Sign the letter to tell Arthur Ferdinand that his CONTINUED RAISING OF PROPERTY TAXES is causing the GENTRIFICATION OF WESTSIDE ATLANTA NEIGHBORHOODS

Fulton County Tax Commissioner
141 Pryor Street
Atlanta, GA. 30303


Dr. Arthur Ferdinand,
This letter is written to express our communities concerns about how the rise in property taxes due to "new builds" and "rehabs" will gentrify the district in the future. A suggestion to help remedy this is that the tax commissioner only raise the property tax on the "new builds" and "rehabs "that are flipped and sold to new buyers,  and not allow those new values to affect the values on those who own property prior to the new build. If and when a longtime property owner decides to sell their house, the Tax Commissioner would then impose the tax to reflect that of "fair market value" for the new buyer who will pay the newly adjusted tax rate that is reflecting the same valuation based off of the newer builds and rehabs that have been sold in that area. By doing this, our current and longtime residence will be able to remain in their homes. This action of raising the values and implementing a higher tax is forcing longtime residents to sell their houses because they cannot keep up with the inflation of their property taxes.
The commissioner can list each properties valuations as Fair Market Value for sales and loan purposes, Current Market Value as reflective of the value of that property prior to any new construction and the real dollar amount for taxation, and the Adjusted Value as the amount taxed. This would be a fairer assessment and will allow owners the ability to stay in their homes.
Our community is currently undergoing this change as struggling owners are regularly encountered by predatory buyers who search the records of residence that are behind on their taxes in these targeted areas. These buyers begin to solicit and make offers on their homes that are far below market value. These buyers then begin their campaign to persuade residents into selling by pointing out everything wrong with the house and exaggerate the costs associated with getting the house to code. The predatory buyers also portray their cash offer as being more than generous given all of the deficiencies of the property and the amount of delinquent taxes that are due, all the while reporting these targeted properties to code enforcement for any infractions in order to induce more stress on the owner for the sole intent of getting the owner to sell the property. Buyers will state that, "It is better to get some money for your property, than having it taken by tax lien and sold on the courthouse steps". Once the predatory buyer secures the purchase, the property is immediately put on the market for two, three, or more times than what they paid.
Furthermore, Atlanta residence now face a new barrier as corporations are purchasing residential houses above their listing price through hedge funds that are doing business as property management LLC's and turning neighborhoods of residential homes into permanent rentals. This buying action dominates the offers of many first-time home buyers, it drives up housing prices, and displaces generational residents by pricing them out of the city market.
New capital investments in our poorer communities by large corporations are packaged as economic opportunities for those long-time residence who live in these areas.
But, as the corporate conglomerates move in, the actions of the predatory buyers and hedge fund investors are removing the longtime residence by taking advantage of those who cannot keep up with the increased property tax. The very tax imposed by the local Tax Commissioner, who points to the Board of Assessors as being responsible for the increased property value which increases the tax note. The Board of Assessors state that, "The assessment is based on the higher value created by the new development from the corporations," of which do not pay any property tax, or do so at a significantly reduced rate (50-80%) of what would be their tax bill. When the corporation's ethics come into question, their lawyers refer to the contract with the city which was voted in favor and approved by the City Council and accepted by the mayor, which "we the people" elected to represent us.
This scenario that is playing out now is why a majority of Atlanta residence were adamantly opposed to the "Gulch Deal".

Now Atlanta is trending and marketing itself as the new "Tech Hub", and companies are continuing to come and invest in our city, which is of course welcome.
However, with current rate of development, alongside the rapid exponential growth of residential property tax increases, and the increased cost of living, Atlanta's demographics will continue to change.
While Atlanta leadership continues promoting affordable housing, the reality is that more lower and middle-income constituents who live in Atlanta continue to be displaced making way for a higher tax base. The increase in tax revenue from a renewed Westside offers a counter to a possible revenue loss from a Buckhead secession.
The same increased revenue strategy will be a driving factor with occupying The Gulch, especially given the multi decade loss of property tax collections for that development. This high-density residential living space must attract higher income residence in order to capture more consumer taxes for the city to make up the loss of property taxes. A larger, wealthier tax base will also be needed in order to provide the additional public services.

But these issues only continue to compound as the leadership begins to rezone residential single housing areas for private investors to build high-capacity living structures with guaranteed rental income through section-8 housing vouchers that will be given to those constituents who are taxed out of their homes.

As we welcome new residents from other states and we watch the demographics and leadership begin to change within our city,
I am fairly sure Atlanta will always be marketed as The Civil Rights Capitol of the World, but who controls and represents the "ATL" seems to be slipping away from Dr. King's "dream fulfilled" to a marketed dream by big tech and mega corporations who move here and ascribe to themselves the image of civil rights and portray themselves as the bastions of civil rights.
If "Big Tech" and "Mega Corp" truly want to be bastions of the Civil Rights Legacy and strengthen their branding image; the simplest and most realistic fix is to back the effort to keep our long-time residence in their Atlanta homes. Reach out to the leaders, the tax commissioner, and assessors; request that they do not raise the property taxes on residence that have not moved into a "rehab flip" or "new build". Suggest that the Fulton County Board of Assessors roll back their tax appraisal on these residential properties to 2017 rates, or the year just prior to the largest increase and stop hyper inflating the values of the properties of long time and generational owners in lower income neighborhoods. The Tax Commissioner should also enact (or change by law) that property taxes can only be raised by 3% in any given year for all properties in the county. This will allow families and businesses to set a future budget for their property tax, and not be surprised with a 150% increase in any given year, forcing owners to hurry and sell their property.
As a Marine, I call upon my fellow brethren who are in all walks of life, from the streets to the board room, and ask that we reflect and act upon our motto of "leave no man behind", and remember that, "we are only as strong as our weakest link". Above all in this battle field of life, we have always acknowledged our Father in Heaven with the recognition of the order of our service to God, country and corps. Let us continue pray for His wisdom and guidance in all things as this serves us and others well.

The Connors

CC; Gov. Kemp, Mayor Bottoms, Atlanta City Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber