Tucker taxes?!?!? (Atlanta, Roswell, Lawrenceville: sales, 2009, foreclosure)

[marinebiojl]

I'm looking at a townhome community in Tucker just north of 285 on Lawrenceville highway - but I'm completely put off by the taxes. $4200/year for a ~$200,000 home?! That's more than city of Decatur/Incorporated Dekalb! It seems to be the school taxes, which I don't mind paying, but this seems excessive. Any insight would be much appreciated.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by marinebiojl

I'm looking at a townhome community in Tucker just north of 285 on Lawrenceville highway - but I'm completely put off by the taxes. $4200/year for a ~$200,000 home?! That's more than city of Decatur/Incorporated Dekalb! It seems to be the school taxes, which I don't mind paying, but this seems excessive. Any insight would be much appreciated.

That doesn't sound right...and city of Decatur has a much higher millage rate than unincorporated DeKalb (Tucker).
Is that 200K assessed or market value?

[noah]

That is much higher then I pay for Fulton county and Atlanta city taxes. Was the home valued/assessed much higher and its a foreclosure and fire sale. That would explain why the taxes were high because it would be based on a much higher value.

[marinebiojl]

I'm a first time home buyer, so I'm new to this - the home is selling for less than what it was appraised ($179k vs. $225), so I would expect slightly higher taxes but this just sounds outrageous. This is something I would expect to see in Fulton/Atlanta.

For example, according to the Dekalb Co. tax record, in 2009 a 2BR appraised at $234k and assessed at 40% or $93k The taxes were:

County: $1580
City/State: $349
Education: $2,154

[LovinDecatur]

Well, I did a little investigating...I looked at my old house in Oak Grove (unincorporated DeKalb, sold in 2007)...the property taxes have jumped by almost FORTY PERCENT since last year. Guess I've been out of the loop since moving to Decatur.
So:
Building value: 383,500
Assessed value (40% taxable) 179,040
Tax: 7941

So I guess that's about right...unfortunately.

[marinebiojl]

Thanks for looking into it. Ouch! Maybe I should stay put in Fulton County/City of Roswell and keep up the commute to Decatur. I noticed the jump since last year too - seems really unfair, particularly for people who are struggling in this economy.

[noah]

We got hit in the city of Atlanta too but even with the increase pay much less then the property mentioned in the OP. Don't forget to factor in the homestead exemption as that could help a little.

[JPD]

I live in Tucker. My house has a total appraised value of $210k (tax assessed at $84K). My taxes this year are just under $2500.

No way should you pay $4200 in taxes for a $200K townhome. That's absurd.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by JPD

I live in Tucker. My house has a total appraised value of $210k (tax assessed at $84K). My taxes this year are just under $2500.

No way should you pay $4200 in taxes for a $200K townhome. That's absurd.

I'm thinking that the county might be really putting the screws to new construction or recent sales (as in the case of my old house).

[JPD]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I'm thinking that the county might be really putting the screws to new construction or recent sales (as in the case of my old house).

That's probably true. I've had to fight the county twice when they attempted to raise the appraised value of my house by an unrealistic amount. If I hadn't done that, I might be paying $4000+ in taxes now.