{"id":1004788429,"date":"2026-02-18T05:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004788429"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:50:23","slug":"this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun Belt County Targets Trophy Assets in High-Stakes Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Rendering<\/a>
Rendering of DC BLOX\u2019s Atlanta West Hyperscale Data Center Campus, in Lithia Springs, Ga. The campus is part of DC BLOX\u2019s data center expansion throughout the Southeast. Image courtesy of DC BLOX<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The County Board of Commissioners in Fulton County, Ga., Atlanta\u2019s home, has begun an effort to obtain an independent audit of the county\u2019s tax assessment process for high-value commercial properties, including data centers, the Rough Draft Atlanta<\/em> first reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county has requested proposals from firms seeking the opportunity to audit the county\u2019s numbers; responses are due tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Board Chairman Robb Pitts wants to engage outside counsel that has strong expertise in commercial real estate valuations, to back up the county in the event of any property tax appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the state level, the legislative backdrop to this is that if a bill passed recently by the Georgia Senate is approved by the state\u2019s House of Representatives, it would close a loophole that allowed property taxes on homeowners to exceed the rate of inflation. This bill would then cut revenues to counties and school districts in Georgia\u2014unless the difference could be made up from commercial properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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READ ALSO<\/strong>: Data Center Expansions Push the Sector Into New Territory<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In November 2023, as federal COVID relief funding ended, the Atlanta Civic Circle reported that the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County could be losing out on a total of around $290 million a year in tax revenue as a consequence of what the local media outlet called \u201cthe commercial property assessment gap.\u201d That amount was based on a 2023 study by the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to assessed values not reflecting market values, the Atlanta Civic Circle<\/em> report noted the example of 1180 Peachtree St., which was assessed at $193.8 million to $193 million from 2018 to 2023, despite selling in 2022 for $472 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A larger picture?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Is Fulton County\u2019s audit initiative potentially part of a nationwide trend? The conditions definitely seem ripe for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last July, the National Association of Counties released The Big Shift: An Analysis of the Local Cost of Federal Cuts. It stated that following the passage of the Trump administration\u2019s FY 2026 budget request, \u201cseveral changes\u2014aimed at reducing federal costs\u2014will shift financial and administrative costs onto subnational levels of government. In a complex intergovernmental structure, these subnational governments, including counties, could see a downstream effect approaching $1 trillion over 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A long-time valuation expert with a major national commercial real estate firm, who wanted to remain unidentified, told Commercial Property Executive<\/em> they\u2019re not aware of any other specific initiatives, but added that data centers \u201care now a targeted property type nationally<\/a>, and economic conditions are such that this could very well spread to other markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAssessors have seen that publicly available investment dollars involved in data centers is unlike any other property type,\u201d he added. \u201cCouple that with the decline in transaction volume, with transactions being the primary mechanism assessors use to assess\/raise market values for various property types, and you have potential for substantial assessment\/property tax burden increases for data centers over the next several years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Office buildings, conversely, have had their assessments lowered\u2014particularly trophy, Class A core office\u2014in many cities, he continued. \u201cWith office lease rates, occupancy and sales volume rebounding, I am seeing assessors seek to recoup the somewhat substantial loss in tax base from office valuation declines post-COVID,\u201d the individual added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the federal government continues to decrease its financial assistance to localities, only time will tell what the consequences will be for commercial real estate tax assessments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of now, the initiative focuses on data centers and office buildings. Will this spark a nationwide trend?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":882,"featured_media":1004768256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1489,21755,21742,21747,52682,32781],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004788429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atlanta","category-data-centers","category-latest","category-office","category-policy","category-southeast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSun Belt County Targets Trophy Assets in High-Stakes Audit - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fulton County's officials are seeking an independent audit of the county\u2019s tax assessment process for high-value commercial properties.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sun Belt County Targets Trophy Assets in High-Stakes Audit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fulton County's officials are seeking an independent audit of the county\u2019s tax assessment process for high-value commercial properties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T13:22:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T16:50:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2025\/08\/Atlanta-West-Hyperscale-Data-Center-Campus-featured.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Baltic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/this-county-targets-trophy-assets-in-high-stakes-tax-assessment-audit\/\",\"name\":\"Sun Belt County Targets Trophy Assets in High-Stakes Audit - 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