Many Johns Creek Businesses To Pay More In Taxes

By DOUG NURSE www.ajc.com

The Johns Creek City Council voted 5-0 Monday to keep the same property tax rate as last year, but many businesses are still going to pay more in taxes.
The council kept the millage at $4.614 per $1,000 in taxable property, which is the same rate residents paid to Fulton County before the community incorporated into a city Dec. 1.

For many, the city portion of the taxes will remain steady. But those who had their property reassessed by the county which will see their taxes change, mostly upward because property tends to be more valuable. Most of the land in Johns Creek re-assessed was commercial property. Only 14 percent of the residential property was reassessed countywide, according to the Tax Assessor's Office.

Major Thompson, a Johns Creek resident, asked the City Council to cap the tax increase at 3 percent for seniors and poor people.

The reassessments make up most of the city's $875,000 growth in the budget. About 49 percent of the increase in the tax digest – the log of total property values citywide – came from reassessments. The rest comes from new development since last year.

In 2007, the city collected $15.25 million in property taxes. The total budget is about $44 million for general government services.