A Fulton County judge has approved county officials’ request for a temporary order to collect property taxes after a delay in certifying this year’s tax digest.
Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram issued the order late Tuesday. She wrote the order shall expire after the revenue commissioner’s final approval of Fulton’s tax digest for this year.
“The time frame for forwarding tax bills in order to provide tax proceeds to Fulton County, the municipalities, board of education, independent school system, and community improvement districts is short and will not permit substantial modifications or adjustments to the 2026 Tax Digest,” Ingram wrote.
The Fulton County Commission filed a petition for the order last month after the tax commissioner’s office delayed certifying the digest. Without that certification, municipalities can’t set their millage rates and the state revenue commissioner can’t give them permission to collect taxes.
Ingram heard testimony from Fulton officials during a hearing Tuesday. Finance Director Ray Turner explained what would happen if Ingram didn’t grant the collection order.
“We would not have the ability to pay salaries to the employees,” he said. “We would not have the ability to pay compensation to other individuals, government officials in the county. We would not be able to fund our normal operations — jail, courts, IT support services. It also could affect our bond rating.”
The Fulton County Board of Assessors determines property values and the tax commissioner, Arthur Ferdinand, certifies them.
Ferdinand told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the delay was the result of a high number of land packages that took a long time to process.
“A developer buys a 100-acre tract as one property,” Ferdinand said as an example. “Then he’s going to make houses, subdivisions. It’s cut into a lot of little parts, and so these land packages are basically big things that are going to explode into a lot of little pieces.”
Each property within the land package has to be assessed, Ferdinand said.
Fulton County officials said the technology used to process the land values wasn’t working properly, which contributed to the delay.
The Fulton County school district said it appreciates the judge’s ruling.
“This provides an important step toward allowing property tax bills to be issued and gives the district greater certainty as we plan for the local revenue that funds more than 60% of our operating budget,” the district said in a statement. “While this decision moves the process forward, questions remain regarding the potential need for adjusted tax bills once the 2026 tax digest is finalized. We recognize the uncertainty this process has created for our community and will continue providing updates as additional information becomes available.”
Per the order, properties will be billed based on the 2025 millage rate and the preliminary 2026 tax digest. However, once the 2026 digest is certified, some properties would be rebilled. Now that the order has been approved, Ferdinand said the property tax bills should be issued by Aug. 15.
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