Hooten v. Thomas

Denver C. Hooten, individually and in her capacity as Tax Director of Dougherty County, Georgia, and William Ashberry, J. Dell Bush, Donald Butts, Bruce Gunnels, and William Johnson, in their capacities as members of the Board of Tax Assessors, Dougherty County, Georgia hereinafter “Hooten” appeal from the order of the trial court denying their motion to dismiss the complaint brought by 14 owners hereinafter “Taxpayers” of real property in Dougherty County following a tax reevaluation.1 Hooten contends that the trial court erred in finding that the Taxpayers’ complaint contained claims for which relief could be granted either outside of the statutory appeal process of OCGA § 48-5-311 or related to the approval of the tax digest and collection of taxes. Upon review, and for the reasons that follow, we reverse. In 2007, the Dougherty County Board of Tax Assessors made a county-wide re-valuation of real property, and the County Board of Commissioners entered into a contract with Tyler CLT “Tyler” of Dayton, Ohio to do the field work, data compilation, computer programming, and assessment studies to complete the re-valuation. Tyler reported directly to the Board of Tax Assessors.

Following the re-valuation, approximately 5,400 taxpayers filed appeals of their 2007 tax assessments. At the initial time for submission of the tax digest, the number of appeals exceeded the statutory percentages set by OCGA § 48-5-304 allowed for state approval, but the percentage had dropped below the statutory threshold before Hooten submitted the digest to the state.2 The State Revenue Commissioner approved the 2007 digest for collection purposes in November 2007, and tax bills were mailed to taxpayers.