(AJC) — Lenders foreclosed on nearly 99,000 properties in eight metro Atlanta counties through November of this year, a toxic tidal wave swamping home values in a region that went from ceaseless boom to endless gloom in a few years. A crash in housing led the nation into the Great Recession, and a recovery in […]
(AJC) — The Fulton County tax assessor’s office says Martha Fletcher’s northwest Atlanta home lost 56 percent of its value last year, plummeting to $29,200. That’s far less than what she spent, during her 50 years living there, expanding what was once a shack with plank floors into the two-level home where she raised two […]
(AJC) — In 2009, an exclusive, in-depth investigation by the AJC found that amid the historic real estate collapse, many of us paid more in property taxes than we should have. Today marks the beginning of an eight-part series revealing continued flaws in the property tax systems in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. […]
(AJC) — If anyone had any questions about Atlanta’s strong mayor system, Kasim Reed answered it Monday night. Minutes after the Atlanta City Council voted 13-0 to approve the city’s proposed legislative package, a “wish list” to be submitted to the General Assembly in January, the mayor made a rare stop in the council chambers […]
(Chicago Sun Times) — The City of Chicago really isn’t trying to chase small businesses away from the needy West Pullman community. But the business owners can be excused for thinking that it is. Their crisis in faith arrived in November with the property tax bill, payable by Dec. 13. These were the dreaded “second […]
(CNNMoney.com) — Suspicions confirmed: Homeowners in the Northeast pay the highest property taxes in the nation. New Jersey residents pay the highest annual tax bill of any state – a median $6,579 per year, according to the Tax Foundation, which calculated the tally using data the U.S. Census Bureau released on Tuesday. Connecticut comes in […]
(Crain’s) — Builders of single-family to three-family houses in the city have one more year to finish the construction of their homes and take advantage of a tax break. Earlier this month, Gov. David Paterson signed into law a bill that gives homebuilders one more year to use a program known as 421b, which provides […]
(Chicago Tribune) — Cook County property tax bills won’t be out until around Thanksgiving, meaning voters won’t have sticker shock to fuel their anger toward politicians when they head to the polls Nov. 2. Bills will be mailed around Nov. 22, Treasurer Maria Pappas estimated Tuesday. That’s nearly a full month later than last year, […]
(Chicago Tribune) — State legislators should repeal a new law requiring Cook County senior citizens to prove each year that they are eligible for a special property tax break, commissioners said Wednesday. The Cook County Board unanimously passed a resolution urging the General Assembly to reverse that requirement, joining Mayor Richard Daley and the City […]
(AJC) — Larry Singleton and Donna Broadus saw an upside of falling property values and built a business on it. They help homeowners lower their taxes by appealing property tax bills, and business is booming. “I was having a lot of my clients come to me and ask what to do,” said Broadus, who is […]
(NYT) — A federal appeals court dealt a setback on Tuesday to the Bloomberg administration’s seven-year effort to collect taxes on space in diplomatic missions that the city says is not used for diplomatic purposes. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of India and Mongolia, […]
(AJC) — Chenee Joseph paid $51,500 for her three-bedroom bungalow in Adair Park in August 2009. Fulton County assessors claim her property is worth twice that for tax purposes in the down real estate market. New math? No, just the 2010 Fulton County Tax Digest. Joseph is paying double what she should in property taxes […]