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Board pursues third-party review and outside counsel on data center valuations
Summary
Fulton County commissioners urged independent review and legal support after arguments that data centers and other high-value commercial properties are underassessed. Staff said an RFP for an independent valuation review is on the street and the county is lining up boutique outside counsel for tax appeals where conflicts limit use of large firms.
Commissioners on Feb. 4 discussed commercial property valuations, especially for data centers, and pledged to commission independent review and bolster legal support for tax appeals.
Public commenters including Julian Benet urged the board to appraise data-center buildings at true market value to increase property-tax revenue. Benet said accurate appraisal of servers and data-center infrastructure "would raise tens of millions" and that recent board and assessor attention to the issue was welcome.
County assessors and staff told commissioners they had issued an RFP to bring in outside valuation specialists, have been in contact with vendor experts and other counties, and are preparing to retain boutique outside counsel for commercial tax appeals when conflicts prevent larger firms from representing the county.
"We have been in communication with them," said an assessor's office representative; staff also acknowledged state statutes and lobbying by large developers can limit immediate changes and said they are working on legislative remedies. Commissioners requested copies of the RFP and continued briefings to the full board.
