IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA - fultonschools.org · in the superior court of fulton county state of georgia in the matter of: 2017 tax digest for fulton

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY

STATE OF GEORGIA

IN THE MATTER OF:

2017 TAX DIGEST FOR

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Civil Action No. 2017CV297039

FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S

MOTION TO INTERVENE

COMES NOW, Fulton County School District, (the “District”) a political subdivision

of the State of Georgia under the management of the Fulton County Board of Education, and

pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-310 and O.C.G.A. § 9-11-24, herein moves this Court to allow

it to intervene in the above-referenced civil action wherein Fulton County seeks an Order

authorizing the immediate and temporary collection of taxes for the year 2017. In support of

this Motion, the District submits its supporting Memorandum of Law and the attachments

thereto, which have been filed contemporaneously with this Motion. In its Memorandum of

Law, the District specifies the relief to be sought though its intervention.

This 26th day of October, 2017.

/s/ Charles T. Huddleston Charles T. Huddleston Georgia Bar No. 373975

Attorneys for Fulton County School District

NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP 201 17th Street NW, Suite 1700

Atlanta, GA 30363

(404) 322-6268

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY

STATE OF GEORGIA

IN THE MATTER OF:

2017 TAX DIGEST FOR

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Civil Action No. 2017CV297039

FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT

OF ITS MOTION TO INTERVENE

COMES NOW, the Fulton County School District (the “District”), a political

subdivision of the State of Georgia lying in Fulton County, Georgia, ("Fulton County" or the

"County") outside of the City of Atlanta, and in support of its Motion to Intervene pursuant

to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-310, shows this Court why it should be allowed to become a party to the

above referenced civil action wherein Fulton County seeks an Order authorizing the

immediate and temporary collection of taxes for the year 2017.

1.

Pursuant to Art. 8, § 5, ¶ 1 of the Georgia Constitution, the District encompasses the

geographic lines of Fulton County, State of Georgia, outside of the City of Atlanta and is under

the management and control of the Fulton County Board of Education pursuant to Art. 8, § 5, ¶ 2

of the Georgia Constitution.

2.

Fulton County is authorized under the laws of the State of Georgia to levy and collect ad

valorem taxes upon all property located within its jurisdiction. The Fulton County Board of Tax

Assessors whose creation is authorized by statute and whose members are appointed by the

Fulton County Board of Commissioners has assessed the value of all real and personal property

located in the County for ad valorem tax purposes. The Fulton County Board of Tax

Assessorsprovides these assessed values and exemptions (the digest) to the Fulton County Tax

Commissioner for submission to the State.

3.

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-404 and Art. 8, § 6, ¶ 1 of the Georgia Constitution, the

Fulton County Board of Education is authorized by law to support and maintain the public

schools by levy of ad valorem taxes at the rate fixed by law upon all taxable property within the

limits of Fulton County, and outside of the City of Atlanta.

4.

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-404, the Fulton County Tax Commissioner bills and collects

taxes for the District and pays those taxes directly to the Fulton County Board of Education.

5.

The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors has assessed the value of all real and personal

property located in Fulton County for ad valorem tax purposes. The Fulton County Board of Tax

Assessors provides these assessed values and exemptions (the Digest) to the Fulton County Tax

Commissioner for submission to the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue.

6.

Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 8 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner submitted

the 2017 Tax Digest to the State Revenue Commissioner on October 13, 2017," and attaches

the affidavit of Arthur Ferdinand, its Tax Commissioner.

7.

Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 8 that "[a]s of the date of this Petition, the

Revenue Commissioner has not conditionally approved the Tax Digest for billing purposes."

8.

Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 9 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner is currently

unable to print and forward tax bills for Fulton County, or those municipalities, boards of

education, independent school systems and community improvement districts for which he

collects to be sent by a date that will allow the tax payments to be received with tax year 2017"

and attaches the affidavit of Arthur Ferdinand, its Tax Commissioner.

9.

Fulton County's Petition states at Paragraph 4 that "[t]he Tax Commissioner bills

and collects taxes for Fulton County, Georgia, the State of Georgia, the Cities of Atlanta,

Chattahoochee Hills, Johns Creek, Mountain Park, Sandy Springs, and South Fulton, the

Fulton County Board of Education, the City of Atlanta Independent School System, and

the community improvement districts within Fulton County."

10.

Out of an abundance of caution, the District seeks to intervene in this action in

order to protect its interest in the collection of its taxes and to make clear that all ad

valorem taxes on property in Fulton County outside of the City of Atlanta, which is

assessed under the 2017 Fulton County Tax Digest, is subject to any order which this

Court shall issue pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-310 allowing Fulton County to undertake

immediate, temporary collection of the County's taxes, pending approval of the 2017

Fulton County Tax Digest and the resolution of appeals of 2017 tax assessments.

11.

State law provides a method whereby this Court may order an immediate, temporary

collection of taxes pending approval of the 2017 Tax Digest and the resolution of appeals of

2017 tax assessment for the County. See O.C.G.A. § 48-5-310. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-

310(j), the methods, procedures and conditions for the temporary collection and enforcement of

taxes for municipalities are under the same terms and conditions as that for counties.

12.

Because Fulton County collects the taxes for the District, the District will not be able

to: (a) pay the District's debts as they mature; (b) pay appropriate salaries of employees, and

other persons entitled to receive either compensation by or funds from the District as provided

by law; (c) maintain an orderly and normal function of the District's affairs; (d) maintain an

adequate, proper, or desirable credit rating either to maintain or affect existing or future interest

rates on bonded indebtedness or indebtedness on loans incurred or obligated by the District's

authority; or (e) avoid by practical means the suffering of immediate and irreparable injury, loss,

damage, or any other significant matter, unless the Court authorized the immediate, temporary

collection of the 2017 ad valorem taxes by the County. See attached Exhibit A, Affidavit of

Robert Morales.

13.

The District should be allowed to intervene in this case because its interest in the

subject matter of the action, the collection of ad valorem taxes, is so great that unless the

disposition of the action includes a clear directive that the temporary collection order applies

to the District, such an outcome may as a practical matter impair or impede the District's

ability to protect that interest. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-1124(a)(2), the District has a

statutory right to intervene in that circumstance.

14.

The District should be allowed to intervene in this case because the matters in which

the District has an interest set forth questions of law which are common to, if not virtually

identical to, the main claim in this action. The District is prepared to go forward with this

proceeding at any hearing which may be conducted by the Court and therefore the

intervention of the District will not delay the adjudication of the rights of the original parties

to this action. See O.C.G.A. § 9-1 I -24(b)(2).

15.

WHEREFORE: having come forward and moved to intervene in this proceeding

and for the reasons set forth herein above, the District respectfully requests:

(a) That the District be allowed to intervene and be made a co-petitioner;

(b) That the Court order immediate and temporary taxes for the Fulton County School

District, for which the Fulton Tax Commissioner collects taxes, be collected pursuant

to O.C.G.A. § 48-5-310 and § 48-5-404 on the basis of the 2017 tax year; provided,

however, for any property which is on appeal, the tax bill shall be issued based on the

value set forth in O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311(e)(6)(D)(iii), at the millage rate established by

the governing body for the 2017 tax year;

(c) That the District be granted such other and further relief deemed just and

proper by this Court.




NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP 201 17th Street NW, Suite 1700

Atlanta, GA 30363

(404) 322-6268

EXHIBIT A

AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT MORALES

See attached.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

This is to certify that I have on this day served counsel for the opposing parties in the

foregoing matter with a copy of FULTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO

INTERVENE, THE MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO

INTERVENE, AND THE AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT MORALES by depositing same in the

United States Mail with adequate postage thereon addressed as follows and by electronic filing

using the Odyssey eFileGA system:

Patrise Perkins-Hooker, Esq.

Cheryl Ringer, Esq.

Office of the Fulton County Attorney

141 Pryor Street, Suite 4038

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

[email protected]

[email protected]

The Honorable Lynne T. Riley

Commissioner of Revenue

1800 Century Center Blvd.

Suite 15300


[email protected]

Jeremy Berry, Esq.

City of Atlanta Law Department

303 Peachtree Street, N.E.

Suite 5300


[email protected]

Richard Carothers, Esq.

Ronald Benet, Esq.

City of Johns Creek

Bovis Kyle Burch & Medlin, LLC

200 Ashford Center North

Suite 500


[email protected]

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






Richard P. Lindsey, Esq.

Lindsey & Lacy, PC

City of Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia

2002 Commerce Drive, Suite 300

Peachtree City, Georgia 30269

[email protected]

Brandon L. Bowen, Esq.

City of Mountain Park, Georgia

Jenkins, Olson & Bowen PC

15 South Public Square

Cartersville, Georgia 30120

[email protected]

Daniel W. Lee

Freeman, Mathis & Gary, LLP

City of Sandy Springs

100 Galleria Parkway

Suite 1600


[email protected]

Josh Belinfante, Esq.

City of South Fulton

999 Peachtree Street, N.E.

Suite 1120


[email protected]

Jamie Theriot, Esq.

Downtown Atlanta Community

Improvement District

Troutman Sanders, LLP

5200 Bank of America Plaza

600 Peachtree Street, NE


[email protected]

Glenn Brock, Esq.

Atlanta Public Schools

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

201 17th Street, N.W.

Suite 1700


[email protected]







J. Lynn Rainey, Esq.

Counsel for various Fulton County CID’s

Rainey & Phillips

358 Roswell Street, Suite 1130

Marietta, Georgia 30660

[email protected]





IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA - fultonschools.org · in the superior court of fulton county state of georgia in the matter of: 2017 tax digest for fulton

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