Fulton County’s chief tax appraiser in Georgia has been fired after a miscalculation in property taxes delayed bills from going out by nearly two months. The Tax Assessor’s Board voted to terminate David Fitzgibbon’s employment after a two-hour meeting, a local TV station reported.
As chief tax appraiser, Fitzgibbon is responsible for setting the county’s tax rates and sending out tax bills, according to WXIA-TV, Channel 11, in Atlanta.
A county vendor provided wrong numbers and delayed bills from going out in July to being sent in September.
Fitzgibbon claims the board was acting under political pressure from county commissioners.
“It was the software vendor – the software vendor’s contract is with the IT department and the tax commissioner,” he said. “The issues were on the tax commissioner’s side and not the assessor’s side.”
County board members blamed Fitzgibbon’s office for not finding the problem sooner and for stalling operating budgets across the county. Several members of the county board called for increased accountability for the commissioner after the issue caused confusion and distraction within several municipalities.
“Atlanta Public Schools will be forced to borrow operating money because of the money. That will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in interest,” Fulton County Chairman John Eaves said. “The Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors today made the decision to make a leadership change in the position of chief appraiser.”