Atlanta Real Estate Tax Bill

[Tyler Hampton]

Hello,

I was looking at numbers for a house in Atlanta and I looked up the tax bill and I don’t understand it! Can anyone with an Atlanta (Fulton County) real estate tax bill help me figure it out?

It shows on Zillow that the assessed value for 2018 was $14,240, which as I understand is 40% of the fair market value. The tax dollar amount shows $1,080 for 2018 taxes on Zillow. I looked up the tax bill on the assessor’s website and it shows two amounts for the tax bill, one to “Atlanta” and one to “County”. The total of the two was $589.54 for 2018 and that shows the correct assessment of $14,240. Is that total amount of those two paid twice yearly, so the tax amount would be $1,179.08, or is that the total tax bill and Zillow is way high?

The next question is as follows. The current assessed value shows $34,560, drastically higher than $14,240 for 2018. Do I use that number for 2019 taxes? Then will it go up if I rehab it? So do I take $34,560 times the tax rates and multiply by 2, or is it just that one single payment, and Zillow was high on the dollar amount estimate?

I apologize for the length of this and if it wasn’t very clear. Thanks for any help!

[Eamonn McElroy]

"Is that total amount of those two paid twice yearly, so the tax amount would be $1,179.08, or is that the total tax bill and Zillow is way high?"

No.  It's not paid twice yearly.  Use the numbers from the Fulton county assessor, not Zillow.

"The current assessed value shows $34,560, drastically higher than $14,240 for 2018. Do I use that number for 2019 taxes?"

Yes. That would seem correct, but I'm not looking at what you're looking at.

"Then will it go up if I rehab it?"

Generally yes.

"So do I take $34,560 times the tax rates and multiply by 2, or is it just that one single payment, and Zillow was high on the dollar amount estimate?"

Not sure what you're asking here...but Fulton county and city of Atlanta property taxes are paid once a year not twice a year.  Don't use Zillow.  It's not accurate.  Pull the numbers directly from the county assessor.