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The Case for Change in Paulding County
2.
Paulding’s Business Ad Valorem taxes per resident in 2002 were
only $89 or 25 % of Georgia’s $362.
The Ad Valorem Taxes can also be
expressed as a % of Total Ad Valorem Taxes collected. In
Table #1 in 2002, the Paulding % is 15.7%, the
lowest of the ten peer counties. In Chart #3
(next page), the % has declined from 18.1% in 1996. Business Ad Valorem
taxes are an important source of funding for government and education
operation and infrastructure construction in Georgia.
One of the results of the low business tax collections is shown in
Table #2 where Paulding’s “K-12 Local General
Fund Revenue’s per student” was $1,751 for a gap of $949 per student
compared to Georgia. With a 2001-2002 enrollment of 17,985 students,
this local fund gap was $17.1 million. This gap is troubling because of
1) its size, 2) it is not for a one-time cost, but an annual K-12 school
system operation expense, and 3) it is increasing. Unfortunately as the
student population has increased each year, the total gap has increased
from $13.9 million in 1999-2000.
Until the current low Paulding resident per capita income described
above increases, it may not be reasonable to expect to decrease this gap
by increasing the Ad Valorem Tax Rate. However, a) increasing business
investment at a faster pace and b) increasing the value of new homes
could begin to help decrease the gap.
|
Rank |
Geographic Area |
% Business Ad Valorem Taxes
2002 ($’s) |
Business Ad Valorem Taxes
per Resident 2002 ($’s) |
Residential & Other Ad
Valorem Taxes per Resident 2002 ($’’s) |
Total Ad Valorem Taxes per
Resident 2002 ($’s) |
K-12 Local General Fund Revenues per Student |
K-12 Total General Fund
Revenues per Student |
|
|
Fulton |
47.0 |
858 |
968 |
1,825 |
5,178 |
8,026 |
|
|
Cobb |
40.8 |
470 |
683 |
1,152 |
3,121 |
6,522 |
|
|
Gwinnett |
42.3 |
456 |
622 |
1,078 |
3,155 |
6,706 |
|
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Georgia |
40.7 |
362 |
527 |
889 |
2,700 |
6,661 |
|
1 |
Henry |
33.2 |
339 |
680 |
1,019 |
2,498 |
6,017 |
|
2 |
Fayette |
25.7 |
313 |
906 |
1,219 |
2,949 |
6,652 |
|
3 |
Douglas |
37.4 |
307 |
514 |
821 |
2,437 |
6,576 |
|
4 |
Bartow
|
44.3 |
302 |
380 |
682 |
2,119 |
6,549 |
|
5 |
Forsyth |
25.8 |
255 |
734 |
989 |
3,367 |
6,453 |
|
|
Polk |
38.7 |
201 |
317 |
518 |
1,375 |
6,074 |
|
6 |
Coweta |
28.2 |
197 |
501 |
698 |
2,408 |
6,331 |
|
7 |
Cherokee |
22.6 |
189 |
646 |
835 |
2,670 |
6,775 |
|
8 |
Houston |
31.7 |
173 |
374 |
547 |
1,930 |
6,554 |
|
|
Haralson |
28.3 |
151 |
381 |
532 |
1,456 |
6,050 |
|
9 |
Columbia |
23.4 |
145 |
474 |
619 |
2,015 |
5,950 |
|
10 |
Paulding |
15.7 |
89 |
477 |
566 |
1,751 |
5,882 |
| |
Source: Georgia Department of Revenue, Georgia
Department of Education and US Census |
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Business Ad
Valorem Taxes are from Commercial, Industrial, Utility and Timber
property.
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Residential
and other Ad Valorem Taxes are the rest of taxes collected with
residential, motor vehicle, agricultural and mobile homes, the major
components.
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The average
residential property uses more services than paid in Ad Valorem
taxes, while the average business use less services than paid in Ad
Valorem taxes.
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Paulding ranks
10th among the Georgia peer communities in % Business Ad
Valorem taxes at 15.7%, resulting in only $89 per resident. This is
only 25% of the Georgia average of $362.
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|
|
Local Source
Funding per FTE Student Georgia |
Funding Gap |
Students |
Paulding Local
Source Funding Gap Millions |
|
2001-2002 |
$1,751 |
$2,700 |
$949 |
17,985 |
$17.1 |
|
2000-2001 |
$1,609 |
$2,563 |
$954 |
16,583 |
$15.8 |
|
1999-2000 |
$1,546 |
$2,477 |
$931 |
14,972 |
$13.9 |
|
Source: Georgia
Department of Education web page. In Table # 1 and # 2
“Students” refers to “Full Time Equivalent Students”
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(continue to next page) |
