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Clock begins to tick for property assessment appeals By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com ATLANTA — Property owners should have received their 2025 assessment notices by now. The statements include the real value the County Assessor’s Office has set on
your property, and its taxable value – 40 percent of its real value. A home with a fair market value of $750,000 has a taxable value of $300,000. Property assessments weigh heavily on calculating a tax bill as local governments prepare to set tax rates. Assessment notices are informational
and are not tax bills. But, property owners should be aware they have 45 days from the date of the notice to appeal the assessment. The deadline for most appeals is Friday, Aug. 1 unless otherwise printed on the notice. If a property owner disagrees with the assessor’s valuation – say, it is too high –
they should check the county assessor’s website for a full description of their property to ensure it is accurate. Two new laws have gone into effect that will change the way the process is handled.
See PROPERTY, Page 29
City Council divided on $40 million bond Residents to decide in fall election whether to help finance arts center By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Tempers flared June 26 as the Johns Creek City Council passed a measure calling for a referendum on a $40 million bond to help fund creation of a performing arts center. The vote was 4-3. A referendum could go to Johns Creek voters in November. Mayor John Bradberry and council members Dilip Tunki, Chris Coughlin and Erin Elwood voted in favor. Stacy Skinner, Bob Erramilli and Larry DiBiase voted against it. “After careful consideration, I believe the project funding strategy is suspect,” Erramilli said before the vote. “In good conscience, I cannot ask myself to set this project to fail.” Councilman Coughlin criticized the dissenting members, saying they had reversed their position expressed in prior meetings.
See BOND, Page 7
JON WILCOX/APPEN MEDIA
Councilman Chris Coughlin, right, calls out City Council dissenters of a bond referendum at a June 26 meeting. Coughlin said he was shocked to hear opposition from council members after they’d reached tentative agreement on the measure at an earlier work session. The council ultimately voted 4-3 to place the $40 million bond referendum on the November ballot.
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