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VERIFY: Are the Fulton County tax assessments out of step with real values in the market?

Some Fulton County homeowners have seen their tax assessments jump by more than 50 percent, while others have received no increase at all this year.

Brendan Keefe

Some Fulton County homeowners have seen their tax assessments jump by more than 50 percent, while others have received no increase at all this year.

So we want to Verify -- is there really a double-digit increase in average property valuations in the county, and are they out of step with real values in the market?

Here's the last decade of changes to Fulton County's total property valuation.

Year after year during the recession, the average valuation dropped, 6 percent lower in 2010, another 4 percent drop in 2011, and 5 percent down in 2012.

They didn't start inching up again until 2014.

Now, the total property valuation in Fulton County is more than $59 billion, according to the Board of Assessors. -- that's an increase of more than $8.5 billion in just one year in one county.

FULL COVERAGE | Fulton Tax Revolt

RELATED | How to file a property tax appeal in Fulton County

A 17 percent jump in total assessments from last year -- verified as the single highest property assessment increase in a decade.

The county's valuations are 33 percent higher than they were in 2014.

But is that out of step with the market? Our analysis shows Fulton County homes in the aggregate are selling at or above the average tax valuation.

But with no increase in tax rates at all, the average property owner in Fulton County will still see a 16.5 percent jump in their tax bill because of these valuations.

So it is VERIFIED -- a double-digit increase in the average property valuation.

But your actual property values have grown, and these assessments are not wildly out of step with the market on the whole.

The average homeowner will see a huge tax increase unless they file an appeal, or convince the county commission, cities and schools to lower their millage rates.

DATA SOURCE: Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors

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