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police foundation blurs meeting records
Appeal deadline approaches for tax assessments Freeze allowances to end this year By BEECHER TUTTLE newsroom@appenmedia.com
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Tracking the Sandy Springs Police Foundation, the chief entity behind the city’s police training complex, just got a little more difficult. In the process of requesting meeting records from the nonprofit, Appen Media and its newsroom has hit a snag. In April, Appen Media reported the city intends for the foundation to be the primary funding source for the training facility, which would sit next to the new police headquarters and municipal court currently under construction at 620 Morgan Falls Road. Cost estimates for the training facility sit at between $37-$45 million. The Sandy Springs Police Foundation supports the city’s Police Department in acquiring the resources to maintain an elite standard of safety and efficiency, its website says. It differs from the Sandy Springs Police Benevolent Fund, a nonprofit formed in 2010 to support law enforcement in times of crisis. Georgia’s Law Enforcement Strategic Support Act, passed in 2022, allows individuals and businesses to donate to the foundation and receive dollar-for-dollar tax credit. It’s a win-win for residents and corporations looking to bolster public safety in Sandy Springs.
See FOUNDATION, Page 6
CITY OF SANDY SPRINGS/PROVIDED
A January 2023 map shows the site of a proposed firing range and training center behind the Sandy Springs Police headquarters.
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in April signed a bill to limit large annual property tax increases that have plagued homeowners in Metro Atlanta suburbs for the better part of a decade. While the legislation should help property owners in counties like Fulton, DeKalb and Forsyth, it will also quietly remove what some deem a loophole that has benefitted taxpayers who know the ins and outs of the property assessment process. The coming days and weeks will likely represent the last chance homeowners have to lock in their property values without much of a fight. Set to be enacted prior to the 2025 tax season, House Bill 581 will enable counties to limit the appreciation of property values to no more than the current rate of inflation. The new law comes on the heels of significant annual surges in taxable property values in most every county in North Georgia and parts of Metro Atlanta. However, the bill will also soon prevent homeowners from taking advantage of the current system where simply appealing a property tax assessment will freeze the appraisal value for the current and two succeeding years, no matter if they actually win their case. Starting
See TAXES, Page 13