Assessment `Freeze` Challenge Finally Goes to Court

A two-year-old court case in Dade County, GA could portend the end of Gwinnett’s Value Offset Exemption (VOE), a form of property assessment `freeze` that is growing in popularity across the state and was currently enacted by the State Legislature on a temporary basis:

Former County Commissioner Rex Blevins sued the county, alleging that the law that `freezes` a property’s value for tax purposes creates a special class of taxpayer, which is prohibited by the state Constitution.

The VOE, according to the Tax Commissioner’s web site, “[h]olds the assessed value of a property constant for the county tax portion of your bill, even if there is an increase in property value. School, state and city taxes continue to be taxed at the current assessed value.”

Very simply, the VOE or any assessment `freeze`, over time, causes similar properties to be taxed at different values. The VOE creates an unjustified “special class” of taxpayer, which is unconstitutional. You can read a good explanation of this phenomena here.

Your first response might be, “Whoa! Don’t take away my tax exemption! I don’t care if someone pays more of their `fair share` than me.” That response, however, would be short-sighted.

The Value Offset Exemption, besides being unconstitutional, takes taxable value off of the Net Tax Digest (which is the value of all taxable property in the county). The depression of the tax digest adds greater pressure to increase millage rates for all. And that’s not a good thing.

The effect of the Dade County case could be far-reaching, if assessment `freezes` are ultimately ruled unconstitutional; but the impact on Gwinnett is years away. You have plenty of time to study up on a simple proposal which would not only force a reduction in the tax rates as your property values increase but, had it been implemented by Gwinnett leaders, could have helped the county avoid this year’s budget crisis.

Assessment `Freeze` Challenge Finally Goes to Court | MillageRate.com