160,995 $ 4,426 $ 820 $ 155,749 96.70% Harris $ 209,346 $ 2,261 $ (2,565) $ 209,650 100.10% Hart $ 231,788 $ 9,970 $ (73) $ 221,891 95.70% Heard $ 116,050 $ 2,592 $ 29,057 $ 84,401 72.70% Henry $ 1,417,321 $ 30,789 $ 4,767 $ 1,381,764 97.50% 22
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Houston $ 706,107 $ 18,177 $ 501 $ 687,429 97.40% Irwin $ 46,918 $ 388 $ 616 $ 45,914 97.90% Jackson $ 401,104 $ 11,482 $ 870 $ 388,752 96.90% Jasper $ 104,380 $ 8,947 $ 2,016 $ 93,417 89.50% Jeff Davis $ 64,278 $ 2,674 $ 444 $ 61,160 95.10% Jefferson $ 95,968 $ 3,097 $ (729) $ 93,599 97.50% Jenkins $ 37,879 $ 357 $ (303) $ 37,826 99.90% Johnson $ 34,677 $ 979 $ 219 $ 33,478 96.50% Jones $ 154,448 $ 1,194 $ 11,539 $ 141,714 91.80% Lamar $ 100,316 $ 3,382 $ 2,489 $ 94,445 94.10% Lanier $ 25,038 $ 992 $ 392 $ 23,654 94.50% Laurens $ 263,375 $ 6,502 $ 1,516 $ 255,357 97.00% Lee $ 152,535 $ 3,560 $ 4,511 $ 144,464 94.70% Liberty $ 226,973 $ 11,621 $ 2,886 $ 212,466 93.60% Lincoln $ 55,689 $ 1,360 $ (75) $ 54,405 97.70% Long $ 33,221 $ 2,031 $ 75 $ 31,115 93.70% Lowndes $ 570,011 $ 20,130 $ 2,726 $ 547,154 96.00% Lumpkin $ 222,976 $ 6,254 $ 840 $ 215,882 96.80% Macon $ 71,319 $ 6,153 $ 2,819 $ 62,347 87.40% Madison $ 152,244 $ 9,230 $ 722 $ 142,291 93.50% Marion $ 49,321 $ 328 $ 135 $ 48,858 99.10% McDuffie $ 119,913 $ 4,489 $ 525 $ 114,899 95.80% McIntosh $ 102,780 $ 8,160 $ 569 $ 94,050 91.50% Meriwether $ 118,641 $ 4,538 $ 1,931 $ 112,172 94.50% Miller $ 36,759 $ 749 $ (201) $ 36,212 98.50% 23
Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Mitchell $ 113,097 $ 1,513 $ 2,433 $ 109,151 96.50% Monroe $ 428,243 $ 10,482 $ 143,349 $ 274,412 64.10% Montgomery $ 39,181 $ 917 $ 1,850 $ 36,413 92.90% Comparison of Collections to Digest Morgan $ 174,000 $ 4,812 $ 264 $ 168,925 97.10% Murray $ 227,942 $ 6,070 $ 3,672 $ 218,199 95.70% Muscogee $ 1,017,276 $ 72,185 $ 22,130 $ 922,961 90.70% Newton $ 595,510 $ 2,654 $ 2,000 $ 590,856 99.20% Oconee $ 294,425 $ 718 $ (563) $ 294,269 99.90% Oglethorpe $ 86,573 $ 1,814 $ 508 $ 84,250 97.30% Paulding $ 784,881 $ 19,733 $ 6,462 $ 758,685 96.70% Peach $ 126,426 $ 7,347 $ 287 $ 118,791 94.00% Pickens $ 282,308 $ 14,649 $ 1,682 $ 265,977 94.20% Pierce $ 82,041 $ 3,782 $ 834 $ 77,425 94.40% Pike $ 107,140 $ 6,361 $ 934 $ 99,844 93.20% Polk $ 219,525 $ 7,696 $ 3,457 $ 208,372 94.90% Pulaski $ 47,538 $ 1,018 $ 650 $ 45,870 96.50% Putnam $ 280,318 $ 1,965 $ (3,098) $ 281,451 100.40% Quitman $ 17,270 $ 248 $ 226 $ 16,796 97.30% Rabun $ 313,503 $ 10,231 $ 843 $ 302,430 96.50% Randolph $ 34,951 $ 1,593 $ 136 $ 33,222 95.10% Richmond $ 1,064,253 $ 47,785 $ 21,742 $ 994,727 93.50% Rockdale $ 612,066 $ 30,209 $ 475 $ 581,382 95.00% Schley $ 20,272 $ 201 $ 945 $ 19,126 94.30% Screven $ 80,656 $ 2,175 $ 84 $ 78,397 97.20% Seminole $ 51,050 $ 584 $ (149) $ 50,616 99.10% 24
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Spalding $ 344,281 $ 6,255 $ 3,373 $ 334,654 97.20% Stephens $ 167,577 $ 5,305 $ 464 $ 161,809 96.60% Stewart $ 32,909 $ 861 $ (81) $ 32,129 97.60% Sumter $ 158,645 $ 8,443 $ 148 $ 150,053 94.60% Talbot $ 50,237 $ 1,206 $ 666 $ 48,366 96.30% Taliaferro $ 17,994 $ 1,093 $ 292 $ 16,609 92.30% Tattnall $ 76,852 $ 5,832 $ 480 $ 70,541 91.80% Taylor $ 45,513 $ 1,352 $ 141 $ 44,020 96.70% Telfair $ 57,389 $ 5,062 $ 88 $ 52,240 91.00% Terrell $ 50,123 $ 1,223 $ 397 $ 48,503 96.80% Thomas $ 263,192 $ 8,737 $ (1,429) $ 255,884 97.20% Tift $ 220,121 $ 1,570 $ (290) $ 218,841 99.40% Toombs $ 118,217 $ 3,629 $ 303 $ 114,285 96.70% Towns $ 185,797 $ 12,713 $ 413 $ 172,671 92.90% Treutlen $ 23,350 $ 1,190 $ 325 $ 21,835 93.50% Troup $ 421,794 $ 1,246 $ 13,050 $ 407,497 96.60% Turner $ 42,736 $ 392 $ 873 $ 41,472 97.00% Twiggs $ 51,777 $ 2,834 $ 1,576 $ 47,367 91.50% Union $ 196,891 $ 4,540 $ 511 $ 191,840 97.40% Upson $ 158,602 $ 5,919 $ 8,050 $ 144,633 91.20% Walker $ 315,851 $ 14,826 $ 6,016 $ 295,009 93.40% Walton $ 619,703 $ 3,993 $ (95) $ 615,804 99.40% Ware $ 154,391 $ 4,668 $ 3,739 $ 145,983 94.60% Warren $ 33,433 $ 1,332 $ 337 $ 31,764 95.00% Washington $ 154,218 $ 1,369 $ 1,967 $ 150,882 97.80% 25
Table 3 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2005 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Wayne $ 157,919 $ 12,188 $ 356 $ 145,375 92.10% Webster $ 13,929 $ 419 $ 104 $ 13,406 96.20% Wheeler $ 23,710 $ 2,261 $ 110 $ 21,339 90.00% Comparison of Collections to Digest White $ 214,353 $ 2,175 $ 386 $ 211,792 98.80% Whitfield $ 748,381 $ 17,674 $ 4,720 $ 725,987 97.00% Wilcox $ 34,316 $ 673 $ 63 $ 33,580 97.90% Wilkes $ 68,558 $ 988 $ 188 $ 67,382 98.30% Wilkinson $ 84,590 $ 3,317 $ 1,612 $ 79,660 94.20% Worth $ 102,554 $ 1,804 $ 405 $ 100,345 97.80% Total $ 73,154,073 $ 2,507,584 $ 733,294 $ 69,913,196 95.60% 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). 26
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 4 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Appling $ 155,544 $ 1,964 $ 153,580 98.70% Atkinson $ 30,825 $ 1,178 $ 1,501 $ 28,147 91.30% Bacon $ 49,921 $ 2,215 $ 130 $ 47,576 95.30% Baker $ 29,852 $ 382 $ (317) $ 29,786 99.80% Baldwin $ 261,190 $ 3,915 $ 1,307 $ 255,968 98.00% Banks $ 132,691 $ 5,224 $ 566 $ 126,901 95.60% Barrow $ 443,533 $ 19,933 $ 253 $ 423,348 95.40% Bartow $ 727,983 $ 21,199 $ (5,635) $ 712,419 97.90% Ben Hill $ 88,384 $ 14,954 $ 13 $ 73,416 83.10% Berrien $ 81,020 $ 2,290 $ 3,974 $ 74,756 92.30% Bibb $ 964,982 $ 16,000 $ 7,200 $ 941,782 97.60% Bleckley $ 53,900 $ 4,743 $ 290 $ 48,867 90.70% Brantley $ 70,791 $ 4,601 $ (224) $ 66,413 93.80% Brooks $ 88,224 $ 1,723 $ 268 $ 86,233 97.70% Bryan $ 270,444 $ 5,593 $ 139 $ 264,713 97.90% Bulloch $ 354,921 $ 3,318 $ 589 $ 351,014 98.90% Burke $ 399,537 $ 10,683 $ 651 $ 388,203 97.20% Butts $ 174,483 $ 4,085 $ 13,039 $ 157,358 90.20% Calhoun $ 24,289 $ 3,603 $ 32 $ 20,654 85.00% Camden $ 308,013 $ 12,000 $ 300 $ 295,713 96.00% Candler $ 53,135 $ 3,067 $ 1,632 $ 48,436 91.20% Carroll $ 654,703 $ 17,233 $ 278 $ 637,191 97.30% Catoosa $ 385,211 $ 10,619 $ 1,180 $ 373,411 96.90% Charlton $ 60,234 $ 2,800 $ 300 $ 57,134 94.90% Chatham $ 2,792,846 $ 39,888 $ 19,708 $ 2,733,250 97.90% 27
Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Chattahoochee $ 13,430 $ 510 $ 241 $ 12,679 94.40% Chattooga $ 136,021 $ 4,200 $ 3,100 $ 128,721 94.60% Cherokee $ 1,842,109 $ 18,665 $ 26,168 $ 1,797,276 97.60% Comparison of Collections to Digest Clarke $ 828,064 $ 9,734 $ 5,128 $ 813,201 98.20% Clay $ 22,387 $ 128 $ 679 $ 21,580 96.40% Clayton $ 2,110,504 $ 36,824 $ 17,271 $ 2,056,409 97.40% Clinch $ 41,402 $ 435 $ 3,640 $ 37,326 90.20% Cobb $ 7,291,875 $ 64,187 $ 102,459 $ 7,125,229 97.70% Coffee $ 195,614 $ 5,608 $ 68 $ 189,938 97.10% Colquitt $ 190,023 $ 85 $ 10,431 $ 179,506 94.50% Columbia $ 859,090 $ 14,708 $ 2,403 $ 841,978 98.00% Cook $ 83,170 $ 2,400 $ 650 $ 80,120 96.30% Coweta $ 960,666 $ 85,788 $ 3,937 $ 870,941 90.70% Crawford $ 58,700 $ 4,677 $ 540 $ 53,482 91.10% Crisp $ 125,859 $ 5,112 $ 3,385 $ 117,361 93.20% Dade $ 107,999 $ 9,148 $ 1,429 $ 97,422 90.20% Dawson $ 304,584 $ 12,912 $ 1,700 $ 289,972 95.20% Decatur $ 171,994 $ 800 $ 700 $ 170,494 99.10% Dekalb $ 6,248,241 $ 307,106 $ 128,145 $ 5,812,991 93.00% Dodge $ 94,675 $ 11,823 $ 1,041 $ 81,811 86.40% Dooly $ 59,924 $ 2,800 $ 200 $ 56,924 95.00% Dougherty $ 475,158 $ 3,883 $ 2,115 $ 469,160 98.70% Douglas $ 976,065 $ 24,967 $ 4,498 $ 946,601 97.00% Early $ 77,870 $ 1,071 $ 4,973 $ 71,826 92.20% Echols $ 26,943 $ 300 $ 100 $ 26,543 98.50% 28
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Effingham $ 337,084 $ 12,184 $ (257) $ 325,156 96.50% Elbert $ 123,331 $ 4,430 $ 974 $ 117,926 95.60% Emanuel $ 105,457 $ 2,586 $ (13) $ 102,885 97.60% Evans $ 51,539 $ 1,721 $ 190 $ 49,628 96.30% Fannin $ 221,533 $ 13,903 $ 1,945 $ 205,684 92.80% Fayette $ 1,256,408 $ 22,054 $ (1,203) $ 1,235,556 98.30% Floyd $ 710,975 $ 18,648 $ 7,248 $ 685,079 96.40% Forsyth $ 2,023,809 $ 34,048 $ 9,426 $ 1,980,335 97.90% Franklin $ 167,624 $ 8,349 $ 1,564 $ 157,711 94.10% Fulton $ 11,772,112 $ 670,590 $ 276,451 $ 10,825,071 92.00% Gilmer $ 291,161 $ 18,702 $ 2,348 $ 270,110 92.80% Glascock $ 15,984 $ 76 $ (136) $ 16,043 100.40% Glynn $ 1,186,678 $ 28,925 $ 2,430 $ 1,155,323 97.40% Gordon $ 364,091 $ 18,544 $ 1,090 $ 344,458 94.60% Grady $ 145,494 $ 1,350 $ 2,293 $ 141,850 97.50% Greene $ 361,035 $ 7,819 $ 6,812 $ 346,403 95.90% Gwinnett $ 7,306,274 $ 331,517 $ 113,297 $ 6,861,461 93.90% Habersham $ 304,284 $ 14,650 $ 859 $ 288,775 94.90% Hall $ 1,382,105 $ 26,155 $ 2,916 $ 1,353,033 97.90% Hancock $ 71,067 $ 5,948 $ 359 $ 64,760 91.10% Haralson $ 168,041 $ 4,615 $ 370 $ 163,056 97.00% Harris $ 241,646 $ 2,491 $ (83) $ 239,238 99.00% Hart $ 245,695 $ 15,061 $ 8,739 $ 221,896 90.30% Heard $ 126,274 $ 3,319 $ 27,313 $ 95,642 75.70% Henry $ 1,581,824 $ 44,078 $ 5,019 $ 1,532,727 96.90% 29
Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Houston $ 840,470 $ 15,552 $ 20,847 $ 804,071 95.70% Irwin $ 47,696 $ 400 $ 350 $ 46,946 98.40% Jackson $ 464,631 $ 23,851 $ 5,996 $ 434,784 93.60% Comparison of Collections to Digest Jasper $ 108,236 $ 9,333 $ 1,499 $ 97,405 90.00% Jeff Davis $ 64,978 $ 2,030 $ (126) $ 63,074 97.10% Jefferson $ 101,392 $ 2,373 $ 501 $ 98,518 97.20% Jenkins $ 38,360 $ 435 $ 238 $ 37,686 98.20% Johnson $ 34,775 $ 1,075 $ 121 $ 33,579 96.60% Jones $ 160,442 $ 2,356 $ 12,186 $ 145,901 90.90% Lamar $ 103,254 $ 7,798 $ 65 $ 95,390 92.40% Lanier $ 26,071 $ 1,000 $ 400 $ 24,671 94.60% Laurens $ 289,939 $ 8,552 $ 3,919 $ 277,468 95.70% Lee $ 198,666 $ 2,794 $ 6,725 $ 189,147 95.20% Liberty $ 242,044 $ 12,187 $ 3,250 $ 226,607 93.60% Lincoln $ 66,542 $ 3,695 $ 355 $ 62,493 93.90% Long $ 31,558 $ 4,595 $ 228 $ 26,735 84.70% Lowndes $ 618,546 $ 18,000 $ 2,500 $ 598,046 96.70% Lumpkin $ 236,476 $ 7,960 $ 645 $ 227,871 96.40% Macon $ 77,183 $ 7,319 $ 3,388 $ 66,476 86.10% Madison $ 156,494 $ 11,120 $ 1,329 $ 144,045 92.00% Marion $ 48,730 $ 267 $ 765 $ 47,697 97.90% McDuffie $ 125,942 $ 2,599 $ 100 $ 123,244 97.90% McIntosh $ 108,542 $ 9,342 $ 671 $ 98,529 90.80% Meriwether $ 124,541 $ 7,508 $ 1,740 $ 115,293 92.60% Miller $ 37,488 $ 332 $ (40) $ 37,196 99.20% 30
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Mitchell $ 124,162 $ 2,065 $ 1,123 $ 120,974 97.40% Monroe $ 492,961 $ 17,045 $ 193,962 $ 281,955 57.20% Montgomery $ 39,709 $ 3,608 $ 1,364 $ 34,738 87.50% Morgan $ 184,887 $ 4,854 $ 665 $ 179,368 97.00% Murray $ 234,261 $ 8,827 $ (995) $ 226,430 96.70% Muscogee $ 1,073,005 $ 19,923 $ 16,917 $ 1,036,165 96.60% Newton $ 652,728 $ 3,975 $ 2,817 $ 645,936 99.00% Oconee $ 339,268 $ 2,815 $ 208 $ 336,245 99.10% Oglethorpe $ 105,504 $ 5,211 $ 922 $ 99,371 94.20% Paulding $ 945,750 $ 22,371 $ 22,490 $ 900,889 95.30% Peach $ 133,258 $ 7,589 $ 363 $ 125,307 94.00% Pickens $ 313,212 $ 26,580 $ 374 $ 286,258 91.40% Pierce $ 88,838 $ 4,379 $ 778 $ 83,680 94.20% Pike $ 114,496 $ 7,587 $ 659 $ 106,250 92.80% Polk $ 230,875 $ 11,677 $ 4,379 $ 214,820 93.00% Pulaski $ 57,258 $ 755 $ 66 $ 56,437 98.60% Putnam $ 334,115 $ 3,063 $ (1,791) $ 332,842 99.60% Quitman $ 18,453 $ 205 $ 472 $ 17,777 96.30% Rabun $ 329,391 $ 6,847 $ 4,585 $ 317,959 96.50% Randolph $ 46,681 $ 1,759 $ 196 $ 44,726 95.80% Richmond $ 1,086,652 $ 65,769 $ 3,506 $ 1,017,377 93.60% Rockdale $ 669,753 $ 33,201 $ 202 $ 636,350 95.00% Schley $ 21,005 $ 531 $ 1,050 $ 19,423 92.50% Screven $ 100,304 $ 4,079 $ 397 $ 95,828 95.50% Seminole $ 54,458 $ 651 $ (11) $ 53,818 98.80% 31
Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Spalding $ 358,783 $ 7,057 $ 1,781 $ 349,946 97.50% Stephens $ 175,772 $ 3,360 $ 3,147 $ 169,265 96.30% Stewart $ 33,105 $ 282 $ 70 $ 32,753 98.90% Comparison of Collections to Digest Sumter $ 173,347 $ 5,443 $ (501) $ 168,405 97.10% Talbot $ 57,906 $ 1,160 $ 2,471 $ 54,275 93.70% Taliaferro $ 17,565 $ 762 $ 204 $ 16,599 94.50% Tattnall $ 79,533 $ 3,528 $ (9) $ 76,014 95.60% Taylor $ 45,120 $ 3,752 $ (533) $ 41,901 92.90% Telfair $ 66,776 $ 4,500 $ 90 $ 62,186 93.10% Terrell $ 51,012 $ 1,510 $ 122 $ 49,380 96.80% Thomas $ 272,828 $ 4,408 $ 200 $ 268,220 98.30% Tift $ 237,161 $ 2,108 $ (127) $ 235,180 99.20% Toombs $ 118,217 $ 3,629 $ 303 $ 114,285 96.70% Towns $ 195,060 $ 8,517 $ (158) $ 186,700 95.70% Treutlen $ 29,184 $ 1,625 $ (43) $ 27,601 94.60% Troup $ 431,853 $ 603 $ 5,807 $ 425,443 98.50% Turner $ 44,129 $ 1,090 $ 57 $ 42,981 97.40% Twiggs $ 49,505 $ 2,838 $ 159 $ 46,507 93.90% Union $ 303,309 $ 14,424 $ (1,721) $ 290,606 95.80% Upson $ 164,846 $ 7,326 $ 9,262 $ 148,258 89.90% Walker $ 339,781 $ 12,632 $ 1,174 $ 325,974 95.90% Walton $ 688,021 $ 4,446 $ (877) $ 684,452 99.50% Ware $ 159,595 $ 4,724 $ 389 $ 154,483 96.80% Warren $ 40,312 $ 2,474 $ (697) $ 38,535 95.60% Washington $ 157,700 $ 2,876 $ 1,312 $ 153,512 97.30% 32
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 4 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2006 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Wayne $ 142,910 $ 12,538 $ 505 $ 129,867 90.90% Webster $ 14,095 $ 362 $ 47 $ 13,686 97.10% Wheeler $ 31,007 $ 5,253 $ 333 $ 25,421 82.00% White $ 226,491 $ 3,593 $ 193 $ 222,706 98.30% Whitfield $ 799,517 $ 36,221 $ 2,570 $ 760,726 95.10% Wilcox $ 34,601 $ 600 $ 100 $ 33,901 98.00% Wilkes $ 83,836 $ 2,165 $ 5,239 $ 76,432 91.20% Wilkinson $ 85,588 $ 3,945 $ 405 $ 81,239 94.90% Worth $ 102,855 $ 1,500 $ 400 $ 100,955 98.20% Total $ 80,475,849 $ 2,751,939 $ 1,196,154 $ 76,527,756 95.10% 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
Table 5 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Appling $ 158,808 $ 48,672 $ (2,134) $ 95,553 61.72% Atkinson $ 31,591 $ 848 $ 1,680 $ 29,063 92.00% Bacon $ 49,104 $ 2,358 $ (587) $ 47,333 96.39% Comparison of Collections to Digest Baker $ 30,123 $ 127 $ 131 $ 29,865 99.14% Baldwin $ 254,738 $ 3,915 $ 1,307 $ 255,968 98.00% Banks $ 134,104 $ 5,224 $ 566 $ 126,901 95.60% Barrow $ 482,348 $ 19,933 $ 253 $ 423,348 95.40% Bartow $ 750,040 $ 21,199 $ (5,635) $ 712,419 97.90% Ben Hill $ 90,274 $ 3,606 $ 373 $ 86,294 95.59% Berrien $ 82,439 $ 12,960 $ 1,001 $ 68,478 83.06% Bibb $ 932,606 $ 16,984 $ 12,692 $ 902,929 96.81% Bleckley $ 51,534 $ 1,309 $ 377 $ 49,847 96.72% Brantley $ 77,205 $ 5,133 $ 3,129 $ 68,943 89.30% Brooks $ 81,379 $ 2,198 $ (2,878) $ 80,699 99.16% Bryan $ 285,512 $ 7,547 $ 1,107 $ 276,858 96.96% Bulloch $ 409,061 $ 10,704 $ 153 $ 398,205 97.35% Burke $ 406,696 $ 14,670 $ 425 $ 391,601 96.29% Butts $ 158,748 $ 6,076 $ 516 $ 152,156 95.84% Calhoun $ 35,119 $ 1,411 $ 489 $ 33,219 94.59% Camden $ 402,458 $ 11,831 $ 7,581 $ 383,045 95.18% Candler $ 53,842 $ 3,714 $ 71 $ 50,058 92.97% Carroll $ 656,451 $ 22,361 $ 1,761 $ 632,329 96.32% Catoosa $ 362,558 $ 16,097 $ 1,042 $ 345,419 95.27% Charlton $ 76,345 $ 1,876 $ 4,512 $ 69,958 91.63% Chatham $ 2,990,194 $ 75,545 $ 58,756 $ 2,855,893 95.50% 34
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Chattahoochee $ 15,123 $ 550 $ 122 $ 14,451 95.56% Chattooga $ 134,039 $ 5,650 $ 1,324 $ 127,065 94.79% Cherokee $ 1,953,936 $ 36,290 $ 3,522 $ 1,914,123 97.96% Clarke $ 812,796 $ 9,782 $ 5,727 $ 797,286 98.09% Clay $ 20,910 $ 133 $ 179 $ 20,598 98.51% Clayton $ 2,128,492 $ 70,981 $ 34,859 $ 2,022,652 95.02% Clinch $ 62,476 $ 991 $ 4,903 $ 56,582 90.57% Cobb $ 7,345,936 $ 83,196 $ 135,864 $ 7,126,876 97.01% Coffee $ 203,338 $ 7,395 $ 4,215 $ 191,727 94.29% Colquitt $ 198,498 $ 182 $ 9,670 $ 188,646 95.04% Columbia $ 926,726 $ 19,227 $ 5,294 $ 902,205 97.35% Cook $ 80,541 $ 2,161 $ 566 $ 77,814 96.61% Coweta $ 1,003,163 $ 40,295 $ 40,688 $ 922,181 91.92% Crawford $ 70,202 $ 5,061 $ 495 $ 64,646 92.08% Crisp $ 128,735 $ 6,205 $ 1,952 $ 120,579 93.66% Dade $ 102,394 $ 7,403 $ 1,119 $ 93,872 91.67% Dawson $ 315,472 $ 8,128 $ 576 $ 306,769 97.24% Decatur $ 187,405 $ 7,530 $ 1,800 $ 178,076 95.02% Dekalb $ 6,159,271 $ 42,264 $ 142,703 $ 5,974,304 96.99% Dodge $ 93,206 $ 6,620 $ 362 $ 86,224 92.50% Dooly $ 67,270 $ 2,403 $ 4,495 $ 60,372 89.75% Dougherty $ 537,947 $ 8,614 $ 10,216 $ 519,116 96.50% Douglas $ 1,037,795 $ 40,798 $ 15,573 $ 981,424 94.56% Early $ 112,434 $ 2,918 $ 4,861 $ 104,655 93.08% Echols $ 24,814 $ 400 $ 159 $ 24,256 97.75% 35
Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Effingham $ 394,349 $ 24,327 $ (2,952) $ 372,973 94.58% Elbert $ 120,180 $ 2,987 $ 878 $ 116,315 96.78% Emanuel $ 104,672 $ 2,249 $ 955 $ 101,468 96.94% Comparison of Collections to Digest Evans $ 55,946 $ 1,672 $ (52) $ 54,326 97.10% Fannin $ 252,561 $ 7,726 $ 3,098 $ 241,737 95.71% Fayette $ 1,203,042 $ 42,949 $ 13,173 $ 1,146,920 95.33% Floyd $ 674,159 $ 16,749 $ 7,248 $ 650,162 96.44% Forsyth $ 2,109,650 $ 42,106 $ 19,011 $ 2,048,532 97.10% Franklin $ 157,212 $ 5,010 $ 6,621 $ 150,590 95.79% Fulton $ 12,895,805 $ 501,085 $ 422,642 $ 11,972,078 92.83% Gilmer $ 298,869 $ 11,011 $ 7,719 $ 280,140 93.73% Glascock $ 20,477 $ 484 $ (42) $ 20,035 97.84% Glynn $ 1,343,834 $ 58,586 $ 573 $ 1,284,675 95.59% Gordon $ 356,133 $ 22,381 $ 2,056 $ 331,696 93.13% Grady $ 144,523 $ 2,504 $ 1,653 $ 140,365 97.12% Greene $ 369,924 $ 5,864 $ 117 $ 363,943 98.38% Gwinnett $ 7,646,140 $ 120,566 $ 114,602 $ 7,410,972 96.92% Habersham $ 288,078 $ 15,008 $ 2,427 $ 270,643 93.94% Hall $ 1,639,603 $ 27,166 $ 23,330 $ 1,589,107 96.92% Hancock $ 74,746 $ 6,934 $ 1,748 $ 66,065 88.39% Haralson $ 167,205 $ 4,509 $ 932 $ 161,764 96.74% Harris $ 277,401 $ 3,555 $ (1,894) $ 275,740 99.40% Hart $ 217,368 $ 12,000 $ 2,643 $ 202,724 93.26% Heard $ 134,374 $ 3,866 $ 32,103 $ 98,405 73.23% Henry $ 1,615,784 $ 71,642 $ 8,505 $ 1,535,637 95.03% 36
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Houston $ 843,300 $ 32,282 $ (2,255) $ 813,273 96.43% Irwin $ 50,087 $ 1,587 $ 211 $ 48,289 96.41% Jackson $ 539,354 $ 26,224 $ 5,406 $ 507,723 94.14% Jasper $ 111,197 $ 7,317 $ (449) $ 104,330 93.82% Jeff Davis $ 64,979 $ 7,648 $ 512 $ 56,819 87.44% Jefferson $ 106,096 $ 3,312 $ 2,226 $ 100,558 94.78% Jenkins $ 56,812 $ 2,124 $ 124 $ 54,563 96.04% Johnson $ 40,277 $ 1,682 $ 270 $ 38,325 95.15% Jones $ 189,078 $ 7,436 $ 2,289 $ 179,353 94.86% Lamar $ 103,633 $ 4,392 $ 620 $ 98,621 95.16% Lanier $ 40,815 $ 2,229 $ 488 $ 38,098 93.34% Laurens $ 287,215 $ 8,700 $ 3,641 $ 274,874 95.70% Lee $ 205,550 $ 1,570 $ 7,335 $ 196,645 95.67% Liberty $ 299,380 $ 37,162 $ 9,861 $ 252,357 84.29% Lincoln $ 72,029 $ 5,455 $ 1,096 $ 65,478 90.90% Long $ 54,858 $ 5,507 $ 596 $ 48,755 88.87% Lowndes $ 640,532 $ 14,760 $ 7,648 $ 618,125 96.50% Lumpkin $ 287,194 $ 20,888 $ 2,917 $ 263,390 91.71% Macon $ 82,071 $ 7,978 $ 4,573 $ 69,520 84.70% Madison $ 160,504 $ 11,183 $ 1,097 $ 148,223 92.35% Marion $ 56,205 $ 1,274 $ 344 $ 54,587 97.12% McDuffie $ 128,889 $ 1,476 $ 1,285 $ 126,128 97.86% McIntosh $ 120,486 $ 11,330 $ 2,917 $ 106,239 88.17% Meriwether $ 119,672 $ 4,099 $ 2,314 $ 113,259 94.64% Miller $ 37,888 $ 563 $ 205 $ 37,121 97.97% 37
Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Mitchell $ 119,301 $ 2,015 $ 723 $ 116,563 97.71% Monroe $ 296,857 $ 14,308 $ 582 $ 281,967 94.98% Montgomery $ 49,505 $ 1,780 $ 663 $ 47,062 95.06% Comparison of Collections to Digest Morgan $ 243,700 $ 9,870 $ 868 $ 232,961 95.59% Murray $ 237,947 $ 7,647 $ 3,503 $ 226,798 95.31% Muscogee $ 1,119,736 $ 30,115 $ 12,834 $ 1,076,787 96.16% Newton $ 704,161 $ 11,451 $ 3,592 $ 689,118 97.86% Oconee $ 374,632 $ 9,370 $ 726 $ 364,535 97.30% Oglethorpe $ 101,602 $ 5,100 $ (2) $ 96,504 94.98% Paulding $ 995,375 $ 41,598 $ 15,118 $ 938,659 94.30% Peach $ 132,697 $ 10,065 $ (230) $ 122,862 92.58% Pickens $ 311,677 $ 13,269 $ 1,208 $ 297,200 95.35% Pierce $ 92,462 $ 5,213 $ 982 $ 86,267 93.30% Pike $ 113,441 $ 4,011 $ 953 $ 108,477 95.62% Polk $ 219,822 $ 6,398 $ 3,826 $ 209,598 95.34% Pulaski $ 57,552 $ 681 $ 157 $ 56,714 98.54% Putnam $ 357,624 $ 4,481 $ (1,096) $ 354,240 99.05% Quitman $ 18,199 $ 466 $ 49 $ 17,684 97.17% Rabun $ 397,879 $ 13,130 $ (21,771) $ 406,521 102.17% Randolph $ 46,068 $ 852 $ 0 $ 45,216 98.15% Richmond $ 1,048,627 $ 17,723 $ 12,865 $ 1,018,627 97.08% Rockdale $ 704,677 $ 41,117 $ 669 $ 662,891 94.07% Schley $ 20,313 $ 266 $ 171 $ 19,876 97.85% Screven $ 96,959 $ 3,580 $ 325 $ 93,054 95.97% Seminole $ 55,224 $ 567 $ 223 $ 54,434 98.57% 38
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Spalding $ 349,360 $ 12,737 $ 5,083 $ 331,540 94.89% Stephens $ 163,218 $ 3,306 $ 1,438 $ 158,474 97.09% Stewart $ 34,471 $ 869 $ (116) $ 33,719 97.82% Sumter $ 171,888 $ 4,904 $ 385 $ 166,599 96.92% Talbot $ 55,525 $ 1,134 $ 1,827 $ 52,564 94.66% Taliaferro $ 16,829 $ 1,673 $ 33 $ 15,123 89.86% Tattnall $ 81,927 $ 4,644 $ 3,477 $ 73,806 90.09% Taylor $ 44,983 $ 3,505 $ 113 $ 41,365 91.95% Telfair $ 65,731 $ 9,553 $ 225 $ 55,953 85.12% Terrell $ 58,164 $ 1,520 $ 183 $ 56,461 97.07% Thomas $ 278,430 $ 3,962 $ 1,328 $ 273,140 98.10% Tift $ 236,540 $ 3,587 $ 1,331 $ 231,623 97.92% Toombs $ 142,758 $ 7,195 $ 1,454 $ 134,108 93.94% Towns $ 220,238 $ 13,099 $ 1,759 $ 205,381 93.25% Treutlen $ 27,491 $ 1,356 $ 40 $ 26,095 94.92% Troup $ 437,207 $ 1,337 $ 2,538 $ 433,331 99.11% Turner $ 44,715 $ 1,116 $ 17 $ 43,583 97.47% Twiggs $ 48,099 $ 3,111 $ 2,089 $ 42,899 89.19% Union $ 301,871 $ 27,042 $ 922 $ 273,907 90.73% Upson $ 160,068 $ 7,042 $ 7,760 $ 145,266 90.75% Walker $ 321,531 $ 14,243 $ 3,106 $ 304,183 94.60% Walton $ 693,608 $ 16,632 $ 1,501 $ 675,476 97.39% Ware $ 164,477 $ 5,636 $ 6,625 $ 152,216 92.55% Warren $ 39,568 $ 1,431 $ 717 $ 37,420 94.57% Washington $ 180,002 $ 2,666 $ 3,411 $ 173,924 96.62% 39
Table 5 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2007 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Wayne $ 136,609 $ 6,886 $ 354 $ 129,370 94.70% Webster $ 22,553 $ 606 $ 313 $ 21,635 95.93% Wheeler $ 29,803 $ 3,982 $ 117 $ 25,704 86.25% Comparison of Collections to Digest White $ 256,156 $ 5,651 $ 1,708 $ 248,797 97.12% Whitfield $ 833,811 $ 30,249 $ 8,629 $ 794,933 95.33% Wilcox $ 35,025 $ 580 $ 445 $ 34,001 97.08% Wilkes $ 76,625 $ 1,296 $ 1,005 $ 74,324 97.00% Wilkinson $ 87,776 $ 5,249 $ 1,154 $ 81,372 92.70% Worth $ 103,560 $ 2,176 $ 590 $ 100,794 97.33% Total $ 83,862,986 $ 2,437,636 $ 1,340,930 $ 80,018,247 95.42% 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). 40
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 6 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Appling $ 159,542 $ 3,890 $ (338) $ 155,990 97.77% Atkinson $ 33,855 $ 925 $ 1,768 $ 31,162 92.05% Bacon $ 51,985 $ 2,467 $ 578 $ 48,940 94.14% Baker $ 30,178 $ 250 $ 92 $ 29,836 98.87% Baldwin $ 264,794 $ 9,594 $ 2,325 $ 252,875 95.50% Banks $ 146,269 $ 17,078 $ 1,404 $ 127,787 87.36% Barrow $ 506,241 $ 29,181 $ 2,773 $ 474,287 93.69% Bartow $ 789,242 $ 22,823 $ 13,088 $ 753,331 95.45% Ben Hill $ 91,341 $ 5,108 $ 2 $ 86,231 94.41% Berrien $ 80,919 $ 2,215 $ 4,733 $ 73,971 91.41% Bibb $ 940,221 $ 20,922 $ 9,579 $ 909,720 96.76% Bleckley $ 66,353 $ 1,854 $ 287 $ 64,212 96.77% Brantley $ 79,361 $ 6,221 $ 1,347 $ 71,793 90.46% Brooks $ 120,280 $ 4,530 $ 744 $ 115,006 95.62% Bryan $ 307,116 $ 27,287 $ 2,360 $ 277,469 90.35% Bulloch $ 434,021 $ 11,736 $ 373 $ 421,912 97.21% Burke $ 402,318 $ 5,404 $ 538 $ 396,376 98.52% Butts $ 160,441 $ 8,590 $ 731 $ 151,120 94.19% Calhoun $ 31,863 $ 934 $ 465 $ 30,464 95.61% Camden $ 444,595 $ 33,441 $ 1,048 $ 410,106 92.24% Candler $ 56,127 $ 4,848 $ 144 $ 51,135 91.11% Carroll $ 684,072 $ 26,948 $ 1,755 $ 655,368 95.80% Catoosa $ 375,703 $ 12,244 $ 1,469 $ 361,990 96.35% Charlton $ 82,684 $ 4,197 $ 2,616 $ 75,872 91.76% Chatham $ 3,215,661 $ 75,545 $ 58,756 $ 3,081,360 95.82% 41
Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Chattahoochee $ 15,318 $ 37 $ 122 $ 15,159 98.96% Chattooga $ 142,644 $ 5,579 $ 7,659 $ 129,407 90.72% Cherokee $ 2,056,929 $ 63,599 $ 6,704 $ 1,986,625 96.58% Comparison of Collections to Digest Clarke $ 854,074 $ 14,251 $ 3,660 $ 836,163 97.90% Clay $ 27,974 $ 352 $ 357 $ 27,265 97.47% Clayton $ 2,183,528 $ 103,626 $ 23,086 $ 2,056,816 94.20% Clinch $ 64,230 $ 1,179 $ 6,670 $ 56,381 87.78% Cobb $ 7,656,089 $ 72,390 $ 72,592 $ 7,511,106 98.11% Coffee $ 207,341 $ 5,344 $ 1,626 $ 200,371 96.64% Colquitt $ 220,340 $ 796 $ 11,522 $ 208,022 94.41% Columbia $ 991,461 $ 9,362 $ 4,517 $ 977,583 98.60% Cook $ 87,156 $ 1,729 $ 566 $ 84,861 97.37% Coweta $ 1,046,275 $ 55,227 $ 33,522 $ 957,526 91.52% Crawford $ 71,563 $ 3,391 $ 560 $ 67,612 94.48% Crisp $ 132,799 $ 7,363 $ 3,099 $ 122,337 92.12% Dade $ 108,032 $ 8,572 $ 855 $ 98,605 91.27% Dawson $ 357,972 $ 14,999 $ (700) $ 343,673 96.01% Decatur $ 220,552 $ 4,529 $ 2,885 $ 213,138 96.64% Dekalb $ 6,125,278 $ 128,686 $ 142,703 $ 5,853,889 95.57% Dodge $ 95,829 $ 6,950 $ 213 $ 88,666 92.53% Dooly $ 67,648 $ 2,971 $ 4,525 $ 60,152 88.92% Dougherty $ 540,229 $ 5,705 $ 6,458 $ 528,066 97.75% Douglas $ 1,080,835 $ 89,182 $ 3,297 $ 988,356 91.44% Early $ 107,178 $ 2,154 $ 4,916 $ 100,108 93.40% Echols $ 24,972 $ 805 $ (87) $ 24,254 97.12% 42
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Effingham $ 417,732 $ 25,344 $ 3,767 $ 388,620 93.03% Elbert $ 131,877 $ 4,968 $ 6,059 $ 120,851 91.64% Emanuel $ 108,037 $ 2,963 $ 853 $ 104,221 96.47% Evans $ 60,189 $ 2,552 $ 157 $ 57,480 95.50% Fannin $ 268,093 $ 22,032 $ 764 $ 245,297 91.50% Fayette $ 1,227,969 $ 37,869 $ 2,338 $ 1,187,762 96.73% Floyd $ 689,611 $ 18,982 $ 4,062 $ 666,567 96.66% Forsyth $ 2,289,987 $ 76,928 $ 26,766 $ 2,186,293 95.47% Franklin $ 158,345 $ 4,800 $ 1,380 $ 152,164 96.10% Fulton * $ 13,780,964 $ 584,408 $ 0 $ 13,196,556 95.76% Gilmer $ 389,634 $ 34,076 $ 3,832 $ 351,727 90.27% Glascock $ 19,360 $ 420 $ (296) $ 19,235 99.35% Glynn $ 1,448,868 $ 46,876 $ 573 $ 1,401,419 96.73% Gordon $ 416,177 $ 29,082 $ 3,070 $ 384,025 92.27% Grady $ 144,968 $ 3,639 $ 481 $ 140,848 97.16% Greene $ 405,736 $ 12,051 $ 336 $ 393,348 96.95% Gwinnett $ 8,046,716 $ 190,133 $ 124,416 $ 7,732,167 96.09% Habersham $ 315,022 $ 14,221 $ 3,733 $ 297,069 94.30% Hall $ 1,669,841 $ 36,436 $ 13,644 $ 1,619,761 97.00% Hancock $ 77,009 $ 8,098 $ 2,008 $ 66,903 86.88% Haralson $ 180,640 $ 7,083 $ 1,551 $ 172,005 95.22% Harris $ 328,080 $ 5,114 $ 4,977 $ 317,989 96.92% Hart $ 223,570 $ 11,976 $ 2,049 $ 209,546 93.73% Heard $ 140,765 $ 4,175 $ 31,945 $ 104,645 74.34% Henry $ 1,740,532 $ 71,642 $ 8,505 $ 1,660,386 95.40% 43
Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Houston $ 884,458 $ 30,685 $ 578 $ 853,195 96.47% Irwin $ 52,078 $ 1,123 $ 216 $ 50,739 97.43% Jackson $ 579,474 $ 40,998 $ 3,236 $ 535,241 92.37% Comparison of Collections to Digest Jasper $ 114,465 $ 7,725 $ 1,129 $ 105,612 92.27% Jeff Davis $ 66,037 $ 2,733 $ 607 $ 62,697 94.94% Jefferson $ 102,733 $ 4,015 $ 1,178 $ 97,540 94.95% Jenkins $ 53,924 $ 1,233 $ (225) $ 52,915 98.13% Johnson $ 41,098 $ 2,064 $ 44 $ 38,990 94.87% Jones $ 204,418 $ 4,055 $ 3,078 $ 197,285 96.51% Lamar $ 114,699 $ 3,889 $ (411) $ 111,221 96.97% Lanier $ 41,316 $ 2,865 $ 176 $ 38,275 92.64% Laurens $ 297,338 $ 9,777 $ 4,668 $ 282,893 95.14% Lee $ 212,112 $ 4,474 $ 3,305 $ 204,333 96.33% Liberty $ 296,791 $ 19,027 $ 5,006 $ 272,758 91.90% Lincoln $ 76,450 $ 4,561 $ 878 $ 71,011 92.89% Long $ 56,357 $ 2,790 $ 218 $ 53,349 94.66% Lowndes $ 668,032 $ 22,460 $ 3,393 $ 642,179 96.13% Lumpkin $ 285,919 $ 17,422 $ 205 $ 268,292 93.83% Macon $ 79,689 $ 4,705 $ 1,864 $ 73,120 91.76% Madison $ 158,333 $ 14,386 $ 1,008 $ 142,940 90.28% Marion $ 58,108 $ 1,973 $ 489 $ 55,646 95.76% McDuffie $ 144,338 $ 95 $ 2,049 $ 142,195 98.51% McIntosh $ 133,229 $ 3,976 $ 1,399 $ 127,854 95.97% Meriwether $ 122,747 $ 8,592 $ 2,084 $ 112,072 91.30% Miller $ 41,402 $ 563 $ 205 $ 40,635 98.15% 44
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Mitchell $ 130,066 $ 2,420 $ 848 $ 126,798 97.49% Monroe $ 368,186 $ 17,994 $ (3,085) $ 353,277 95.95% Montgomery $ 49,282 $ 2,704 $ 131 $ 46,447 94.25% Morgan $ 234,765 $ 11,035 $ 1,187 $ 222,543 94.79% Murray $ 243,054 $ 9,626 $ 661 $ 232,767 95.77% Muscogee $ 1,182,194 $ 30,115 $ 12,834 $ 1,139,245 96.37% Newton $ 685,772 $ 11,451 $ 3,592 $ 670,729 97.81% Oconee $ 403,786 $ 12,292 $ 2,058 $ 389,436 96.45% Oglethorpe $ 102,963 $ 6,278 $ 565 $ 96,120 93.35% Paulding $ 1,042,556 $ 54,869 $ 21,301 $ 966,386 92.69% Peach $ 143,535 $ 9,755 $ 549 $ 133,231 92.82% Pickens $ 346,920 $ 18,655 $ 1,775 $ 326,490 94.11% Pierce $ 95,642 $ 6,177 $ 748 $ 88,717 92.76% Pike $ 114,785 $ 6,041 $ 860 $ 107,884 93.99% Polk $ 232,377 $ 9,482 $ 9,442 $ 213,453 91.86% Pulaski $ 58,955 $ 5,623 $ 32 $ 53,300 90.41% Putnam $ 380,798 $ 11,721 $ (128) $ 369,205 96.96% Quitman $ 23,542 $ 1,274 $ 10 $ 22,258 94.55% Rabun $ 430,776 $ 10,733 $ 1,051 $ 418,992 97.26% Randolph $ 45,724 $ 976 $ 5 $ 44,744 97.86% Richmond $ 1,108,981 $ 38,271 $ 14,797 $ 1,055,914 95.21% Rockdale $ 687,405 $ 48,737 $ (612) $ 639,280 93.00% Schley $ 21,340 $ 749 $ (235) $ 20,826 97.59% Screven $ 99,493 $ 4,836 $ (43) $ 94,699 95.18% Seminole $ 61,355 $ 1,011 $ 515 $ 59,829 97.51% 45
Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Spalding $ 359,614 $ 17,786 $ 1,566 $ 340,262 94.62% Stephens $ 172,867 $ 7,539 $ 1,741 $ 163,586 94.63% Stewart $ 35,003 $ 932 $ 7 $ 34,064 97.32% Comparison of Collections to Digest Sumter $ 170,623 $ 6,770 $ 1,148 $ 162,705 95.36% Talbot $ 54,155 $ 1,268 $ 601 $ 52,285 96.55% Taliaferro $ 21,540 $ 1,434 $ 2,532 $ 17,573 81.59% Tattnall $ 103,914 $ 6,599 $ 2,121 $ 95,194 91.61% Taylor $ 54,845 $ 4,246 $ 664 $ 49,935 91.05% Telfair $ 64,646 $ 8,243 $ (100) $ 56,503 87.40% Terrell $ 59,011 $ 1,603 $ 136 $ 57,272 97.05% Thomas $ 400,091 $ 12,881 $ 5,613 $ 381,597 95.38% Tift $ 237,407 $ 3,677 $ 117 $ 233,613 98.40% Toombs $ 146,197 $ 8,018 $ 564 $ 137,614 94.13% Towns $ 231,623 $ 18,804 $ 1,307 $ 211,511 91.32% Treutlen $ 27,582 $ 1,567 $ 206 $ 25,808 93.57% Troup $ 465,960 $ 119 $ 2,960 $ 462,881 99.34% Turner $ 52,226 $ 2,555 $ 219 $ 49,452 94.69% Twiggs $ 48,637 $ 2,426 $ 1,778 $ 44,434 91.36% Union $ 309,307 $ 19,759 $ 296 $ 289,251 93.52% Upson $ 174,082 $ 7,630 $ 10,022 $ 156,429 89.86% Walker $ 330,742 $ 16,998 $ 1,098 $ 312,646 94.53% Walton $ 716,978 $ 31,615 $ 1,255 $ 684,108 95.42% Ware $ 167,244 $ 5,509 $ 2,545 $ 159,190 95.18% Warren $ 38,926 $ 1,948 $ (24) $ 37,002 95.06% Washington $ 187,732 $ 4,576 $ 551 $ 182,605 97.27% 46
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 6 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2008 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Wayne $ 200,473 $ 55,721 $ 534 $ 144,218 71.94% Webster $ 21,810 $ 535 $ 153 $ 21,122 96.85% Wheeler $ 31,867 $ 4,659 $ 307 $ 26,901 84.42% White $ 258,131 $ 7,583 $ 421 $ 250,127 96.90% Whitfield $ 863,212 $ 64,080 $ 7,361 $ 791,771 91.72% Wilcox $ 35,096 $ 1,192 $ 49 $ 33,855 96.46% Wilkes $ 81,337 $ 3,181 $ 733 $ 77,422 95.19% Wilkinson $ 89,802 $ 3,745 $ 1,307 $ 84,750 94.37% Worth $ 107,571 $ 2,195 $ 872 $ 104,504 97.15% Total $ 88,221,202 $ 3,089,287 $ 852,828 $ 84,279,087 95.53% * Temporary Collection order 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). 47
Table 7 Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Appling $ 161,883 $ 4,970 $ 4,654 $ 152,259 94.05% Atkinson $ 34,855 $ 972 $ 1,810 $ 32,073 92.02% Bacon $ 52,009 $ 2,990 $ 184 $ 48,835 93.90% Comparison of Collections to Digest Baker $ 31,778 $ 932 $ 42 $ 30,804 96.93% Baldwin $ 266,003 $ 9,154 $ 2,951 $ 253,899 95.45% Banks $ 132,636 $ 18,162 $ 202 $ 114,272 86.15% Barrow $ 479,202 $ 24,893 $ 284 $ 454,024 94.75% Bartow $ 773,456 $ 28,113 $ 6,153 $ 739,190 95.57% Ben Hill $ 88,173 $ 5,267 $ 178 $ 82,728 93.82% Berrien $ 78,195 $ 2,882 $ 4,007 $ 71,306 91.19% Bibb $ 1,089,979 $ 79,622 $ 15,022 $ 995,334 91.32% Bleckley $ 65,742 $ 3,905 $ 47 $ 61,789 93.99% Brantley $ 74,549 $ 9,177 $ 1,275 $ 64,097 85.98% Brooks $ 103,176 $ 5,626 $ (3,616) $ 101,166 98.05% Bryan $ 310,393 $ 12,839 $ 837 $ 296,717 95.59% Bulloch $ 437,415 $ 17,322 $ 1,376 $ 418,716 95.73% Burke $ 408,896 $ 7,540 $ 215 $ 401,141 98.10% Butts $ 154,471 $ 9,063 $ 418 $ 144,990 93.86% Calhoun $ 28,864 $ 838 $ 0 $ 28,026 97.10% Camden $ 452,093 $ 47,866 $ 1,113 $ 403,114 89.17% Candler $ 58,700 $ 6,769 $ 1,529 $ 50,401 85.86% Carroll $ 675,189 $ 25,180 $ 71 $ 649,939 96.26% Catoosa $ 370,297 $ 15,959 $ 1,192 $ 353,146 95.37% Charlton** ** ** ** ** ** Chatham $ 3,077,366 $ 76,250 $ 38,567 $ 2,962,549 96.27% 48
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Chattahoochee $ 14,708 $ 729 $ 68 $ 13,911 94.58% Chattooga $ 133,110 $ 7,658 $ 1,311 $ 124,141 93.26% Cherokee $ 1,955,152 $ 43,914 $ 14,253 $ 1,896,984 97.02% Clarke $ 861,144 $ 11,330 $ 3,873 $ 845,941 98.23% Clay $ 26,082 $ 364 $ 0 $ 25,718 98.60% Clayton $ 2,077,844 $ 107,957 $ 55,894 $ 1,913,993 92.11% Clinch $ 61,771 $ 1,927 $ 4,453 $ 55,391 89.67% Cobb $ 7,537,305 $ 117,898 $ 133,102 $ 7,286,305 96.67% Coffee $ 205,681 $ 8,255 $ 1,642 $ 195,784 95.19% Colquitt $ 214,429 $ 266 $ 9,202 $ 204,961 95.58% Columbia $ 927,632 $ 11,062 $ 9,861 $ 906,709 97.74% Cook $ 80,884 $ 2,294 $ 522 $ 78,068 96.52% Coweta $ 1,058,894 $ 45,906 $ 43,695 $ 969,293 91.54% Crawford $ 74,453 $ 5,987 $ (296) $ 68,761 92.36% Crisp $ 128,192 $ 7,443 $ 1,064 $ 119,685 93.36% Dade $ 108,943 $ 9,283 $ 614 $ 99,046 90.92% Dawson $ 352,241 $ 14,725 $ 238 $ 337,278 95.75% Decatur $ 205,109 $ 4,665 $ 1,358 $ 199,086 97.06% Dekalb $ 6,075,684 $ 314,850 $ 153,188 $ 5,607,646 92.30% Dodge $ 95,264 $ 8,686 $ 7 $ 86,571 90.88% Dooly $ 61,344 $ 4,624 $ 780 $ 55,940 91.19% Dougherty $ 527,489 $ 10,664 $ 3,860 $ 512,965 97.25% Douglas $ 1,061,183 $ 42,731 $ 18,942 $ 999,510 94.19% Early $ 102,725 $ 2,831 $ 5,063 $ 94,831 92.32% Echols $ 24,679 $ 601 $ 224 $ 23,854 96.66% 49
Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Effingham $ 426,573 $ 32,697 $ 17 $ 393,858 92.33% Elbert $ 124,728 $ 6,123 $ 796 $ 117,809 94.45% Emanuel $ 103,638 $ 3,542 $ (134) $ 100,230 96.71% Comparison of Collections to Digest Evans $ 58,429 $ 3,183 $ 270 $ 54,976 94.09% Fannin $ 274,718 $ 16,365 $ 1,612 $ 256,741 93.46% Fayette $ 1,217,243 $ 41,560 $ 18,381 $ 1,157,302 95.08% Floyd $ 730,907 $ 32,278 $ 48,324 $ 650,305 88.97% Forsyth $ 2,248,390 $ 54,820 $ 27,697 $ 2,165,873 96.33% Franklin $ 155,454 $ 4,138 $ 1,256 $ 150,061 96.53% Fulton $ 13,663,455 $ 313,269 $ 226,110 $ 13,124,076 96.05% Gilmer $ 383,092 $ 31,524 $ 5,340 $ 346,228 90.38% Glascock $ 18,522 $ 407 $ (70) $ 18,184 98.18% Glynn $ 1,405,156 $ 27,390 $ 9,865 $ 1,367,901 97.35% Gordon $ 437,774 $ 33,391 $ 2,173 $ 402,210 91.88% Grady $ 140,678 $ 3,770 $ 683 $ 136,225 96.83% Greene $ 402,414 $ 11,641 $ 114 $ 390,659 97.08% Gwinnett $ 7,739,505 $ 209,151 $ 115,801 $ 7,414,554 95.80% Habersham $ 308,195 $ 11,522 $ 1,842 $ 294,830 95.66% Hall $ 1,660,802 $ 35,935 $ 10,397 $ 1,614,471 97.21% Hancock* $ 75,438 $ 16,824 $ 186 $ 58,428 77.45% Haralson $ 179,592 $ 6,337 $ 1,538 $ 171,717 95.62% Harris $ 313,208 $ 5,011 $ 511 $ 307,686 98.24% Hart* $ 224,294 $ 19,590 $ 2,072 $ 202,632 90.34% Heard $ 127,847 $ 4,309 $ 23,640 $ 99,898 78.14% Henry $ 1,816,439 $ 55,982 $ 8,753 $ 1,751,704 96.44% 50
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Houston $ 891,045 $ 30,297 $ (651) $ 861,398 96.67% Irwin $ 53,643 $ 1,493 $ 774 $ 51,376 95.77% Jackson $ 574,521 $ 34,423 $ (7,103) $ 547,200 95.24% Jasper $ 110,521 $ 7,327 $ 369 $ 102,825 93.04% Jeff Davis $ 65,647 $ 3,660 $ 646 $ 61,341 93.44% Jefferson $ 104,671 $ 5,491 $ 1,722 $ 97,457 93.11% Jenkins $ 50,136 $ 1,925 $ 638 $ 47,573 94.89% Johnson $ 39,337 $ 2,403 $ 86 $ 36,848 93.67% Jones $ 188,815 $ 4,201 $ 1,929 $ 182,685 96.75% Lamar $ 112,388 $ 4,463 $ 1,150 $ 106,775 95.01% Lanier $ 40,291 $ 2,494 $ 459 $ 37,338 92.67% Laurens* $ 287,495 $ 20,145 $ 3,773 $ 263,577 91.68% Lee $ 211,559 $ 5,750 $ 612 $ 205,197 96.99% Liberty $ 285,385 $ 7,621 $ 1,089 $ 276,674 96.95% Lincoln $ 70,415 $ 3,615 $ 340 $ 66,460 94.38% Long $ 54,418 $ 1,264 $ 198 $ 52,956 97.31% Lowndes $ 678,799 $ 26,132 $ 12,104 $ 640,563 94.37% Lumpkin $ 286,363 $ 23,870 $ 604 $ 261,889 91.45% Macon $ 79,884 $ 6,549 $ 2,051 $ 71,284 89.23% Madison $ 153,135 $ 12,523 $ 894 $ 139,718 91.24% Marion $ 54,267 $ 1,549 $ 124 $ 52,594 96.92% McDuffie $ 137,061 $ 2,976 $ (730) $ 134,815 98.36% McIntosh $ 121,801 $ 9,702 $ 2,218 $ 109,881 90.21% Meriwether $ 138,041 $ 12,219 $ 1,118 $ 124,703 90.34% Miller $ 37,704 $ 762 $ 313 $ 36,629 97.15% 51
Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Mitchell $ 134,270 $ 4,242 $ 663 $ 129,365 96.35% Monroe $ 353,447 $ 16,577 $ (3,198) $ 340,068 96.21% Montgomery $ 48,682 $ 324 $ 232 $ 48,126 98.86% Comparison of Collections to Digest Morgan $ 229,442 $ 12,736 $ 2,721 $ 213,985 93.26% Murray $ 235,471 $ 15,620 $ 3,899 $ 215,951 91.71% Muscogee $ 1,137,358 $ 68,304 $ 17,833 $ 1,051,221 92.43% Newton $ 699,613 $ 26,609 $ 29,013 $ 643,991 92.05% Oconee $ 386,042 $ 10,505 $ 1,737 $ 373,800 96.83% Oglethorpe $ 99,702 $ 6,544 $ 305 $ 92,852 93.13% Paulding $ 932,599 $ 41,427 $ 90 $ 891,082 95.55% Peach $ 153,934 $ 7,918 $ 900 $ 145,116 94.27% Pickens $ 339,424 $ 20,210 $ 61 $ 319,152 94.03% Pierce $ 95,912 $ 7,489 $ 1,422 $ 87,001 90.71% Pike $ 115,090 $ 6,800 $ 764 $ 107,526 93.43% Polk $ 225,575 $ 10,929 $ 4,188 $ 210,458 93.30% Pulaski $ 59,386 $ 3,165 $ 422 $ 55,799 93.96% Putnam $ 381,949 $ 13,516 $ (729) $ 369,161 96.65% Quitman $ 19,804 $ 724 $ 23 $ 19,057 96.23% Rabun $ 429,436 $ 32,950 $ 9,635 $ 386,851 90.08% Randolph $ 42,367 $ 1,006 $ 0 $ 41,361 97.63% Richmond $ 1,037,906 $ 22,695 $ 1,788 $ 1,013,423 97.64% Rockdale $ 715,669 $ 52,709 $ 1,083 $ 661,878 92.48% Schley $ 28,692 $ 2,257 $ 1,152 $ 25,283 88.12% Screven $ 94,839 $ 6,187 $ 66 $ 88,586 93.41% Seminole $ 57,510 $ 1,971 $ (2,190) $ 57,729 100.38% 52
Comparison of Collections to Digest Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Spalding $ 349,457 $ 18,264 $ 4,821 $ 326,373 93.39% Stephens $ 168,714 $ 3,147 $ 195 $ 165,372 98.02% Stewart $ 32,764 $ 980 $ 332 $ 31,452 96.00% Sumter $ 174,722 $ 9,447 $ (751) $ 166,026 95.02% Talbot $ 56,240 $ 1,941 $ 1,383 $ 52,916 94.09% Taliaferro $ 16,284 $ 1,916 $ 278 $ 14,090 86.53% Tattnall $ 97,863 $ 7,861 $ 794 $ 89,208 91.16% Taylor $ 51,809 $ 3,644 $ 2 $ 48,163 92.96% Telfair $ 64,352 $ 5,761 $ 882 $ 57,709 89.68% Terrell $ 57,950 $ 1,648 $ 141 $ 56,161 96.91% Thomas $ 385,872 $ 13,212 $ 931 $ 371,729 96.33% Tift $ 237,025 $ 4,573 $ 1,014 $ 231,438 97.64% Toombs $ 146,388 $ 13,815 $ 246 $ 132,327 90.39% Towns $ 221,453 $ 20,424 $ 1,145 $ 199,884 90.26% Treutlen $ 27,356 $ 1,995 $ 595 $ 24,765 90.53% Troup $ 468,656 $ 848 $ 3,766 $ 464,042 99.02% Turner $ 50,366 $ 2,632 $ 155 $ 47,579 94.47% Twiggs $ 60,903 $ 4,352 $ 2,197 $ 54,354 89.25% Union $ 308,497 $ 23,935 $ 1,168 $ 283,394 91.86% Upson $ 162,693 $ 8,639 $ 8,746 $ 145,308 89.31% Walker $ 327,482 $ 21,752 $ 458 $ 305,272 93.22% Walton $ 651,727 $ 25,423 $ 1,394 $ 624,910 95.89% Ware $ 167,425 $ 7,552 $ 1,985 $ 157,888 94.30% Warren $ 35,871 $ 1,262 $ 308 $ 34,300 95.62% Washington $ 188,324 $ 2,063 $ 3,626 $ 182,635 96.98% 53
Table 7 Continued Comparison of Tax Collections for Tax Year 2009 from Digest Delinquent Tax Amount Tax Errored and Relieved Adjusted Percent of Tax Collected Wayne $ 186,325 $ 23,383 $ 1,342 $ 161,599 86.73% Webster $ 20,266 $ 645 $ 133 $ 19,488 96.16% Wheeler $ 29,027 $ 4,804 $ 100 $ 24,123 83.10% Comparison of Collections to Digest White $ 255,251 $ 6,458 $ 1,217 $ 247,577 96.99% Whitfield $ 837,541 $ 31,827 $ 10,964 $ 794,749 94.89% Wilcox $ 34,883 $ 1,243 $ 397 $ 33,243 95.30% Wilkes* $ 80,623 $ 31,434 $ 90 $ 49,099 60.90% Wilkinson $ 95,820 $ 10,379 $ 1,847 $ 83,594 87.24% Worth $ 121,970 $ 3,999 $ 625 $ 117,346 96.21% Total $ 86,667,109 $ 3,131,225 $ 1,197,739 $ 82,338,145 95.01% * Temporary Collection order ** Information not available at press time due to large number of timberland appeals. 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). 54
Performance Reviews of Board of Tax Assessors Performance Reviews of 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, and Fulton counties have pursued removal of members of the board of tax assessors based on the findings of the Performance Review Board since 2000. 55
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, which 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, that failed to apply proper appraisal practices and lack good customer service to taxpayers. Performance Reviews of Board of Tax Assessors List of Counties Where Performance Reviews Occurred 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 Floyd Chatham Douglas Dade Charlton Murray Upson Johnson Hart Gilmer Stephens Richmond Liberty Ware Madison Wheeler 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Bibb Brantley Jefferson Camden Pierce Fulton Crawford Jones Habersham Telfair Effingham Lamar Morgan Whitfield 56
Public Utilities 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 2009 digest was approved was comprised of Revenue Commissioner Bart L. Graham, State Auditor Russell Hinton, and Steve Stancil, Director of the State Properties Commission. In determining each county s proposed assessed public utility values for 2010, the Commissioner utilized the equalization ratios developed by the State Auditor based on the results of the sales ratio study performed on the 2009 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 detemined 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. 57
Public Utilities 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, Ibbotson, and Value Line, making the process less subjective and more transparent. Figure 14: Change in Public Utility Digest Value shows the history of the public utility digest since 2004. Overall the public utility tax digest has increased 15.44% since 2004. Change in Public Utility Digest Value (Billions) Billions 40.00 35.00 31.53 31.74 32.60 30.00 25.00 28.18 29.21 31.57 31.54 20.00 15.00 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 58
Public Utilities Figure 15: Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratios below shows the trend of the statewide proposed public utility equalization ratios. This graph indicates that the average proposed public utility ratio dropped significantly last year but has increased to a level that is higher than any of the past three years. Trends of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratio 50.00 45.00 40.00 35.00 36.69 37.78 38.38 37.44 37.40 36.40 37.65 30.00 25.00 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Figure 16: Number of Public Utility Companies by Year below shows the numbers of companies that are centrally assessed on an annual basis. Number of Public Utilities by Year 250 245 243 240 235 230 225 241 236 230 229 229 230 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 59
Public Utilities Table 8: 2010 Public Utility Proposed Equalization Ratios on the next two pages shows each county 2010 proposed equalization ratio for assessment of the public utility properties. 2010 Proposed Equalization Ratios for Public Utility Properties Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio Appling 38.36 Chatham 38.09 Early 39.73 Hart 29.52 Atkinson 39.90 Chattahoochee 39.77 Echols 39.47 Heard 38.22 Bacon 36.01 Chattooga 34.47 Effingham 39.97 Henry 39.10 Baker 39.76 Cherokee 37.43 Elbert 38.23 Houston 36.97 Baldwin 37.33 Clarke 39.04 Emanuel 38.95 Irwin 38.69 Banks 37.72 Clay 39.42 Evans 38.18 Jackson 36.75 Barrow 37.73 Clayton 39.31 Fannin 33.38 Jasper 40.04 Bartow 36.67 Clinch 38.52 Fayette 37.46 Jeff Davis 38.86 Ben Hill 37.41 Cobb 38.47 Floyd 39.12 Jefferson 37.59 Berrien 37.11 Coffee 37.36 Forsyth 37.95 Jenkins 36.11 Bibb 38.49 Colquitt 38.74 Franklin 38.01 Johnson 40.03 Bleckley 39.98 Columbia 38.32 Fulton 37.33 Jones 40.03 Brantley 35.52 Cook 37.11 Gilmer 38.81 Lamar 39.14 Brooks 39.01 Coweta 37.72 Glascock 33.14 Lanier 38.70 Bryan 38.27 Crawford 39.84 Glynn 36.94 Laurens 33.81 Bulloch 38.30 Crisp 35.79 Gordon 38.22 Lee 36.61 Burke 40.14 Dade 37.31 Grady 37.42 Liberty 36.53 Butts 37.26 Dawson 39.18 Greene 35.78 Lincoln 33.02 Calhoun 39.07 Decatur 37.65 Gwinnett 38.63 Long 38.94 Camden 38.29 Dekalb 37.59 Habersham 38.37 Lowndes 35.44 Candler 38.01 Dodge 37.13 Hall 38.59 Lumpkin 39.75 Carroll 38.21 Dooly 33.50 Hancock 39.85 Macon 38.42 Catoosa 36.82 Dougherty 37.44 Haralson 38.86 Madison 39.06 Charlton 35.13 Douglas 39.35 Harris 39.09 Marion 36.58 60
Public Utilities Table 8 Continued 2010 Proposed Equalization Ratios for Public Utility Properties Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio Proposed Ratio McDuffie 38.49 Pierce 33.53 Sumter 38.65 Upson 38.76 McIntosh 30.53 Pike 38.71 Talbot 35.36 Walker 36.05 Meriwether 38.80 Polk 37.68 Taliaferro 35.03 Walton 36.88 Miller 36.31 Pulaski 38.71 Tattnall 38.57 Ware 38.88 Mitchell 37.57 Putnam 39.62 Taylor 38.16 Warren 31.49 Monroe 38.13 Quitman 38.09 Telfair 34.98 Washington 36.70 Montgomery 40.32 Rabun 36.60 Terrell 38.41 Wayne 39.38 Morgan 40.02 Randolph 37.16 Thomas 39.02 Webster 37.61 Murray 36.69 Richmond 36.76 Tift 35.03 Wheeler 36.05 Muscogee 39.05 Rockdale 39.12 Toombs 36.66 White 37.84 Newton 37.65 Schley 39.16 Towns 38.81 Whitfield 38.31 Oconee 38.25 Screven 38.74 Treutlen 34.44 Wilcox 34.36 Oglethorpe 33.54 Seminole 36.29 Troup 38.98 Wilkes 37.53 Paulding 39.10 Spalding 33.72 Turner 38.95 Wilkinson 38.70 Peach 39.02 Stephens 38.47 Twiggs 40.54 Worth 39.43 Pickens 39.40 Stewart 35.98 Union 37.28 Average 34.18 61
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 shift 8 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. Preferential Agricultural Assessment 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. 8 - 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. 62
Preferential Agricultural Assessment Table 9: 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 1996 and while the number of properties enrolled in this program has been steadily declining since that time. Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact Year Parcels Percent Change Total Value Eliminated Percent Change Total Percent Change 1990 19,947 - $ 176,780,216 - $ 4,010,259-1991 23,086 15.70% $ 204,261,412 15.55% $ 4,657,783 16.10% 1992 23,243 0.68% $ 180,985,796-11.40% $ 4,232,187-9.14% 1993 18,388-20.89% $ 145,151,076-19.80% $ 3,542,375-16.30% 1994 17,836-3.00% $ 137,170,751-5.50% $ 3,362,403-5.08% 1995 22,226 24.61% $ 165,278,063 20.49% $ 4,249,807 26.39% 1996 23,501 5.74% $ 174,157,485 5.37% $ 4,410,076 3.77% 1997 23,915 1.76% $ 181,350,311 4.13% $ 4,654,542 5.54% 1998 23,340-2.40% $ 189,169,970 4.31% $ 4,701,626 1.01% 1999 22,634-3.02% $ 191,204,332 1.08% $ 4,760,183 1.25% 2000 22,449-0.82% $ 191,352,938 0.08% $ 4,824,066 1.34% 2001 20,582-8.32% $ 195,076,035 1.95% $ 5,011,186 3.88% 2002 18,302-11.02% $ 182,041,147-6.68% $ 4,768,802-4.84% 2003 16,435-10.20% $ 177,696,254-2.39% $ 4,803,802 0.73% 2004 13,549-17.56% $ 158,588,308-10.75% $ 4,304,327-10.40% 2005 13,020-3.90% $ 194,743,119 22.80% $ 4,270,954-0.78% 2006 11,168-14.22% $ 193,012,297-0.89% $ 4,175,105-2.24% 2007 8,755-21.61% $ 153,927,964-20.25% $ 3,983,907-4.58% 2008 7,274-16.92% $ 139,281,934-9.51% $ 3,636,463-8.72% 2009 5,742 21.06% $ 104,297,566-25.12% $ 2,725,655-25.05% 63
Table 10: Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 illustrates a county-by-county breakdown of the preferential agricultural assessment local impact analysis for 2009. Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Preferential Agricultural Assessment Appling 536 $ 2,990,511 $ 748 $ 38,727 $ 43,871 $ 83,346 Atkinson 67 $ 1,258,546 $ 315 $ 21,850 $ 18,640 $ 40,805 Bacon 215 $ 2,009,290 $ 502 $ 28,106 $ 29,135 $ 57,743 Baker 213 $ 5,306,849 $ 1,327 $ 40,479 $ 68,400 $ 110,206 Baldwin 1 $ 56,660 $ 14 $ 490 $ 911 $ 1,415 Banks 6 $ 105,030 $ 26 $ 951 $ 1,391 $ 2,368 Barrow 1 $ 21,880 $ 5 $ 204 $ 405 $ 614 Bartow 40 $ 630,441 $ 158 $ 4,943 $ 11,285 $ 16,386 Ben Hill 16 $ 155,855 $ 39 $ 2,129 $ 2,408 $ 4,576 Berrien 16 $ 578,535 $ 145 $ 10,414 $ 8,099 $ 18,658 Bibb 16 $ 120,781 $ 30 $ 1,208 $ 2,167 $ 3,405 Bleckley 19 $ 388,481 $ 97 $ 4,332 $ 4,468 $ 8,897 Brantley 21 $ 254,255 $ 64 $ 5,525 $ 3,440 $ 9,029 Brooks 110 $ 3,923,146 $ 981 $ 37,540 $ 52,707 $ 91,228 Bryan 11 $ 145,510 $ 36 $ 1,150 $ 2,261 $ 3,447 Bulloch 9 $ 294,800 $ 74 $ 3,078 $ 2,919 $ 6,071 Burke 59 $ 1,567,726 $ 392 $ 9,820 $ 19,989 $ 30,201 Butts 6 $ 636,571 $ 159 $ 11,085 $ 11,462 $ 22,706 Calhoun 117 $ 2,354,366 $ 589 $ 28,653 $ 36,342 $ 65,584 Camden 14 $ 480,783 $ 120 $ 5,625 $ 7,092 $ 12,837 Candler 27 $ 673,834 $ 168 $ 6,779 $ 8,322 $ 15,269 Carroll 23 $ 318,075 $ 80 $ 2,704 $ 5,757 $ 8,541 Catoosa 3 $ 39,368 $ 10 $ 212 $ 660 $ 882 64
Preferential Agricultural Assessment Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Charlton 8 $ 192,282 $ 48 $ 3,269 $ 2,967 $ 6,284 Chatham 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Chattahoochee 6 $ 95,834 $ 24 $ 828 $ 1,572 $ 2,424 Chattooga 1 $ 15,008 $ 4 $ 125 $ 147 $ 276 Cherokee 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clarke 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clay 32 $ 581,380 $ 145 $ 8,794 $ 6,977 $ 15,916 Clayton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clinch 34 $ 381,050 $ 95 $ 4,176 $ 5,976 $ 10,247 Cobb 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Coffee 53 $ 1,287,869 $ 322 $ 10,106 $ 19,594 $ 30,022 Colquitt 7 $ 330,703 $ 83 $ 4,341 $ 2,799 $ 7,223 Columbia 8 $ 490,468 $ 123 $ 3,885 $ 8,382 $ 12,390 Cook 28 $ 545,382 $ 136 $ 5,217 $ 8,808 $ 14,161 Coweta 1 $ 18,228 $ 5 $ 126 $ 339 $ 470 Crawford 28 $ 702,609 $ 176 $ 8,807 $ 9,485 $ 18,468 Crisp 55 $ 640,277 $ 160 $ 6,882 $ 10,533 $ 17,575 Dade 19 $ 292,051 $ 73 $ 1,878 $ 3,627 $ 5,578 Dawson 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Decatur 50 $ 1,224,766 $ 306 $ 10,484 $ 15,567 $ 26,357 Dekalb 1 $ 50,050 $ 13 $ 497 $ 1,150 $ 1,660 Dodge 58 $ 1,090,784 $ 273 $ 10,635 $ 13,089 $ 23,997 Dooly 102 $ 1,353,160 $ 338 $ 24,208 $ 20,219 $ 44,765 Dougherty 9 $ 646,211 $ 162 $ 7,686 $ 11,919 $ 19,767 Douglas 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 65
Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Early 113 $ 2,257,750 $ 564 $ 26,434 $ 33,866 $ 60,864 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Echols 27 $ 312,756 $ 78 $ 4,691 $ 6,235 $ 11,004 Effingham 5 $ 251,472 $ 63 $ 2,145 $ 3,856 $ 6,064 Elbert 7 $ 122,124 $ 31 $ 1,187 $ 1,948 $ 3,166 Emanuel 43 $ 829,208 $ 207 $ 10,144 $ 11,609 $ 21,960 Evans 71 $ 1,042,546 $ 261 $ 8,774 $ 12,511 $ 21,546 Fannin 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Fayette 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Floyd 10 $ 254,246 $ 64 $ 2,229 $ 4,726 $ 7,019 Forsyth 2 $ 53,830 $ 13 $ 271 $ 905 $ 1,189 Franklin 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Fulton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Gilmer 2 $ 49,160 $ 12 $ 246 $ 799 $ 1,057 Glascock 17 $ 222,560 $ 56 $ 3,203 $ 2,869 $ 6,128 Glynn 1 $ 2,490 $ 1 $ 14 $ 38 $ 53 Gordon 69 $ 1,355,507 $ 339 $ 11,949 $ 20,693 $ 32,981 Grady 69 $ 2,695,990 $ 674 $ 28,308 $ 34,778 $ 63,760 Greene 3 $ 147,534 $ 37 $ 727 $ 1,475 $ 2,239 Gwinnett 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Habersham 19 $ 194,341 $ 49 $ 1,509 $ 2,594 $ 4,152 Hall 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Hancock 137 $ 3,320,463 $ 830 $ 56,614 $ 43,790 $ 101,234 Haralson 7 $ 332,367 $ 83 $ 3,663 $ 5,428 $ 9,174 Harris 2 $ 52,819 $ 13 $ 324 $ 901 $ 1,238 Hart 3 $ 38,032 $ 10 $ 162 $ 522 $ 694 66
Preferential Agricultural Assessment Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Heard 3 $ 56,186 $ 14 $ 390 $ 858 $ 1,262 Henry 4 $ 78,190 $ 20 $ 858 $ 1,803 $ 2,681 Houston 17 $ 1,259,460 $ 315 $ 13,161 $ 16,801 $ 30,277 Irwin 114 $ 1,521,613 $ 380 $ 18,831 $ 23,874 $ 43,085 Jackson 5 $ 90,105 $ 23 $ 776 $ 1,982 $ 2,781 Jasper 16 $ 456,330 $ 114 $ 5,757 $ 6,996 $ 12,867 Jeff Davis 34 $ 583,081 $ 146 $ 7,510 $ 7,434 $ 15,090 Jefferson 9 $ 195,154 $ 49 $ 2,488 $ 2,686 $ 5,223 Jenkins 302 $ 7,055,654 $ 1,764 $ 75,460 $ 91,025 $ 168,249 Johnson 12 $ 254,436 $ 64 $ 2,964 $ 2,551 $ 5,579 Jones 2 $ 25,500 $ 6 $ 340 $ 454 $ 800 Lamar 3 $ 216,461 $ 54 $ 1,936 $ 3,420 $ 5,410 Lanier 29 $ 630,940 $ 158 $ 8,883 $ 10,827 $ 19,868 Laurens 26 $ 617,087 $ 154 $ 3,888 $ 9,873 $ 13,915 Lee 6 $ 350,310 $ 88 $ 4,472 $ 5,395 $ 9,955 Liberty 20 $ 200,318 $ 50 $ 2,400 $ 3,125 $ 5,575 Lincoln 2 $ 104,040 $ 26 $ 1,009 $ 1,638 $ 2,673 Long 9 $ 325,980 $ 81 $ 5,121 $ 4,927 $ 10,129 Lowndes 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Lumpkin 1 $ 19,240 $ 5 $ 134 $ 246 $ 385 Macon 39 $ 825,405 $ 206 $ 8,791 $ 14,857 $ 23,854 Madison 39 $ 537,647 $ 134 $ 5,999 $ 9,579 $ 15,712 Marion 65 $ 1,660,991 $ 415 $ 10,836 $ 24,726 $ 35,977 McDuffie 11 $ 201,943 $ 50 $ 1,575 $ 3,471 $ 5,096 McIntosh 5 $ 153,334 $ 38 $ 1,915 $ 2,405 $ 4,358 67
Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Meriwether 16 $ 963,870 $ 241 $ 11,776 $ 17,350 $ 29,367 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Miller 26 $ 376,235 $ 94 $ 7,498 $ 6,110 $ 13,702 Mitchell 60 $ 1,409,527 $ 352 $ 25,850 $ 18,155 $ 44,357 Monroe 1 $ 4,880 $ 1 $ 46 $ 67 $ 114 Montgomery 43 $ 599,818 $ 150 $ 6,506 $ 7,258 $ 13,914 Morgan 5 $ 231,369 $ 58 $ 1,892 $ 2,883 $ 4,833 Murray 6 $ 132,230 $ 33 $ 767 $ 2,050 $ 2,850 Muscogee 10 $ 90,286 $ 23 $ 1,394 $ 2,110 $ 3,527 Newton 1 $ 12,240 $ 3 $ 119 $ 235 $ 357 Oconee 4 $ 30,905 $ 8 $ 207 $ 541 $ 756 Oglethorpe 18 $ 567,219 $ 142 $ 4,356 $ 10,601 $ 15,099 Paulding 1 $ 484,100 $ 121 $ 3,994 $ 10,588 $ 14,703 Peach 11 $ 204,160 $ 51 $ 2,767 $ 3,471 $ 6,289 Pickens 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Pierce 32 $ 558,513 $ 140 $ 4,340 $ 8,657 $ 13,137 Pike 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Polk 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Pulaski 26 $ 496,729 $ 124 $ 6,807 $ 6,140 $ 13,071 Putnam 1 $ 30,948 $ 8 $ 167 $ 317 $ 492 Quitman 1 $ 51,564 $ 13 $ 641 $ 812 $ 1,466 Rabun 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Randolph 94 $ 1,430,913 $ 358 $ 16,600 $ 24,440 $ 41,398 Richmond 3 $ 16,240 $ 4 $ 133 $ 314 $ 451 Rockdale 5 $ 68,100 $ 17 $ 1,003 $ 1,430 $ 2,450 Schley 50 $ 1,245,907 $ 311 $ 14,477 $ 23,809 $ 38,597 68
Preferential Agricultural Assessment Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Screven 226 $ 4,590,147 $ 1,148 $ 45,617 $ 59,672 $ 106,437 Seminole 40 $ 1,518,843 $ 380 $ 20,383 $ 17,482 $ 38,245 Spalding 2 $ 37,895 $ 9 $ 564 $ 712 $ 1,285 Stephens 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Stewart 51 $ 588,502 $ 147 $ 7,498 $ 7,331 $ 14,976 Sumter 57 $ 1,259,783 $ 315 $ 14,853 $ 22,088 $ 37,256 Talbot 11 $ 511,836 $ 128 $ 8,215 $ 7,001 $ 15,344 Taliaferro 48 $ 692,500 $ 173 $ 14,806 $ 12,465 $ 27,444 Tattnall 113 $ 1,513,461 $ 378 $ 19,681 $ 17,461 $ 37,520 Taylor 20 $ 446,680 $ 112 $ 3,654 $ 5,396 $ 9,162 Telfair 137 $ 1,476,548 $ 369 $ 19,489 $ 23,610 $ 43,468 Terrell 39 $ 866,543 $ 217 $ 12,825 $ 14,284 $ 27,326 Thomas 17 $ 2,234,394 $ 559 $ 12,506 $ 27,193 $ 40,258 Tift 1 $ 11,300 $ 3 $ 117 $ 169 $ 289 Toombs 212 $ 2,072,428 $ 518 $ 19,893 $ 23,554 $ 43,965 Towns 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Treutlen 27 $ 748,630 $ 187 $ 9,274 $ 8,984 $ 18,445 Troup 2 $ 30,134 $ 8 $ 318 $ 568 $ 894 Turner 21 $ 438,292 $ 110 $ 7,021 $ 6,136 $ 13,267 Twiggs 14 $ 343,665 $ 86 $ 5,017 $ 5,361 $ 10,464 Union 2 $ 65,304 $ 16 $ 323 $ 614 $ 953 Upson 1 $ 124,866 $ 31 $ 1,588 $ 1,786 $ 3,405 Walker 16 $ 292,000 $ 73 $ 1,290 $ 5,082 $ 6,445 Walton 8 $ 261,798 $ 65 $ 2,849 $ 5,354 $ 8,268 Ware 387 $ 2,010,411 $ 503 $ 33,270 $ 30,247 $ 64,020 69
Table 10 Continued Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2009 Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Warren 34 $ 652,027 $ 163 $ 7,987 $ 12,323 $ 20,473 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Washington 37 $ 1,141,339 $ 285 $ 9,359 $ 18,671 $ 28,315 Wayne 38 $ 907,985 $ 227 $ 13,139 $ 14,982 $ 28,348 Webster 31 $ 592,590 $ 148 $ 6,449 $ 10,304 $ 16,901 Wheeler 39 $ 319,765 $ 80 $ 5,233 $ 4,956 $ 10,269 White 5 $ 62,742 $ 16 $ 577 $ 940 $ 1,533 Whitfield 2 $ 20,180 $ 5 $ 102 $ 298 $ 405 Wilcox 157 $ 1,444,209 $ 361 $ 26,357 $ 21,822 $ 48,540 Wilkes 62 $ 1,269,503 $ 317 $ 11,006 $ 21,264 $ 32,587 Wilkinson 12 $ 293,158 $ 73 $ 3,647 $ 5,763 $ 9,483 Worth 33 $ 1,248,350 $ 312 $ 12,811 $ 17,789 $ 30,912 Total 5,742 $ 104,297,566 $ 26,078 $ 1,195,094 $ 1,504,777 $ 2,725,949 70
Preferential Agricultural Assessment 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 Preferential Agricultural Total Tax Dollar Shift (Millions) $6.0 $4.0 $2.0 $4.8 $5.0 $4.8 $4.8 $4.3 $4.3 $4.2 $4.0 $3.6 $2.7 $- 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 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. Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated (Millions) Millions $360.0 $300.0 $240.0 $180.0 $120.0 $60.0 $191.4 $182.0 $193.0 $158.6 $195.1 $178.4 $194.7 $139.3 $153.9 $104.3 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 71
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. Conservation Use Valuation 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 shift 9 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. 9 - 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. 72
Conservation Use Valuation Table 11: 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), assessed value eliminated from the digest, amount of tax shift for each of the tax types, and the total tax shift. The amount in these 10 counties accounts for approximately 21% of the total amount of tax shift statewide. Conservation Use Fiscal Impact Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Cherokee 1,999 $ 332,101,480 $ 83,025 $ 1,454,937 $ 6,260,113 $ 7,798,075 Oconee 1,767 $ 299,897,257 $ 74,974 $ 2,011,703 $ 5,248,202 $ 7,334,879 Gwinnett 1,052 $ 220,873,120 $ 55,218 $ 2,705,696 $ 4,521,932 $ 7,282,846 Hall 2,251 $ 310,871,138 $ 77,718 $ 1,942,945 $ 5,049,595 $ 7,070,258 Morgan 1,567 $ 329,378,023 $ 82,345 $ 2,693,653 $ 4,104,380 $ 6,880,378 Paulding 1,408 $ 188,901,028 $ 47,225 $ 1,558,433 $ 4,131,643 $ 5,737,301 Jasper 1,487 $ 182,816,684 $ 45,704 $ 2,296,308 $ 2,802,580 $ 5,144,592 Lumpkin 1,354 $ 249,073,040 $ 62,268 $ 1,730,740 $ 3,188,135 $ 4,981,143 Meriwether 2,187 $ 157,006,646 $ 39,252 $ 1,918,150 $ 2,826,120 $ 4,783,522 Walton 1,035 $ 154,218,848 $ 38,555 $ 1,674,464 $ 3,068,266 $ 4,781,285 73
Table 12: Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 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,, School, and the total tax dollar shift. Conservation Use Valuation Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Appling 55 $ 329,417 $ 82 $ 4,266 $ 4,833 $ 9,181 Atkinson 877 $ 14,600,232 $ 3,650 $ 253,475 $ 216,244 $ 473,369 Bacon 221 $ 2,726,297 $ 682 $ 38,135 $ 39,531 $ 78,348 Baker 132 $ 8,184,005 $ 2,046 $ 62,438 $ 105,484 $ 169,968 Baldwin 759 $ 44,199,210 $ 11,050 $ 381,881 $ 710,281 $ 1,103,212 Banks 1,448 $ 130,692,632 $ 32,673 $ 1,183,291 $ 1,730,893 $ 2,946,857 Barrow 1,324 $ 139,515,222 $ 34,879 $ 1,300,605 $ 2,582,477 $ 3,917,961 Bartow 1,042 $ 42,678,622 $ 10,670 $ 335,666 $ 744,329 $ 1,090,665 Ben Hill 381 $ 9,287,834 $ 2,322 $ 126,872 $ 143,497 $ 272,691 Berrien 1,804 $ 76,629,465 $ 19,157 $ 1,379,330 $ 1,072,813 $ 2,471,300 Bibb 303 $ 13,876,247 $ 3,469 $ 138,804 $ 249,009 $ 391,282 Bleckley 575 $ 29,638,545 $ 7,410 $ 330,529 $ 340,843 $ 678,782 Brantley 795 $ 21,235,865 $ 5,309 $ 461,941 $ 287,321 $ 754,571 Brooks 1,331 $ 152,499,422 $ 38,125 $ 1,459,416 $ 2,048,830 $ 3,546,371 Bryan 273 $ 13,627,943 $ 3,407 $ 106,859 $ 211,737 $ 322,003 Bulloch 2,301 $ 73,724,080 $ 18,431 $ 769,679 $ 729,868 $ 1,517,978 Burke 1,758 $ 126,427,475 $ 31,607 $ 792,424 $ 1,611,950 $ 2,435,981 Butts 1,116 $ 97,878,196 $ 24,470 $ 1,704,353 $ 1,762,395 $ 3,491,218 Calhoun 377 $ 29,783,799 $ 7,446 $ 362,395 $ 459,743 $ 829,584 Camden 547 $ 31,863,080 $ 7,966 $ 372,798 $ 469,980 $ 850,744 Candler 937 $ 43,352,536 $ 10,838 $ 436,385 $ 535,404 $ 982,627 Carroll 2,108 $ 58,449,263 $ 14,612 $ 496,108 $ 1,047,804 $ 1,558,524 Catoosa 481 $ 33,565,403 $ 8,391 $ 180,380 $ 562,993 $ 751,764 74
Conservation Use Valuation Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Charlton 658 $ 43,937,608 $ 10,984 $ 746,939 $ 677,957 $ 1,435,880 Chatham 123 $ 60,347,900 $ 15,087 $ 635,886 $ 808,903 $ 1,459,876 Chattahoochee 65 $ 3,931,784 $ 983 $ 33,959 $ 64,481 $ 99,423 Chattooga 1,062 $ 65,716,010 $ 16,429 $ 548,117 $ 637,003 $ 1,201,549 Cherokee 1,999 $ 332,101,480 $ 83,025 $ 1,454,937 $ 6,260,113 $ 7,798,075 Clarke 282 $ 27,773,203 $ 6,943 $ 366,606 $ 555,464 $ 929,013 Clay 422 $ 28,241,096 $ 7,060 $ 427,203 $ 338,893 $ 773,156 Clayton 144 $ 12,143,050 $ 3,036 $ 138,868 $ 242,861 $ 384,765 Clinch 345 $ 12,211,182 $ 3,053 $ 133,822 $ 191,496 $ 328,371 Cobb 514 $ 82,292,570 $ 20,573 $ 579,340 $ 1,546,267 $ 2,146,180 Coffee 1,971 $ 139,779,868 $ 34,945 $ 1,096,853 $ 2,126,611 $ 3,258,409 Colquitt 2,331 $ 129,364,198 $ 32,341 $ 1,682,198 $ 1,094,809 $ 2,809,348 Columbia 4,436 $ 87,647,126 $ 21,912 $ 694,341 $ 1,497,889 $ 2,214,142 Cook 978 $ 59,522,035 $ 14,881 $ 569,328 $ 961,281 $ 1,545,490 Coweta 2,285 $ 141,674,135 $ 35,419 $ 983,444 $ 2,633,722 $ 3,652,585 Crawford 663 $ 36,958,677 $ 9,240 $ 463,303 $ 498,942 $ 971,485 Crisp 843 $ 30,180,622 $ 7,545 $ 324,412 $ 496,471 $ 828,428 Dade 436 $ 22,790,719 $ 5,698 $ 146,702 $ 283,061 $ 435,461 Dawson 859 $ 196,161,319 $ 49,040 $ 1,596,361 $ 2,755,282 $ 4,400,683 Decatur 1,401 $ 197,419,191 $ 49,355 $ 1,689,908 $ 2,509,198 $ 4,248,461 Dekalb 12 $ 391,116 $ 98 $ 3,888 $ 8,988 $ 12,974 Dodge 1,502 $ 52,986,098 $ 13,247 $ 516,614 $ 635,833 $ 1,165,694 Dooly 1,165 $ 23,344,841 $ 5,836 $ 417,639 $ 348,819 $ 772,294 Dougherty 153 $ 14,496,861 $ 3,624 $ 172,426 $ 267,395 $ 443,445 Douglas 310 $ 35,208,907 $ 8,802 $ 279,277 $ 751,710 $ 1,039,789 75
Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Conservation Use Valuation Early 1,247 $ 65,823,507 $ 16,456 $ 770,655 $ 987,353 $ 1,774,464 Echols 245 $ 6,286,298 $ 1,572 $ 94,294 $ 125,317 $ 221,183 Effingham 1,651 $ 108,759,887 $ 27,190 $ 927,722 $ 1,667,615 $ 2,622,527 Elbert 1,360 $ 63,461,673 $ 15,865 $ 616,768 $ 1,012,214 $ 1,644,847 Emanuel 1,829 $ 54,683,435 $ 13,671 $ 668,997 $ 765,568 $ 1,448,236 Evans 214 $ 8,581,127 $ 2,145 $ 72,307 $ 102,974 $ 177,426 Fannin 11,380 $ 110,240,097 $ 27,560 $ 568,839 $ 1,422,097 $ 2,018,496 Fayette 507 $ 40,149,586 $ 10,037 $ 293,658 $ 940,303 $ 1,243,998 Floyd 1,920 $ 64,250,768 $ 16,063 $ 563,286 $ 1,189,718 $ 1,769,067 Forsyth 751 $ 215,927,384 $ 53,982 $ 1,086,115 $ 3,630,387 $ 4,770,484 Franklin 2,382 $ 204,209,713 $ 51,052 $ 1,665,904 $ 3,036,190 $ 4,753,146 Fulton 537 $ 78,750,070 $ 19,688 $ 809,629 $ 1,350,758 $ 2,180,075 Gilmer 1,958 $ 202,526,245 $ 50,632 $ 1,012,631 $ 3,291,051 $ 4,354,314 Glascock 473 $ 22,735,680 $ 5,684 $ 327,166 $ 293,063 $ 625,913 Glynn 140 $ 20,332,020 $ 5,083 $ 115,851 $ 311,018 $ 431,952 Gordon 2,146 $ 190,291,465 $ 47,573 $ 1,677,419 $ 2,885,658 $ 4,610,650 Grady 1,720 $ 128,951,036 $ 32,238 $ 1,353,986 $ 1,663,468 $ 3,049,692 Greene 1,096 $ 101,680,915 $ 25,420 $ 501,185 $ 1,016,809 $ 1,543,414 Gwinnett 1,052 $ 220,873,120 $ 55,218 $ 2,705,696 $ 4,521,932 $ 7,282,846 Habersham 1,476 $ 174,661,712 $ 43,665 $ 1,355,375 $ 2,331,734 $ 3,730,774 Hall 2,251 $ 310,871,138 $ 77,718 $ 1,942,945 $ 5,049,595 $ 7,070,258 Hancock 1,114 $ 59,758,671 $ 14,940 $ 1,018,885 $ 788,097 $ 1,821,922 Haralson 1,100 $ 64,353,107 $ 16,088 $ 709,171 $ 1,049,333 $ 1,774,592 Harris 1,289 $ 113,004,316 $ 28,251 $ 688,970 $ 1,927,854 $ 2,645,075 Hart 1,348 $ 94,677,467 $ 23,669 $ 403,705 $ 1,300,111 $ 1,727,485 76
Conservation Use Valuation Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Heard 1,157 $ 43,123,477 $ 10,781 $ 299,277 $ 658,495 $ 968,553 Henry 1,329 $ 104,150,680 $ 26,038 $ 1,136,333 $ 2,401,715 $ 3,564,086 Houston 672 $ 91,546,692 $ 22,887 $ 956,663 $ 1,221,233 $ 2,200,783 Irwin 1,321 $ 71,475,882 $ 17,869 $ 884,586 $ 1,121,457 $ 2,023,912 Jackson 2,093 $ 159,439,569 $ 39,860 $ 1,382,520 $ 2,931,967 $ 4,354,347 Jasper 1,487 $ 182,816,684 $ 45,704 $ 2,296,308 $ 2,802,580 $ 5,144,592 Jeff Davis 571 $ 12,140,673 $ 3,035 $ 156,372 $ 154,794 $ 314,201 Jefferson 1,433 $ 86,155,012 $ 21,539 $ 1,098,476 $ 1,185,838 $ 2,305,853 Jenkins 377 $ 25,597,813 $ 6,399 $ 273,769 $ 330,237 $ 610,405 Johnson 1,200 $ 49,020,860 $ 12,255 $ 571,044 $ 491,532 $ 1,074,831 Jones 900 $ 80,936,419 $ 20,234 $ 1,078,934 $ 1,439,697 $ 2,538,865 Lamar 696 $ 45,576,377 $ 11,394 $ 407,544 $ 720,107 $ 1,139,045 Lanier 468 $ 25,151,655 $ 6,288 $ 354,135 $ 431,602 $ 792,025 Laurens 2,133 $ 61,466,094 $ 15,367 $ 387,236 $ 983,194 $ 1,385,797 Lee 474 $ 54,053,181 $ 13,513 $ 690,043 $ 832,419 $ 1,535,975 Liberty 140 $ 4,874,734 $ 1,219 $ 58,110 $ 76,046 $ 135,375 Lincoln 888 $ 34,047,977 $ 8,512 $ 330,265 $ 536,153 $ 874,930 Long 456 $ 23,115,012 $ 5,779 $ 363,137 $ 349,360 $ 718,276 Lowndes 937 $ 30,241,935 $ 7,560 $ 221,069 $ 443,773 $ 672,402 Lumpkin 1,354 $ 249,073,040 $ 62,268 $ 1,730,740 $ 3,188,135 $ 4,981,143 Macon 1,194 $ 91,508,821 $ 22,877 $ 975,679 $ 1,647,159 $ 2,645,715 Madison 2,271 $ 104,428,783 $ 26,107 $ 1,166,285 $ 1,860,503 $ 3,052,895 Marion 705 $ 35,708,848 $ 8,927 $ 232,965 $ 531,562 $ 773,454 McDuffie 700 $ 39,187,952 $ 9,797 $ 305,722 $ 673,641 $ 989,160 McIntosh 145 $ 6,178,329 $ 1,545 $ 77,167 $ 96,895 $ 175,607 77
Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Conservation Use Valuation Meriwether 2,187 $ 157,006,646 $ 39,252 $ 1,918,150 $ 2,826,120 $ 4,783,522 Miller 633 $ 16,487,287 $ 4,122 $ 328,592 $ 267,754 $ 600,468 Mitchell 1,587 $ 105,929,447 $ 26,482 $ 1,942,640 $ 1,373,287 $ 3,342,409 Monroe 1,095 $ 141,411,880 $ 35,353 $ 1,333,655 $ 1,937,343 $ 3,306,351 Montgomery 973 $ 37,978,279 $ 9,495 $ 411,912 $ 459,019 $ 880,426 Morgan 1,567 $ 329,378,023 $ 82,345 $ 2,693,653 $ 4,104,380 $ 6,880,378 Murray 652 $ 37,439,004 $ 9,360 $ 217,231 $ 580,305 $ 806,896 Muscogee 97 $ 9,252,682 $ 2,313 $ 123,173 $ 216,235 $ 341,721 Newton 940 $ 133,610,000 $ 33,403 $ 1,300,025 $ 2,426,686 $ 3,760,114 Oconee 1,767 $ 299,897,257 $ 74,974 $ 2,011,703 $ 5,248,202 $ 7,334,879 Oglethorpe 1,655 $ 97,618,141 $ 24,405 $ 750,592 $ 1,824,483 $ 2,599,480 Paulding 1,408 $ 188,901,028 $ 47,225 $ 1,558,433 $ 4,131,643 $ 5,737,301 Peach 418 $ 23,194,235 $ 5,799 $ 314,398 $ 394,302 $ 714,499 Pickens 520 $ 42,657,349 $ 10,664 $ 267,035 $ 681,238 $ 958,937 Pierce 969 $ 30,522,998 $ 7,631 $ 237,469 $ 473,106 $ 718,206 Pike 1,424 $ 74,522,962 $ 18,631 $ 852,990 $ 1,071,566 $ 1,943,187 Polk 881 $ 27,350,112 $ 6,838 $ 296,749 $ 417,910 $ 721,497 Pulaski 527 $ 13,868,665 $ 3,467 $ 190,042 $ 171,417 $ 364,926 Putnam 523 $ 61,054,439 $ 15,264 $ 329,694 $ 625,808 $ 970,766 Quitman 278 $ 22,803,948 $ 5,701 $ 283,681 $ 359,162 $ 648,544 Rabun 604 $ 56,040,636 $ 14,010 $ 457,881 $ 499,658 $ 971,549 Randolph 912 $ 39,111,067 $ 9,778 $ 453,791 $ 668,017 $ 1,131,586 Richmond 136 $ 4,541,892 $ 1,135 $ 37,012 $ 87,849 $ 125,996 Rockdale 303 $ 19,805,356 $ 4,951 $ 291,733 $ 415,912 $ 712,596 Schley 349 $ 21,227,733 $ 5,307 $ 246,666 $ 405,662 $ 657,635 78
Conservation Use Valuation Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Screven 1,183 $ 61,426,268 $ 15,357 $ 610,454 $ 798,541 $ 1,424,352 Seminole 746 $ 69,333,451 $ 17,333 $ 930,455 $ 798,028 $ 1,745,816 Spalding 1,024 $ 56,667,714 $ 14,167 $ 843,216 $ 1,065,353 $ 1,922,736 Stephens 509 $ 23,695,077 $ 5,924 $ 268,228 $ 435,989 $ 710,141 Stewart 264 $ 6,312,427 $ 1,578 $ 80,420 $ 78,634 $ 160,632 Sumter 1,116 $ 59,699,832 $ 14,925 $ 703,861 $ 1,046,717 $ 1,765,503 Talbot 1,502 $ 87,862,767 $ 21,966 $ 1,410,197 $ 1,201,875 $ 2,634,038 Taliaferro 533 $ 34,571,383 $ 8,643 $ 739,522 $ 622,285 $ 1,370,450 Tattnall 1,261 $ 43,750,334 $ 10,938 $ 568,929 $ 504,748 $ 1,084,615 Taylor 1,144 $ 67,714,912 $ 16,929 $ 554,119 $ 817,996 $ 1,389,044 Telfair 881 $ 21,157,344 $ 5,289 $ 279,256 $ 338,306 $ 622,851 Terrell 1,084 $ 50,717,608 $ 12,679 $ 750,621 $ 836,029 $ 1,599,329 Thomas 1,176 $ 189,214,739 $ 47,304 $ 1,060,711 $ 2,301,000 $ 3,409,015 Tift 969 $ 60,332,851 $ 15,083 $ 626,858 $ 902,821 $ 1,544,762 Toombs 358 $ 7,764,665 $ 1,941 $ 74,533 $ 88,490 $ 164,964 Towns 454 $ 66,769,953 $ 16,692 $ 372,576 $ 319,427 $ 708,695 Treutlen 589 $ 21,136,117 $ 5,284 $ 261,219 $ 253,633 $ 520,136 Troup 1,200 $ 84,131,100 $ 21,033 $ 888,424 $ 1,585,871 $ 2,495,328 Turner 1,213 $ 72,087,136 $ 18,022 $ 1,154,764 $ 1,009,220 $ 2,182,006 Twiggs 826 $ 34,049,038 $ 8,512 $ 497,116 $ 531,165 $ 1,036,793 Union 1,132 $ 122,244,499 $ 30,561 $ 603,888 $ 1,148,854 $ 1,783,303 Upson 1,164 $ 67,939,317 $ 16,985 $ 864,188 $ 971,532 $ 1,852,705 Walker 964 $ 35,292,470 $ 8,823 $ 156,127 $ 614,230 $ 779,180 Walton 1,035 $ 154,218,848 $ 38,555 $ 1,674,464 $ 3,068,266 $ 4,781,285 Ware 46 $ 316,768 $ 79 $ 5,242 $ 4,766 $ 10,087 79
Table 12 Continued Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 Real Parcel Assessed Value Eliminated State School Total Conservation Use Valuation Warren 658 $ 27,012,743 $ 6,753 $ 330,906 $ 510,541 $ 848,200 Washington 1,280 $ 73,695,526 $ 18,424 $ 604,303 $ 1,205,585 $ 1,828,312 Wayne 1,480 $ 77,661,013 $ 19,415 $ 1,123,755 $ 1,281,407 $ 2,424,577 Webster 414 $ 24,693,941 $ 6,173 $ 268,744 $ 429,378 $ 704,295 Wheeler 888 $ 27,462,432 $ 6,866 $ 450,011 $ 425,668 $ 882,545 White 1,180 $ 108,098,764 $ 27,025 $ 993,428 $ 1,620,292 $ 2,640,745 Whitfield 561 $ 21,913,430 $ 5,478 $ 110,904 $ 323,355 $ 439,737 Wilcox 1,011 $ 12,377,103 $ 3,094 $ 225,882 $ 187,018 $ 415,994 Wilkes 1,546 $ 88,226,772 $ 22,057 $ 764,079 $ 1,477,798 $ 2,263,934 Wilkinson 775 $ 34,151,692 $ 8,538 $ 424,847 $ 671,422 $ 1,104,807 Worth 1,911 $ 184,472,447 $ 46,118 $ 1,893,056 $ 2,628,732 $ 4,567,906 Total 168,673 $ 11,638,026,869 $ 2,909,510 $ 109,784,145 $ 179,404,055 $ 292,097,710 80
Conservation Use Valuation Figures 19: Conservation Use Revenue Shift 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 2000. Conservation Use Revenue Shift (Millions) Millions $300.0 $240.0 $180.0 $120.0 $60.0 $- $57.7 $72.0 $90.1 $110.1 $110.1 $127.3 $180.7 $228.6 $267.4 $292.1 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 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 2000. Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated (Billions) Billions 15.0 12.0 9.0 6.0 3.0-10.8 11.6 7.2 9.2 5.1 2.3 3.6 4.3 5.1 2.8 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 81
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. Forest Land Conservation Use 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 only comparable sales with and for the same existing use. The data is grouped into nine agricultural districts in Georgia. 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. 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 2 times the tax savings if the breach occurs in years 11 through 15. The effect of any special assessment program is a tax shift 10 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 three percent of revenue loss and 100% of the revenue loss over three percent as a result of taxpayers enrolling property in this program. The amount of the appropriation to pay the Forest Land Conservation Use Reimbursement Grants was $10.5 million. Several reports, graphs, and charts are being included in this report to show the fiscal impact of Conservation Use Valuation. Table 13: Forest Land Conservation Use Fiscal Impact on the following page 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. Table 14: Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for Tax Year 2009 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,, and School, the amount of the reimbursement grant paid to the 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. 10 - 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. 82
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 13 Forest Land Conservation Use Fiscal Impact Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Talbot 126 17,895,763 $ 4,474 $ 287,227 $ 54,339 $ 232,889 Morgan 70 42,776,341 $ 10,694 $ 349,825 $ 219,912 $ 129,913 Monroe 72 28,065,644 $ 7,016 $ 264,687 $ 132,122 $ 132,565 Worth 14 12,489,311 $ 3,122 $ 128,165 $ 1,342 $ 126,824 Decatur 115 36,554,186 $ 9,139 $ 312,904 $ 193,574 $ 119,330 Wayne 32 17,936,456 $ 4,484 $ 259,541 $ 116,318 $ 143,223 Hancock 97 10,956,426 $ 2,739 $ 186,807 $ 29,145 $ 157,662 Harris 80 23,121,337 $ 5,780 $ 141,965 $ 71,977 $ 69,988 Thomas 27 23,804,980 $ 5,951 $ 133,236 $ 67,785 $ 65,452 Jasper 43 18,900,963 $ 4,725 $ 237,396 $ 149,323 $ 88,073 83
School FLPA Grant Net Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 244,796 $ 44,284 $ 200,512 $ 536,497 $ 98,623 $ 437,875 $ 533,036 $ 335,867 $ 197,169 $ 893,555 $ 555,779 $ 337,776 $ 384,499 $ 191,928 $ 192,571 $ 656,202 $ 324,051 $ 332,151 $ 177,973 $ 1,863 $ 176,110 $ 309,260 $ 3,205 $ 306,056 $ 464,604 $ 288,412 $ 176,192 $ 786,647 $ 481,986 $ 304,661 $ 295,952 $ 147,976 $ 147,976 $ 559,977 $ 264,294 $ 295,683 $ 144,493 $ 24,888 $ 119,605 $ 334,039 $ 54,034 $ 280,006 $ 394,450 $ 192,369 $ 202,081 $ 542,195 $ 264,346 $ 277,849 $ 289,707 $ 147,390 $ 142,317 $ 428,894 $ 215,175 $ 213,720 $ 289,752 $ 171,411 $ 118,341 $ 531,873 $ 320,734 $ 211,139 84
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Appling 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Atkinson 9 $ 591,641 $ 148 $ 10,271 $ 5,136 $ 5,136 Bacon 2 $ 64,329 $ 16 $ 900 $ 450 $ 450 Baker 33 $ 20,834,950 $ 5,209 $ 159,018 $ 119,491 $ 39,528 Baldwin 7 $ 1,215,852 $ 304 $ 10,505 $ 5,252 $ 5,252 Banks 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Barrow 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Bartow 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Ben Hill 20 $ 1,301,068 $ 325 $ 17,773 $ 8,891 $ 8,882 Berrien 23 $ 4,242,442 $ 1,061 $ 76,364 $ 38,125 $ 38,239 Bibb 10 $ 630,031 $ 158 $ 6,302 $ 288 $ 6,015 Bleckley 12 $ 1,310,862 $ 328 $ 14,619 $ 7,088 $ 7,531 Brantley 32 $ 2,789,390 $ 697 $ 60,613 $ 33,407 $ 27,206 Brooks 80 $ 40,327,495 $ 10,082 $ 385,652 $ 330,267 $ 55,385 Bryan 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Bulloch 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Burke 52 $ 9,180,184 $ 2,295 $ 57,505 $ 41,360 $ 16,145 Butts 2 $ 823,284 $ 206 $ 14,336 $ 7,168 $ 7,168 Calhoun 44 $ 13,253,592 $ 3,313 $ 161,087 $ 119,042 $ 42,045 Camden 22 $ 3,537,597 $ 884 $ 41,390 $ 8,080 $ 33,310 Candler 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Carroll 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Catoosa 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Charlton 11 $ 5,501,953 $ 1,375 $ 93,533 $ 39,922 $ 53,611 Chatham 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 85
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 8,763 $ 4,381 $ 4,382 $ 19,182 $ 9,517 $ 9,665 $ 933 $ 466 $ 467 $ 1,849 $ 916 $ 933 $ 268,542 $ 201,999 $ 66,543 $ 432,769 $ 321,490 $ 111,280 $ 19,539 $ 9,769 $ 9,770 $ 30,348 $ 15,022 $ 15,326 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 20,102 $ 10,056 $ 10,046 $ 38,200 $ 18,946 $ 19,253 $ 59,394 $ 29,653 $ 29,741 $ 136,819 $ 67,778 $ 69,041 $ 11,306 $ 425 $ 10,881 $ 17,766 $ 712 $ 17,054 $ 15,075 $ 7,309 $ 7,766 $ 30,022 $ 14,396 $ 15,625 $ 37,740 $ 18,899 $ 18,841 $ 99,050 $ 52,306 $ 46,744 $ 541,800 $ 447,588 $ 94,212 $ 937,534 $ 777,856 $ 159,678 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 117,047 $ 53,668 $ 63,379 $ 176,847 $ 95,027 $ 81,819 $ 14,824 $ 7,412 $ 7,412 $ 29,366 $ 14,580 $ 14,786 $ 204,582 $ 151,363 $ 53,219 $ 368,982 $ 270,405 $ 98,577 $ 52,180 $ 10,186 $ 41,994 $ 94,454 $ 18,266 $ 76,188 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 84,895 $ 29,070 $ 55,825 $ 179,803 $ 68,993 $ 110,810 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 86
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Chattahoochee 6 $ 1,107,449 $ 277 $ 9,565 $ 4,423 $ 5,142 Chattooga 18 $ 3,730,455 $ 933 $ 31,019 $ 15,561 $ 15,458 Cherokee 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clarke 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clay 37 $ 4,961,038 $ 1,240 $ 75,046 - - Clayton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clinch 27 $ 9,001,588 $ 2,250 $ 98,648 Cobb 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Coffee 23 $ 6,446,592 $ 1,612 $ 50,586 - - Colquitt 13 $ 1,824,391 $ 456 $ 23,664 - - Columbia 229 $ 6,163,127 $ 1,541 $ 48,824 - - Cook 7 $ 1,371,796 $ 343 $ 13,121 - - Coweta 12 $ 795,481 $ 199 $ 5,535 - - Crawford 43 $ 4,946,692 $ 1,237 $ 62,002 - - Crisp 2 $ 216,355 $ 54 $ 2,326 - - Dade 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Dawson 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Decatur 115 $ 36,554,186 $ 9,139 $ 312,904 - - DeKalb 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Dodge 57 $ 5,245,751 $ 1,311 $ 51,146 - - Dooly 40 $ 2,758,139 $ 690 $ 49,343 - - Dougherty 27 $ 8,729,356 $ 2,182 $ 103,827 - - Douglas 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Early 227 $ 27,959,762 $ 6,990 $ 327,477 - - Echols 27 $ 1,572,875 $ 393 $ 23,593 - - 87
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 18,162 $ 8,399 $ 9,763 $ 28,004 $ 12,822 $ 15,182 $ 36,439 $ 18,280 $ 18,159 $ 68,391 $ 33,840 $ 34,551 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 59,532 - - $ 135,818 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 141,163 - - $ 242,061 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 98,078 - - $ 150,276 - - $ 15,440 - - $ 39,560 - - $ 105,328 - - $ 155,693 - - $ 22,155 - - $ 35,619 - - $ 14,788 - - $ 20,522 - - $ 66,780 - - $ 130,019 - - $ 3,559 - - $ 5,939 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 464,604 - - $ 786,647 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 62,949 - - $ 115,406 - - $ 41,212 - - $ 91,245 - - $ 161,013 - - $ 267,022 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 419,396 - - $ 753,863 - - $ 31,355 - - $ 55,341 - - 88
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Effingham 27 $ 6,543,017 $ 1,636 $ 55,812 - - Elbert 16 $ 4,360,840 $ 1,090 $ 42,370 - - Emanuel 38 $ 4,215,580 $ 1,054 $ 51,573 - - Evans 3 $ 457,190 $ 114 $ 3,818 - - Fannin 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Fayette 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Floyd 16 $ 1,009,216 $ 252 $ 8,848 - - Forsyth 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Franklin 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Fulton 32 $ 10,473,410 $ 2,618 $ 107,677 - - Gilmer 1 $ 1,596,584 $ 399 $ 7,983 - - Glascock 16 $ 3,253,455 $ 813 $ 46,817 - - Glynn 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Gordon 7 $ 2,917,643 $ 729 $ 25,719 - - Grady 42 $ 10,747,876 $ 2,687 $ 112,853 - - Greene 28 $ 8,648,628 $ 2,162 $ 42,629 - - Gwinnett 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Habersham 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Hall 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Hancock 97 $ 10,956,426 $ 2,739 $ 186,807 - - Haralson 6 $ 1,516,779 $ 379 $ 16,715 - - Harris 80 $ 23,121,337 $ 5,780 $ 141,965 - - Hart 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Heard 15 $ 4,309,421 $ 1,077 $ 29,907 - - Henry 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 89
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 100,324 - - $ 157,772 - - $ 69,555 - - $ 113,015 - - $ 59,018 - - $ 111,645 - - $ 5,486 - - $ 9,418 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 18,759 - - $ 27,859 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 183,306 - - $ 293,601 - - $ 25,944 - - $ 34,326 - - $ 41,937 - - $ 89,567 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 44,541 - - $ 70,989 - - $ 138,648 - - $ 254,188 - - $ 86,486 - - $ 131,277 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 144,493 - - $ 334,039 - - $ 24,769 - - $ 41,863 - - $ 394,450 - - $ 542,195 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 65,805 - - $ 96,789 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - 90
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Houston 4 $ 915,275 $ 229 $ 9,565 - - Irwin 6 $ 643,191 $ 161 $ 7,960 - - Jackson 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Jasper 43 $ 18,900,963 $ 4,725 $ 237,396 - - Jeff Davis 56 $ 4,805,473 $ 1,201 $ 61,894 - - Jefferson 34 $ 6,279,562 $ 1,570 $ 80,064 - - Jenkins 46 $ 5,722,855 $ 1,431 $ 61,206 - - Johnson 3 $ 551,612 $ 138 $ 6,426 - - Jones 8 $ 1,449,886 $ 362 $ 19,327 - - Lamar 16 $ 2,434,353 $ 609 $ 21,768 - - Lanier 24 $ 5,072,047 $ 1,268 $ 71,414 - - Laurens 20 $ 1,825,269 $ 456 $ 11,499 - - Lee 42 $ 12,729,694 $ 3,182 $ 162,507 - - Liberty 3 $ 6,074,581 $ 1,519 $ 72,773 - - Lincoln 22 $ 982,558 $ 246 $ 9,531 - - Long 10 $ 1,391,848 $ 348 $ 21,866 - - Lowndes 33 $ 12,639,922 $ 3,160 $ 92,398 - - Lumpkin 1 $ 3,049,328 $ 762 $ 21,184 - - Macon 22 $ 4,081,866 $ 1,020 $ 43,472 - - Madison 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Marion 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 McDuffie 40 $ 5,844,324 $ 1,461 $ 45,586 - - McIntosh 3 $ 542,672 $ 136 $ 6,778 - - Meriwether 13 $ 6,801,139 $ 1,700 $ 83,090 - - Miller 33 $ 2,148,962 $ 537 $ 42,829 - - 91
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 12,210 - - $ 22,004 - - $ 10,092 - - $ 18,213 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 289,752 - - $ 531,873 - - $ 61,270 - - $ 124,365 - - $ 86,432 - - $ 168,066 - - $ 73,831 - - $ 136,468 - - $ 5,531 - - $ 12,095 - - $ 25,791 - - $ 45,480 - - $ 38,463 - - $ 60,840 - - $ 87,036 - - $ 159,718 - - $ 29,204 - - $ 41,159 - - $ 196,037 - - $ 361,726 - - $ 94,763 - - $ 169,055 - - $ 15,472 - - $ 25,249 - - $ 21,036 - - $ 43,250 - - $ 185,807 - - $ 281,365 - - $ 39,031 - - $ 60,977 - - $ 73,474 - - $ 117,966 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 100,464 - - $ 147,511 - - $ 8,511 - - $ 15,425 - - $ 122,421 - - $ 207,211 - - $ 34,899 - - $ 78,265 - - 92
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Mitchell 27 $ 2,963,941 $ 741 $ 54,356 - - Monroe 72 $ 28,065,644 $ 7,016 $ 264,687 - - Montgomery 9 $ 770,633 $ 193 $ 8,358 - - Morgan 70 $ 42,776,341 $ 10,694 $ 349,825 - - Murray 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Muscogee 1 $ 31,990 $ 8 $ 416 - - Newton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Oconee 1 $ 141,884 $ 35 $ 949 - - Oglethorpe 21 $ 3,494,467 $ 874 $ 26,834 - - Paulding 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Peach 3 $ 469,262 $ 117 $ 6,361 - - Pickens 9 $ 2,947,710 $ 737 $ 18,453 - - Pierce 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Pike 9 $ 1,594,105 $ 399 $ 18,246 - - Polk 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Pulaski 5 $ 275,675 $ 69 $ 3,778 - - Putnam 4 $ 1,597,452 $ 399 $ 8,626 - - Quitman 68 $ 14,008,241 $ 3,502 $ 174,263 - - Rabun 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Randolph 82 $ 7,715,509 $ 1,929 $ 89,461 - - Richmond 2 $ 718,456 $ 180 $ 5,855 - - Rockdale 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Schley 31 $ 5,177,034 $ 1,294 $ 60,157 - - Screven 93 $ 11,716,697 $ 2,929 $ 116,441 - - Seminole 18 $ 8,654,617 $ 2,164 $ 116,145 - - 93
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 38,484 - - $ 93,581 - - $ 384,499 - - $ 656,202 - - $ 9,325 - - $ 17,876 - - $ 533,036 - - $ 893,555 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 748 - - $ 1,172 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 2,483 - - $ 3,467 - - $ 65,312 - - $ 93,020 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 7,977 - - $ 14,455 - - $ 47,075 - - $ 66,265 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 22,922 - - $ 41,567 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 3,407 - - $ 7,254 - - $ 16,374 - - $ 25,399 - - $ 220,630 - - $ 398,395 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 131,781 - - $ 223,171 - - $ 13,896 - - $ 19,931 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 98,933 - - $ 160,384 - - $ 152,317 - - $ 271,687 - - $ 99,615 - - $ 217,924 - - 94
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Spalding 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Stephens 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Stewart 131 $ 9,530,202 $ 2,383 $ 121,415 - - Sumter 50 $ 5,143,080 $ 1,286 $ 60,637 - - Talbot 126 $ 17,895,763 $ 4,474 $ 287,227 - - Taliaferro 66 $ 10,201,969 $ 2,550 $ 218,037 - - Tattnall 4 $ 616,033 $ 154 $ 8,011 - - Taylor 47 $ 6,008,894 $ 1,502 $ 49,153 - - Telfair 53 $ 3,855,923 $ 964 $ 50,894 - - Terrell 42 $ 2,134,741 $ 534 $ 31,594 - - Thomas 27 $ 23,804,980 $ 5,951 $ 133,236 - - Tift 2 $ 129,950 $ 32 $ 1,350 - - Toombs 23 $ 76,823 $ 19 $ 737 - - Towns 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Treutlen 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Troup 25 $ 8,540,574 $ 2,135 $ 90,188 - - Turner 63 $ 4,063,557 $ 1,016 $ 65,094 - - Twiggs 24 $ 2,150,611 $ 538 $ 31,399 - - Union 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Upson 61 $ 7,930,615 $ 1,983 $ 100,877 - - Walker 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Walton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Ware 8 $ 159,982 $ 40 $ 2,648 - - Warren 107 $ 10,401,883 $ 2,600 $ 127,423 - - Washington 81 $ 13,699,053 $ 3,425 $ 112,333 - - 95
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 118,718 - - $ 242,516 - - $ 90,174 - - $ 152,097 - - $ 244,796 - - $ 536,497 - - $ 183,635 - - $ 404,222 - - $ 7,107 - - $ 15,272 - - $ 72,587 - - $ 123,242 - - $ 61,656 - - $ 113,514 - - $ 35,189 - - $ 67,317 - - $ 289,707 - - $ 428,894 - - $ 1,945 - - $ 3,327 - - $ 883 - - $ 1,639 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 160,990 - - $ 253,313 - - $ 56,890 - - $ 123,000 - - $ 33,550 - - $ 65,487 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 113,408 - - $ 216,268 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 2,407 - - $ 5,095 - - $ 196,596 - - $ 326,619 - - $ 224,103 - - $ 339,861 - - 96
Forest Land Conservation Use Table 14 Continued Forest Land Conservation Use Valuation Assessment Parcel Count Assessed Value Eliminated State FLPA Grant Net Wayne 32 $ 17,936,456 $ 4,484 $ 259,541 - - Webster 51 $ 6,920,137 $ 1,730 $ 75,312 - - Wheeler 51 $ 4,054,960 $ 1,014 $ 66,359 - - White 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Whitfield 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Wilcox 17 $ 761,162 $ 190 $ 13,891 - - Wilkes 117 $ 12,966,507 $ 3,242 $ 112,151 - - Wilkinson 24 $ 3,232,833 $ 808 $ 40,216 - - Worth 14 $ 12,489,311 $ 3,122 $ 128,165 - - Total 3,946 $ 745,830,142 $ 186,454 $ 7,981,621 - - 97
School FLPA Grant Net School Total Total FLPA Grant Net Forest Land Conservation Use $ 295,952 - - $ 559,977 - - $ 120,327 - - $ 197,369 - - $ 62,852 - - $ 130,225 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 - - $ 11,501 - - $ 25,582 - - $ 217,189 - - $ 332,582 - - $ 63,557 - - $ 104,581 - - $ 177,973 - - $ 309,260 - - $ 10,926,229 - - $ 19,094,304 - - 98
Taxation of Standing Timber 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, by-products 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. 99
Figure 21: Statewide Timber Values shows the trend in value and revenue since 2002. Statewide Timber Values (Millions) Taxation of Standing Timber Millions 900.0 750.0 600.0 450.0 300.0 507.7 518.6 514.5 540.7 596.0 564.2 479.2 440.7 150.0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Figure 22: and School Revenue from Timber shows the trend in value and revenue since 2002. and School Revenue from Timber (Millions) Millions $30.0 $25.0 $20.0 $15.0 $10.0 $17.2 $12.9 $13.7 $14.3 $15.9 $14.7 $12.5 $11.6 $5.0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 100
Taxation of Standing Timber Table 15: 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digests shows the timber revenue for 2008 which was reported on the 2009 tax digest. 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Appling 80,349 $ 6,746,621 $ 1,687 $ 87,369 $ 98,973 $ 188,029 Atkinson 0 $ 2,745,210 $ 686 $ 47,660 $ 40,659 $ 89,005 Bacon 18,969 $ 3,258,377 $ 815 $ 45,578 $ 47,246 $ 93,639 Baker 11,001 $ 1,425,551 $ 356 $ 10,871 $ 18,374 $ 29,601 Baldwin 5,354 $ 985,631 $ 246 $ 8,516 $ 15,839 $ 24,601 Banks 490 $ 243,370 $ 61 $ 2,185 $ 3,223 $ 5,469 Barrow 291 $ 69,590 $ 17 $ 650 $ 1,287 $ 1,954 Bartow 10,541 $ 1,617,974 $ 404 $ 12,667 $ 28,429 $ 41,500 Ben Hill 8,995 $ 3,532,924 $ 883 $ 48,260 $ 54,584 $ 103,727 Berrien 83 $ 4,073,953 $ 1,018 $ 73,331 $ 57,035 $ 131,384 Bibb 0 $ 279,005 $ 70 $ 2,791 $ 5,007 $ 7,868 Bleckley 4,474 $ 2,130,839 $ 533 $ 23,763 $ 24,505 $ 48,801 Brantley 28,247 $ 8,790,976 $ 2,198 $ 191,066 $ 114,283 $ 307,547 Brooks 8,702 $ 3,209,063 $ 802 $ 30,712 $ 43,114 $ 74,628 Bryan 4,852 $ 1,144,278 $ 286 $ 9,040 $ 17,779 $ 27,105 Bulloch 13,144 $ 4,610,332 $ 1,153 $ 48,132 $ 43,568 $ 92,853 Burke 20,223 $ 8,647,664 $ 2,162 $ 54,169 $ 110,258 $ 166,589 Butts 5,739 $ 532,582 $ 133 $ 9,274 $ 9,590 $ 18,997 Calhoun 20,274 $ 1,325,524 $ 331 $ 16,105 $ 20,461 $ 36,897 Camden 5,181,305 $ 1,448,242 $ 362 $ 16,945 $ 21,362 $ 38,669 Candler 11,435 $ 1,189,764 $ 297 $ 11,999 $ 14,694 $ 26,990 Carroll 8,826 $ 2,236,748 $ 559 $ 18,991 $ 40,173 $ 59,723 Catoosa 1,282 $ 162,174 $ 41 $ 872 $ 2,720 $ 3,633 101
Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Taxation of Standing Timber Charlton 37,746 $ 11,820,823 $ 2,955 $ 200,954 $ 182,395 $ 386,304 Chatham 0 $ 476,054 $ 119 $ 5,016 $ 6,381 $ 11,516 Chattahoochee 1,093 $ 309,583 $ 77 $ 2,674 $ 5,077 $ 7,828 Chattooga 4,719 $ 795,672 $ 199 $ 6,616 $ 7,772 $ 14,587 Cherokee 2,525 $ 279,810 $ 70 $ 1,226 $ 5,162 $ 6,458 Clarke 0 $ 287,289 $ 72 $ 3,792 $ 5,746 $ 9,610 Clay 23,816 $ 2,129,565 $ 532 $ 32,214 $ 25,555 $ 58,301 Clayton 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Clinch 35,472 $ 18,694,755 $ 4,674 $ 204,876 $ 293,171 $ 502,721 Cobb 62 $ 7,397 $ 2 $ 50 $ 140 $ 192 Coffee 19,040 $ 7,507,592 $ 1,877 $ 58,912 $ 114,221 $ 175,010 Colquitt 11,489 $ 1,736,886 $ 434 $ 22,550 $ 14,699 $ 37,683 Columbia 8,388 $ 2,851,947 $ 713 $ 18,971 $ 48,740 $ 68,424 Cook 3,760 $ 858,329 $ 215 $ 8,210 $ 13,862 $ 22,287 Coweta 6,780 $ 1,746,800 $ 437 $ 12,170 $ 32,473 $ 45,080 Crawford 18,176 $ 3,071,635 $ 768 $ 38,500 $ 41,467 $ 80,735 Crisp 8,768 $ 726,246 $ 182 $ 7,806 $ 11,947 $ 19,935 Dade 264 $ 159,450 $ 40 $ 1,025 $ 1,980 $ 3,045 Dawson 1,054 $ 145,852 $ 36 $ 1,187 $ 1,990 $ 3,213 Decatur 26,752 $ 7,317,486 $ 1,829 $ 62,638 $ 93,005 $ 157,472 Dekalb 1,412 $ 91,018 $ 23 $ 728 $ 2,092 $ 2,843 Dodge 17,095 $ 4,276,365 $ 1,069 $ 41,695 $ 51,316 $ 94,080 Dooly 33,116 $ 2,137,632 $ 534 $ 38,242 $ 31,940 $ 70,716 Dougherty 10,356 $ 959,675 $ 240 $ 11,414 $ 17,701 $ 29,355 Douglas 551 $ 143,420 $ 36 $ 1,138 $ 2,632 $ 3,806 102
Taxation of Standing Timber Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Early 10,659 $ 2,720,222 $ 680 $ 31,849 $ 40,803 $ 73,332 Echols 12,025 $ 5,046,352 $ 1,262 $ 75,695 $ 79,707 $ 156,664 Effingham 25,855 $ 7,606,621 $ 1,902 $ 64,884 $ 116,632 $ 183,418 Elbert 10,823 $ 1,513,999 $ 378 $ 14,710 $ 24,148 $ 39,236 Emanuel 65,793 $ 10,670,548 $ 2,668 $ 130,543 $ 149,388 $ 282,599 Evans 0 $ 1,782,500 $ 446 $ 14,884 $ 21,390 $ 36,720 Fannin 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Fayette 0 $ 83,235 $ 21 $ 532 $ 1,665 $ 2,218 Floyd 74,612 $ 2,492,227 $ 623 $ 21,849 $ 46,326 $ 68,798 Forsyth 0 $ 22,624 $ 6 $ 87 $ 348 $ 441 Franklin 427 $ 226,662 $ 57 $ 1,844 $ 3,370 $ 5,271 Fulton 2,944 $ 535,952 $ 134 $ 5,511 $ 9,380 $ 15,025 Gilmer 367 $ 201,541 $ 50 $ 1,008 $ 3,275 $ 4,333 Glascock 4,803 $ 699,322 $ 175 $ 10,063 $ 9,014 $ 19,252 Glynn 8,791 $ 3,297,768 $ 824 $ 18,708 $ 50,225 $ 69,757 Gordon 1,535 $ 771,131 $ 193 $ 6,798 $ 11,772 $ 18,763 Grady 13,036 $ 1,297,825 $ 324 $ 13,627 $ 16,742 $ 30,693 Greene 20,372 $ 5,787,337 $ 1,447 $ 28,526 $ 57,873 $ 87,846 Gwinnett 0 $ 118,880 $ 30 $ 1,401 $ 1,416 $ 2,847 Habersham 0 $ 3,283 $ 1 $ 25 $ 44 $ 70 Hall 585 $ 164,711 $ 41 $ 1,029 $ 2,705 $ 3,775 Hancock 29,145 $ 3,907,202 $ 977 $ 60,405 $ 51,528 $ 112,910 Haralson 10,200 $ 3,441,691 $ 860 $ 37,927 $ 56,203 $ 94,990 Harris 23,477 $ 4,606,158 $ 1,152 $ 28,282 $ 75,587 $ 105,021 Hart 1,746 $ 451,103 $ 113 $ 1,924 $ 6,195 $ 8,232 103
Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Taxation of Standing Timber Heard 8,913 $ 1,467,975 $ 367 $ 10,188 $ 22,416 $ 32,971 Henry 0 $ 262,405 $ 66 $ 2,878 $ 5,248 $ 8,192 Houston 8,407 $ 2,377,669 $ 594 $ 24,847 $ 31,718 $ 57,159 Irwin 4,617 $ 3,615,340 $ 904 $ 44,743 $ 56,725 $ 102,372 Jackson 2,148 $ 776,025 $ 194 $ 6,769 $ 14,667 $ 21,630 Jasper 8,159 $ 2,696,020 $ 674 $ 33,862 $ 38,904 $ 73,440 Jeff Davis 16,880 $ 3,581,455 $ 895 $ 46,129 $ 45,664 $ 92,688 Jefferson 14,401 $ 3,142,352 $ 786 $ 40,065 $ 43,251 $ 84,102 Jenkins 21,984 $ 4,610,520 $ 1,153 $ 49,309 $ 59,480 $ 109,942 Johnson 13,921 $ 6,253,098 $ 1,563 $ 72,842 $ 62,700 $ 137,105 Jones 4,516 $ 1,106,538 $ 277 $ 14,750 $ 17,705 $ 32,732 Lamar 1,715 $ 501,956 $ 125 $ 4,488 $ 7,931 $ 12,544 Lanier 310,168 $ 2,165,395 $ 541 $ 30,489 $ 37,158 $ 68,188 Laurens 31,585 $ 8,439,819 $ 2,110 $ 53,171 $ 135,037 $ 190,318 Lee 6,687 $ 2,074,114 $ 519 $ 26,478 $ 31,112 $ 58,109 Liberty 48,496 $ 2,808,240 $ 702 $ 33,643 $ 43,809 $ 78,154 Lincoln 4,550 $ 2,342,781 $ 586 $ 22,725 $ 35,135 $ 58,446 Long 33,395 $ 6,950,846 $ 1,738 $ 109,198 $ 93,836 $ 204,772 Lowndes 10,129 $ 4,139,839 $ 1,035 $ 30,262 $ 60,856 $ 92,153 Lumpkin 1,852 $ 189,115 $ 47 $ 1,314 $ 2,421 $ 3,782 Macon 11,748 $ 2,516,904 $ 629 $ 26,805 $ 45,304 $ 72,738 Madison 1,991 $ 560,453 $ 140 $ 6,254 $ 9,522 $ 15,916 Marion 22,204 $ 3,277,627 $ 819 $ 21,383 $ 48,791 $ 70,993 McDuffie 7,345 $ 2,416,467 $ 604 $ 18,848 $ 41,539 $ 60,991 McIntosh 10,438 $ 3,413,175 $ 853 $ 42,631 $ 53,529 $ 97,013 104
Taxation of Standing Timber Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Meriwether 18,170 $ 5,936,037 $ 1,484 $ 72,521 $ 100,319 $ 174,324 Miller 2,111 $ 865,809 $ 216 $ 17,256 $ 13,481 $ 30,953 Mitchell 21,152 $ 3,497,539 $ 874 $ 64,141 $ 45,412 $ 110,427 Monroe 71,429 $ 2,939,813 $ 735 $ 27,725 $ 40,275 $ 68,735 Montgomery 15,079 $ 3,963,256 $ 991 $ 42,985 $ 47,955 $ 91,931 Morgan 10,295 $ 2,226,318 $ 557 $ 18,207 $ 27,742 $ 46,506 Murray 3,023 $ 370,821 $ 93 $ 2,151 $ 5,748 $ 7,992 Muscogee 0 $ 31,501 $ 8 $ 375 $ 736 $ 1,119 Newton 1,846 $ 454,109 $ 114 $ 4,418 $ 8,269 $ 12,801 Oconee 1,136 $ 620,140 $ 155 $ 4,146 $ 10,232 $ 14,533 Oglethorpe 20,670 $ 4,306,860 $ 1,077 $ 33,072 $ 74,078 $ 108,227 Paulding 7,973 $ 833,997 $ 208 $ 5,546 $ 15,770 $ 21,524 Peach 4,776 $ 629,356 $ 157 $ 8,531 $ 10,699 $ 19,387 Pickens 10,632 $ 363,896 $ 91 $ 2,278 $ 5,811 $ 8,180 Pierce 12,313 $ 5,121,269 $ 1,280 $ 39,792 $ 79,380 $ 120,452 Pike 1,574 $ 606,182 $ 152 $ 6,938 $ 8,033 $ 15,123 Polk 9,465 $ 1,049,456 $ 262 $ 11,387 $ 16,036 $ 27,685 Pulaski 13,286 $ 1,726,231 $ 432 $ 23,655 $ 21,336 $ 45,423 Putnam 8,434 $ 2,085,351 $ 521 $ 11,261 $ 21,375 $ 33,157 Quitman 8,796 $ 2,315,945 $ 579 $ 28,810 $ 31,844 $ 61,233 Rabun 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Randolph 23,956 $ 7,984,434 $ 1,996 $ 92,580 $ 136,374 $ 230,950 Richmond 2,037 $ 1,018,320 $ 255 $ 8,298 $ 19,696 $ 28,249 Rockdale 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Schley 10,797 $ 3,007,754 $ 752 $ 34,950 $ 50,169 $ 85,871 105
Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Taxation of Standing Timber Screven 388,555 $ 11,010,390 $ 2,753 $ 109,422 $ 143,135 $ 255,310 Seminole 2,203 $ 682,668 $ 171 $ 9,161 $ 7,858 $ 17,190 Spalding 0 $ 550,284 $ 138 $ 8,189 $ 10,345 $ 18,672 Stephens 86 $ 128,770 $ 32 $ 1,458 $ 2,369 $ 3,859 Stewart 28,342 $ 6,703,202 $ 1,676 $ 85,399 $ 83,502 $ 170,577 Sumter 1,073 $ 2,857,294 $ 714 $ 33,687 $ 50,097 $ 84,498 Talbot 7,146 $ 1,759,602 $ 440 $ 28,242 $ 23,016 $ 51,698 Taliaferro 10,338 $ 3,054,469 $ 764 $ 65,274 $ 54,980 $ 121,018 Tattnall 14,867 $ 5,638,371 $ 1,410 $ 73,321 $ 65,050 $ 139,781 Taylor 10,418 $ 2,302,630 $ 576 $ 18,836 $ 27,816 $ 47,228 Telfair 11,325 $ 6,436,244 $ 1,609 $ 84,952 $ 102,916 $ 189,477 Terrell 6,447 $ 38,664 $ 10 $ 572 $ 637 $ 1,219 Thomas 47,925 $ 4,172,103 $ 1,043 $ 23,354 $ 50,749 $ 75,146 Tift 7,802 $ 2,667,573 $ 667 $ 27,716 $ 39,918 $ 68,301 Toombs 123 $ 2,526,484 $ 632 $ 24,251 $ 28,909 $ 53,792 Towns 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Treutlen 6,692 $ 2,047,782 $ 512 $ 25,304 $ 24,573 $ 50,389 Troup 10,232 $ 3,137,103 $ 784 $ 33,128 $ 59,134 $ 93,046 Turner 3,710 $ 1,645,278 $ 411 $ 26,356 $ 23,034 $ 49,801 Twiggs 20,884 $ 5,096,907 $ 1,274 $ 74,415 $ 79,512 $ 155,201 Union 548 $ 144,300 $ 36 $ 713 $ 1,356 $ 2,105 Upson 11,305 $ 3,042,045 $ 761 $ 38,695 $ 43,501 $ 82,957 Walker 2,892 $ 835,610 $ 209 $ 3,692 $ 14,543 $ 18,444 Walton 2,820 $ 1,344,645 $ 336 $ 14,632 $ 24,540 $ 39,508 Ware 0 $ 7,577,253 $ 1,894 $ 125,396 $ 114,000 $ 241,290 106
Taxation of Standing Timber Table 15 Continued 2008 Timber Revenue Reported on 2009 Tax Digest Acres Assessed Value State Revenue Revenue School Revenue Total Revenue Warren 9,781 $ 2,468,988 $ 617 $ 30,245 $ 40,491 $ 71,353 Washington 51,652 $ 5,311,378 $ 1,328 $ 43,553 $ 79,256 $ 124,137 Wayne 8,794 $ 10,613,073 $ 2,653 $ 137,652 $ 175,116 $ 315,421 Webster 16,161 $ 3,786,838 $ 947 $ 41,212 $ 56,378 $ 98,537 Wheeler 7,130 $ 3,472,704 $ 868 $ 56,831 $ 53,827 $ 111,526 White 120 $ 17,901 $ 4 $ 165 $ 262 $ 431 Whitfield 2,878 $ 1,822,033 $ 456 $ 9,221 $ 26,886 $ 36,563 Wilcox 15,223 $ 3,321,744 $ 830 $ 60,622 $ 50,192 $ 111,644 Wilkes 475,067 $ 12,326,044 $ 3,082 $ 106,612 $ 206,461 $ 316,155 Wilkinson 29,476 $ 7,934,534 $ 1,984 $ 98,706 $ 155,993 $ 256,683 Worth 24,308 $ 4,195,523 $ 1,049 $ 43,054 $ 59,786 $ 103,889 Total 8,155,727 $ 440,697,520 $ 110,177 $ 5,024,793 $ 6,495,729 $ 11,630,699 107
Georgia s Unclaimed Property Program Georgia s Unclaimed Property Program 108