DeKalb County officials say most of DeKalb County has not seen the sharp rise in commercial property assessments that has led to complaints by Republican leaders that Dunwoody businesses are being unfairly targeted for increases, according to the Reporter Newspapers.
"At no time did we unfairly target Dunwoody," the article quotes DeKalb County Board of Assessors chairman Robert Burroughs as saying. "We used the same standards across the county."
DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader, the Presiding Officer of the Board of Commissioners, says property values may be "escalating rapidly" in Dunwoody. He adds that he has not heard complaints from businesses elsewhere in the county.
Commissioner Nancy Jester believes the DeKalb County tax assessor's office has made changes because of a new state law that says assessors "shall utilize" an income model. Previously, the law said they "shall consider" income produced by a property.
The Reporter Newspapers article notes that Perimeter Mall is appealing its assessment, which almost doubled in one year to $122 million. The county's chief appraiser explains that the mall hadn't been appraised in almost a decade.
