The Cobb County Tax Assessor office is being thrown under the bus by some people that are upset by property tax abatements. The issue that is front and center is a planned mixed use development near the proposed Braves stadium in the Cumberland area. It is interesting that the proposed abatement for the mixed use development has only become "big news" since the announcement of the Braves move to Cobb County.
The development, known as Riverwalk, is in close proximity to the proposed Braves stadium. As many Cobb County residents were already upset about bankrolling the new stadium with public funds, it isn't surprising that the Riverwalk tax abatement was dragged out front and center. As reported in the Smyrna-Vinings Patch the Development Authority of Cobb County approved a letter of intent to issue $103 million in bonds for the development on September 17, 2013. The Braves deal was announced on November 11, 2013.
Under the Development Authority tax abatement deal, Cobb County will issue municipal bonds, the sale of which will finance the purchase of the Riverwalk site. The Development Authority of Cobb County is tax exempt, and as owners of the site will not be liable for property tax. The developer of Riverwalk, Greenstone Properties, would not be required to pay any property tax until 2015, which is the expected year that construction will be completed.
Greenstone Properties would then pay tax on 10% of the Cobb County Tax Assessor's value the first taxable year. The percentage of the taxable value would then increase each year an additional 10% until the owners are paying 100% of the tax due, after the tenth year. Of course, as the condos and townhouses are sold off in the development they will be fully taxable.
Some Cobb County taxpayers are reading articles about this project that say the school superindendent asked the Cobb County Tax Assessor to delay the implementation of the abatement and are seeing this as unilateral action on the part of the assessors. The Cobb County Tax Assessors administer property tax abatements. The Development Authority of Cobb County approved the abatement, and their letter of intent has to be approved by the Cobb County Superior Court.
If approved, it is the responsibility of the Cobb County Tax Assessor to keep the property in an exempt status until property tax is to be paid. They then must decrease the 100% abatement by 10% a year until the abatement period is over. The Cobb County Tax Assessors didn't propose or approve this abatement. Their job is to value the property and apply the appropriate abatement percentages until such time as the abatement is ended.
