As of Friday September 11, 2009, Fulton County Manager Zachary Williams received a commitment from Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand that he would move forward with issuance of tax bills for Fulton County property owners. The Tax Commissioner’s commitment was confirmed on September 14, which included that tax bills will be mailed to residents by the end of October.

Earlier in mid-August, The County Manager’s office became aware that the Tax

Assessor’s office was having difficulty balancing the tax digest schedule. As a result, the Finance Department, specifically Finance Director Patrick O’Connor, Assistant Director Sharon Whitmore and Comptroller Ray Turner, began working diligently with the Tax Assessor’s office to ensure that the tax digest was balanced. The key focus of their work was to ensure that the tax digest schedules were reconciled and were consistent with supporting documentation.

By the first week of September the digest was balanced and provided to the Tax Commissioner. Dr. Ferdinand’s response to the submission was that there were remaining errors on some of the parcels, There are approximately 330,000 parcels and less than 1% are actually in contention. Those that are in contention could have been isolated and tax bills could have been distributed earlier.

While it is our understanding that calculations began last night on parcels that are not in dispute, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners urges the Tax Commissioner to move forward with all due haste with the issuance of all tax bills. The delay has and will continue to impede the cash flow process not only for the county, but for the cities and the school systems as well.

We can ill afford to continue to place at risk the ability to provide services to our citizens or the financial health of the county.