It's springtime in Atlanta! Oh wait, it's in the 60s with thunderstorms and a tornado watch and it's only January 30! Such is life in the capital of the new South. If you don't like the weather just wait a little while. There will be a similar tornado watch this spring as the tax assessors begin to send out tax assessment notices to every real property owner in the state of Georgia.

Last year the Cobb County Tax Assessor created quite a storm when they sent out huge increases on commercial properties. Many of the unsuspecting commercial property owners were dumbfounded at the taxable value increases they saw, considering they were still struggling to keep tenants in their buildings and competing with other struggling property owners for new tenants. Even though some of their values were, honestly, a little low, they couldn't believe that with the same net operating income as the previous year their taxable value could be 50% to 100% higher.