Could APS shut down? (Atlanta: loan, neighborhoods, school districts)

[MrJones17]

I don't get how this type of situation even happens in cities like Atlanta that have seen population boom and the economy grow at one of the highest rates in the country.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by MrJones17

I don't get how this type of situation even happens in cities like Atlanta that have seen population boom and the economy grow at one of the highest rates in the country.

See this:

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

The basic line of events are this:

1. Fulton County fails to properly update valuations on properties for ~5 years
2. In that time, average metro housing prices increase 55.5%, with some local spikes as high as 200%
3. Fulton County corrects the assessments for 2017 all at once
4. APS and FCS plan their budgets based on expected revenue from corrected evaluations
5. People are upset that their property taxes are suddenly spiking up
6. Fulton County gives in to the pressure, and resets the assessments back to 2016 levels
7. APS and FCS suddenly have massive revenue shortfalls
8. The state says the whole thing is messed up, and steps in to stall both collections and the reversion to 2016 values
9. APS and FCS still have massive shortfalls, but now everything is frozen at the county level by the state

[JPD]

As someone who is just about to sell my house in Fulton, and buy another one, also in Fulton, I'm curious and kind of anxious about how this tax snafu is going to screw that all up.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by JPD

As someone who is just about to sell my house in Fulton, and buy another one, also in Fulton, I'm curious and kind of anxious about how this tax snafu is going to screw that all up.

Probably not much since your assessment will be updated upon sale of the house anyway.

[arjay57]

I don't guess it's possible APS would ever consider lowering its budget.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I don't guess it's possible APS would ever consider lowering its budget.

APS has been trying to lower its budget accordingly. There's only so much they can do when they suddenly loose such a massive amount of their expected revenue after having already gone through the budget process.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I don't guess it's possible APS would ever consider lowering its budget.

Sounds to me like they're doing everything they can to make the best of a situation that they did not create.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Probably not much since your assessment will be updated upon sale of the house anyway.

I hope you're right, but they didn't reassess the property when I bought it, so I don't really have faith in the process.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by JPD

I hope you're right, but they didn't reassess the property when I bought it, so I don't really have faith in the process.

They'll base the assessment on the sale price.

[ronricks]

APS spends more money per child than any school system in the state and gets mostly mediocre to terrible results. The last thing APS needs is more money. That isn't the problem.