You probably think that your property taxes are spent on things that will help your property and hopefully improve your investment, right? Well, thanks to the "L" in DeKalb, that's not necessarily true. About 60% of your property taxes are dedicated to public education.
From the tax assessment office:
Here is an example calculation that illustrates the process:
| Market value |
$100,000
|
| x assessment ratio (40%) |
0.40
|
| = assessed value |
$40,000
|
| — exemptions |
$10,000
|
| = taxable assessed value |
$30,000
|
| x mil rate |
0.041
|
| = your tax bill |
$1,230
|
So, you can see how the amount you are paying can easily add up.
For a $200K home, you are paying about $2,870 a year.
Multiply that by the number of years you have lived in DeKalb, let's say 10, and you will have paid approximately: $28,700 in property taxes after 10 years. For a lot of people, that is close to an entire year's salary!
So, what have you received for a year's worth of your work in DeKalb? Well, your police and fire protection, of course, is included in that amount. You have access to the local parks and recreational areas. You have the protection of zoning regulations, but that does not help you if you live near a school because they can claim that they are exempt from zoning laws. You have the public libraries. And the maintenance of all your streets, roadways, traffic lights, street lights and other pubic areas. And, you have your county government employees and elected officials looking out for you when they are not being investigated by a grand jury or the D.A.
But all of those things are covered with only about 40% of your property tax dollars (or about $11,480 of your money if you have lived here 10 years in a house worth about $200K). So, guess where the other 60% goes? (That's $17,220 for 10 years of taxes on your $200K home.)
It goes to salaries of people like Dr. Cheryl Atkinson who lied on her resume and has had at least one personal bankruptcy and home foreclosure and two previous school districts that were turned over to the state shortly after she left her posts. The same Dr. Atkinson who illegally RIFed school house employees then tried to cover it up by offering them their jobs back if they would agree to drop their Open Records Requests for her text messages. The same Dr. Atkinson who hired a friend first as a consultant, then as an employee, who produced a report he mostly copied from other people. She then defended him by saying that he did not do anything wrong as an employee, just as a contractor. She then left DeKalb and has not returned. Before leaving, however, she complained to SACS about the school board loud enough to get our system's accreditation placed on probation while she disappears and does not have to answer the questions that the state board of education likely has for her.
And, it goes to a lot of lawyers. Like the ones in this blog on the original DeKalb School Watch site.
Please join us as we petition “Governor Nathan Deal and Georgia State Board of Education: Review SACS findings, if accurate REPLACE the Dekalb County School Board. ”
Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Please share with your friends!
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-nathan-deal-and-georgia-state-board-of-education-review-sacs-findings-if-accurate-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-boardRead more: NeighborNewspapers.com - SACS puts DeKalb County School District on probation
No comments:
Post a Comment
We want to know what you think. Leave your respectful comments here!