Tax Assessors Looking at Changing Formula ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - Chief assessors of several Metro Atlanta counties say they're working on changing the way they appraise home values in neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures for the 2009 digest. They agree with the findings of a new report that shows that taxes on foreclosed-upon homes are much higher than they should be.

John O'Callaghan is president of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, a non-profit housing advocacy group that sponsored the report:

O'CALLAGHAN: People that live in neighborhoods with high rates of foreclosure have tax assessments that are 2 and 3 times the value of their homes.

One reason is that counties don't count foreclosed properties when they calculate neighborhood home values.

Before 2007, that wasn't considered much of a problem. But now that some zip codes have seen foreclosures skyrocket, home values have plummeted, while tax assessments barely changed. Now several metro county tax assessors, including Burt Manning of Fulton County, are looking at including foreclosures for 2009:

MANNING: We intend to put people in these hardest-hit neighborhoods, walking the streets, driving the streets, identifying which properties are in trouble, and making adjustments to the values based on that.

The ANDP hopes that the adjustments will ultimately make those homes more affordable to people or developers who want to buy.

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