Monday, March 16, 2020

Legislators deny tax commission pensions
Fatigue, some irritation at high salaries might have swayed rejection.
Fulton Co. Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand is the state’s highest-paid elected official. It may have factored in Thursday’s vote. JASON GETZ / FOR THE AJC
AJC AT THE GOLD DOME PENSIONS

Call it the Arthur Ferdinand effect.

Or possibly an attempt to stick up for the little guy. Or maybe pension fatigue after putting so much money into Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System in recent years.
Or all three.

But as the clock wound down on the soon-to-be-suspended 2020 legislative session Thursday night, the House voted down a bill to give county tax commissioners a state-sponsored pension.

In a Legislature that seldom turns down an opportunity to add pensions, or make it easier for people to get them, or add money to them, the defeat of the tax commissioner bill was a surprise, even factoring in that Ferdinand, Fulton County’s tax commissioner, is the highest-paid elected official in the state. And some lawmakers don’t like that.

Compared with some of the thorny pension issues lawmakers have faced in recent years, House Bill 593 seemed like a relatively harmless measure.

Tax commissioners could opt into a state retirement plan funded by a new $3 late fee on overdue tax bills. That fee would be on top of any existing penalties counties levy for late payments. Some are already on county retirement plans.

Tax commissioners were part of the state’s Employee Retirement Plan pension until 2011, when lawmakers sought to cut costs during the aftershocks of the Great Recession, said HB 593’s sponsor, House Retirement Chairman Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson.

He noted that the state has retirement plans for judges, sheriffs, district attorneys and other elected officials.

“Many tax commissioners have no retirement plan at all or have a plan that is funded with their own money,” Benton said. “No taxpayer who pays their property tax bill on time will contribute a penny to this plan.”

But wary lawmakers have spent recent years pouring hundreds of millions of extra dollars into the teacher pension plan to make it more financially stable, and they’ve seen any attempts to make changes to that plan beaten back by educators and retirees.

Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, a member of the House Retirement Committee, said “pension fatigue” may be setting in.

He told colleagues during floor debate Thursday that pensions are “where you promise something down the road and use other people’s money to pay for it.”

He said counties and their tax commissioners should have to pay for the pension.

“The county tax commissioners should be doing their job, and if they are doing their job, there won’t be anyone contributing to their (pension) plan,” he said, because nobody will be paying late fees.

House Minority Whip William Boddie, D-East Point, made a case that the pension plan shouldn’t be funded out of late fees from people struggling to pay their tax bills.

The General Assembly regularly tacks fees onto court filings or offenses to fund various things.

“This is unnecessarily punitive, and this is not right,”

Boddie said. “We are going to penalize individuals who are already going through financial hardship. Three dollars is a lot of money for somebody who doesn’t have $3.”

He said the more late-fee money tax commissioners collect, the bigger their pension fund. In other words, they’d have a personal incentive to collect more late fees.

After about 10 minutes of debate, opponents mentioned the elephant in the room: Ferdinand’s salary.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last year that Ferdinand earned a $491,193 salary because of a system that allows him to receive a fee for collecting taxes from cities.

An AJC report in 2019 showed 48 tax commissioners pocket thousands in fees from cities that pay for tax collection services.

However, most tax commissioners make far less than Ferdinand, as supporters of the bill pointed out.

“A lot of tax commissioners operate very differently, and to paint them all with one brush is not fair,” said Rep. David Knight, R-Griffin.

Rep. Al Williams, D-Midway, said: “There are not a lot of $500,000 tax commissioners in Georgia. There are a lot of rural counties where tax commissioners are just making it.”

But Martin said he was concerned that if the late fees don’t raise enough money, supporters of the fund will come to the state looking for money to prop up the tax commissioners’ pensions.

The bill failed 83-72.

‘Work gets compensation’: Tax chief defends deals that boost his salary
8/9/19  Georgia’s highest-paid elected official says his efforts benefit cities, county.

Arthur Ferdinand

AJC INVESTIGATION FULTON COUNTY

Arthur Ferdinand was firm and defiant.

The Fulton County tax commissioner said he was entitled to add $1 to his salary for every parcel of land in every city for which his office collects taxes.
He will continue to do so, and he will continue to keep that money.“

Usually, work gets compensation,” Ferdinand told Fulton County commissioners Wednesday, when they questioned new deals with the cities of Mountain Park and Chattahoochee Hills that will add an estimated $3,500 to his salary; and a Johns Creek tax collection renewal worth more than $27,000. 

OUR REPORTING
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported on Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand’s salary for a number of years.

Ferdinand, who is the highest-paid elected official in the state, makes $491,193 annually, most of it from fees he personally collects from cities for handling their tax collections.

An AJC investigation showed that Ferdinand had a new source of income — a 50-cent fee on 911 assessments in the city of Atlanta. He collected $71,000 from that fee alone.

Ferdinand is the highest-paid public official in the state, making $491,193 a year, a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found. Most of that income is from fees he personally pockets for work conducted by his office.

Ferdinand told the AJC Wednesday that the cities are getting a good deal by having him collect taxes on their behalf, and that Fulton County also benefits.

In 2018, Fulton County received $22.5 million from other cities for his office’s work, or 1% of the total tax money that was collected in the cities,
“It’s state law, and it’s a necessary service the cities want me to provide,” he said. “They probably can’t get that service for that money.”

The comments were the first time in years that Ferdinand has spoken publicly about his salary and the fees. He canceled an interview scheduled earlier this summer with reporters who were investigating the sources of his income.

This week, Ferdinand said he doesn’t care what others get paid for collecting taxes — he knows his own worth.

“Why should I say no thank you?” Ferdinand said. “The county salary that I receive is not commensurate with the responsibilities I have, as far as I’m concerned.”

The pay structure allowed Ferdinand to more than triple his $161,312 base salary. With the fees added in, he makes more than the president of the United States, and triple what Gov. Brian Kemp is paid. When asked at what point the money would be commensurate with the work, Ferdinand declined to answer.

“I’m not trying to sugarcoat this,” he said. “If I’m doing something, I want to be compensated for it. Period.”

The addition of new cities to his contract requires audits, he said, and more work to properly distribute the money. He brushed aside a suggestion that the additional fees go to the office, and not him personally. Ferdinand said he pushes for his employees to get bonuses and pay raises for their work, but regarding the fees, “the state law says it comes to the tax commissioner.”

“I don’t think anybody should work without being properly compensated,” he said.

Commissioners on Wednesday expressed frustration with the new contracts and the fee structure.

Two called it “inappropriate” and “fundamentally wrong.”

But the contracts were ultimately approved, with a 4-2 vote.

The three new agreements will last 50 years or until Ferdinand is no longer the county’s tax commissioner.

No one — including county commissioners — questions Ferdinand’s success rate, which is in the high 90-percent range when it comes to collecting taxes. And he does have some support, including from County Commissioner Marvin Arrington, who said he has “no problem” with Ferdinand’s compensation.

But year after year, there is public uproar regarding Ferdinand’s compensation.

“A lot of our constituents think it’s inappropriate,” Commissioner Bob Ellis said. “It’s a valid concern.

It’s been written about for years.”

It doesn’t affect Ferdinand.

“You’d be surprised how much support I get on these things,” he said. “I’m a nice guy.”

Ferdinand used to collect more fees, from selling tax liens. State law abolished that source of income in 2017, but Ferdinand has more than made up for it, with the addition of new cities and a $71,000 salary boost that comes from collecting a special 911 emergency services assessment on Atlanta property owners.

It’s all on the up-and-up, he said.

“You’ve got to make sure you don’t do anything that breaks the law in any one of these government jobs,” Ferdinand said.
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Fulton taxman’s income hits $491K
8/4/19 Outside fees send his compensation ever higher, AJC finds.

Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand
AJC INVESTIGATION TAX COMMISSIONER

In two decades as Fulton County tax commissioner, Arthur Ferdinand has used Georgia’s antiquated revenue laws to increase the $70,000 salary he earned in 1997 to more than $490,000 in total compensation — with no end in sight.

Ferdinand now makes almost $100,000 more than the president of the United States and nearly three times the salary of Georgia’s governor.

County tax commissioners in Georgia can legally contract with cities to do their taxes and charge a fee for the service, and at least 48 do, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution/ Georgia News Lab investigation.

But no public official has profited more from the fee system than Ferdinand, who has agreements with four cities and contracts pending with two more.

The Fulton tax commissioner earns more in fees from the city of Atlanta alone — $225,000 — than he does from his current county salary of $161,000. And he’s managed to grow his income despite a 2017 state law that abolished controversial fees he once earned from selling tax liens.

Critics say Ferdinand and other tax commissioners who pocket such fees are using their public office for personal gain. Each of Georgia’s neighboring states bars the practice.

Ferdinand has not disclosed his extra earnings to taxpayers since at least 2010, despite Georgia’s law requiring elected officials to disclose outside fees and income on financial reports available to the public. The AJC and Georgia News Lab spent months tracing the sources of Ferdinand’s income, which involved contacting and obtaining information from the county and each of Fulton’s 15 cities.

In 2017, the AJC reported Ferdinand’s total compensation for 2016 was about $390,000. But that analysis did not include about $71,000 Ferdinand now earns from Atlanta for collecting a special 911 emergency services assessment on Atlanta property owners. It also did not include the fees Ferdinand began earning in 2017 from the new city of South Fulton for collecting its taxes.

Ferdinand also has contracts with the cities of Sandy Springs and Johns Creek, and he is poised to begin earning fees on two new tax collection contracts with the cities of Chattahoochee Hills and Mountain Park.

The tax commissioner lives on a 70-acre farm about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta and has also faced criticism for accepting public farm subsidies on his property.

Ferdinand canceled an interview with the AJC and stopped responding to requests he comment for this story. In the past he has defended his fee income from cities as legal under Georgia law and pointed to strong collection rates as proof he delivers a good value for cities.

“If he’s entitled to it, which he is, we’re more than glad to pay it,” Mountain Park City Clerk Karen Segars said in an email. “The tax commissioner’s office does us a huge service.”

But not all tax commissioners choose to take advantage of the fee system in the way Ferdinand has.

“It has never even occurred to me to negotiate any additional funds for myself,” Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner Richard Steele told the AJC. “My personal opinion is that I’m already adequately compensated
 
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Fulton taxman ran unopposed in 2004, 2008, 2016
Fees

Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand has not disclosed his extra earnings to taxpayers since at least 2010, despite Georgia’s law requiring elected officials to disclose outside fees and income on financial reports available to the public.
AJC STAFF 2014
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by my salary. It’s the work of the office that has to be done because it takes this entire office to do the job.”

Steele’s office calculates the exact amount of resources and money it takes to collect taxes for eight Gwinnett cities and then bills individual cities for the cost. The cities pay the county, not Steele.

On the other hand, Fulton County charges six cities 1% of their tax collections for the county’s administrative overhead, without calculating the exact cost of the service. Ferdinand collects and keeps an additional $1 per parcel for four of these cities on top of the county charge. Nine cities in the county choose to bill their own taxes.
New contract, new fee


During much of the time that Ferdinand has grown his compensation from $70,000 to nearly $500,000 — an increase of 600% — the Legislature has made halting efforts to curb or abolish tax commissioner fees.

When the city of Sandy Springs was established in the mid-2000s, Ferdinand approached the new city with a personal contract and fee of $26,000 to collect the city’s taxes. Longtime former city attorney and state legislator Wendell Willard was flabbergasted by Ferdinand’s ask given the tax commissioner collected the county taxes for no fee before the city was incorporated.

In 2007, Willard set out to abolish the fee system throughout Georgia but encountered stiff opposition from tax commissioners and other lawmakers they lobbied to oppose regulation.

The resulting bill required contracts for city tax collection to be negotiated through the county, thereby making the arrangements more transparent. But the legislation exempted all but the largest counties and preserved the ability of tax commissioners to negotiate a separate fee for themselves from the cities.

In 2013, Ferdinand angered some taxpayers — and lawmakers — when the AJC reported he was aggressively selling delinquent tax liens to a private debt collector — and pocketing a 50-cent fee on each transaction.

Critics said the practice gave Ferdinand a financial incentive to sell the liens, and lawmakers vowed to stop it. Some also tried once again to make the Fulton tax commissioner an appointed, rather than elected, position and limit the job’s compensation.

The proposal never passed.

And the Legislature did not succeed in abolishing fees collected on tax liens until 2017, which cut Ferdinand’s compensation by up to $31,000.

Unbeknownst to most taxpayers, however, Ferdinand was already benefiting from a new fee from the city of Atlanta even as the controversy over the lien fees was percolating in the General Assembly.

In 2015, Atlanta assessed property owners a new fee to generate more revenue for its 911 emergency call center, which was operating at a deficit.

Ferdinand began collecting the 911 service fee from property owners — and pocketing 50 cents from each residential and commercial parcel. The assessment, $26 for single-family residential owners and $307 for others, was added to an existing garbage collection bill that Ferdinand was already collecting for the city.

The fee generates about $71,000 in extra income for Ferdinand and is more than twice what the tax commissioner lost when the Legislature took away his ability to earn fees from selling tax liens.

Atlanta could hire two 911 dispatchers for what it pays Ferdinand to collect the assessment.

Lora Hawk, an Atlanta resident, was unaware a portion of the 911 fee she pays contributes to the tax commissioner’s income.

While she thinks the tax commissioner and his office employees should be well-paid, she doesn’t understand why Ferdinand’s “already inflated salary” has increased even more.

“You’re essentially padding the pocket of an individual to provide basic emergency services for people,” Hawk said. “You have to question (the) systems and serve your moral compass.”

‘This is an embarrassment’
Following the AJC’s reporting on the fee system in June, which revealed dozens of other Georgia tax commissioners also collect fees, some current and former state lawmakers said the Legislature should once again attempt to curb or eliminate it.

“I encourage my friends who followed me in the Legislature to pick up the baton and run with it and set aside this ancient practice for good,” said former Atlanta Rep. Edward Lindsey, who co-sponsored the bill to change the Fulton County tax commissioner’s elected position to an appointed one in 2013. “This is an embarrassment, and it’s a relic of an ancient past.”

Fulton County District 2 Commissioner Bob Ellis told the AJC there won’t be a fix until the state decides to say: “This is what it’s going to be, and that form of compensation is disallowed.”

Fulton County voters have also been reluctant to challenge Ferdinand over the past two decades.

Ferdinand ran unopposed in 2004, 2008 and 2016.

In 2012, two Fulton County taxpayers stepped up to run against Ferdinand after feeling the tax commissioner had wronged them by selling tax liens on their properties too quickly.

Both candidates pledged not to take fees and be less aggressive about selling tax liens to debt collectors. Both lost.

R.J. Morris, one of the candidates, said Ferdinand’s high collection rate earns him the support of government officials, who need the funds he collects for public projects. Voters don’t understand the behind-the-scenes complexities of the tax system, Morris said.

“If the people want to elect someone who’s immoral, that’s democracy,” said Morris, who also served two years on the Fulton County Board of Assessors.

“This stuff about Ferdinand has been known for a decade or more. And the people keep voting him in office — not just voting him in barely. He wins through landslides.”

In the meantime, Fulton cities such as Atlanta will keep paying Ferdinand what he asks.

“Right now, it’s allowed in law,”

Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore said. “As long as he has the ability to do that, and if the city wants to use his service, then we need to pay that fee. If it changes, I’d be happy with that, too.” 

HOW WE GOT THE STORY 

Reporting for this story grew out of a five-month investigation by the Georgia News Lab, a collaborative investigative reporting initiative at the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University and supported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News.

The News Lab investigation examined how Georgia’s 159 counties collect taxes and identified at least 48 county tax commissioners who earn a personal fee for collecting a city’s taxes.

The investigation was the first comprehensive examination of the fee system statewide and built on previous AJC/Channel 2 reporting on the fee income earned by Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand and DeKalb County Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson.

In reporting on fees statewide, News Lab journalists learned that Ferdinand was earning more in fees than had been previously reported, including a commission from the city of Atlanta for collecting a 911 emergency services assessment.

Reporters obtained records of payments to Ferdinand from Fulton County, the county’s 15 cities, along with contracts between the tax commissioner and cities with which he has agreements. Ferdinand canceled one interview and did not respond to requests to comment for this story.

Reporters Erin Schilling, Ashley Soriano and Anila Yoganathan are AJC summer interns and, along with classmate Kaley Lefevre and other classmates, reported the original News Lab investigation. 

OUR REPORTING
AJC reporting on fees paid to Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand (left) prompted a 2017 legislation that blocked him from collecting commissions from the sale of tax liens to private debt collectors. An AJC/Georgia News Lab investigation in June identified 48 tax commissioners, including Ferdinand, who personally earn fees for collecting city taxes, a legal practice in Georgia. Today’s story breaks down Ferdinand’s total compensation for 2018, which is about $100,000 more than the AJC reported in 2017 and the highest of any elected official in Georgia. 

WHAT’S BEING SAID
‘If the people want to elect someone who’s immoral, that’s democracy. This stuff about Ferdinand has been known for a decade or more. And the people keep voting him in office — not just voting him in barely. He wins through landslides.’
R.J. Morris, who lost an election against Ferdinand

‘Right now, it’s allowed in law.

As long as he has the ability to do that, and if the city wants to use his service, then we need to pay that fee. If it changes, I’d be happy with that, too.’
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore 

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8/9/17 - YOUR TAX DOLLARS -

Fulton tax commissioner to collect fee from S. Fulton

More than one county commissioner called the agreement “repugnant” but still voted to allow Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand to earn a $1-per-parcel fee for collecting taxes in the new city of South Fulton.

Ferdinand, the highest-paid elected official in the state, had refused last month to negotiate on the fee, which is allowed under state law. He earned about $390,000 last year, a total that included $210,281 in $1 fees for collecting taxes in Johns Creek, Sandy Springs and Atlanta. South Fulton has 40,596 taxable parcels, according to the county tax assessor’s office.

Several Fulton County Commissioners were opposed to the fee, but voted in favor of it after a parade of people — including South Fulton Mayor Bill Edwards; Rep. Roger Bruce, D-South Fulton; and members of the City Council — urged them to allow Ferdinand to collect taxes.

Only one commissioner, Liz Hausmann, voted against the agreement.
Commissioner Emma Darnell said she didn’t think it was fair that anyone earn that much money for collecting taxes — and suggested that Ferdinand might consider donating the additional $40,000 he will earn. 

Fulton County Vice Chairman Bob Ellis said the fact that county commissioners have to approve the agreement between Ferdinand and the city is a “stupid construct.” He said he wished South Fulton had a better agreement.

“My constituents find this morally repugnant, and every time there’s a news article about that, they’re outraged,” Commissioner Lee Morris said. “It is a problem for folks, and I’m going to hear from my constituents about this vote.”

Earlier this year, the Georgia General Assembly eliminated a 50-cent fee that also went to the tax commissioner every time he sold a tax lien. Between 2011 and 2015, Ferdinand collected more than $200,000 as a result of that fee. He continued to collect it through July 1, the effective date of the new law.

Bruce said if commissioners did not approve the agreement, the city would not be able to collect the taxes it needs to pay back Fulton County for its services. Joe Carn, a College Park city councilman, said he came to support his neighbors because “if one city is struggling, it’s going to affect the other cities.”

Edwards told commissioners he wanted them to treat the new city the same as they had Johns Creek and Sandy Springs, which also use — and pay for — Ferdinand’s services.

“Our council unanimously approved Dr. Arthur Ferdinand to collect our taxes knowing we would have to pay him for our taxes,” Edwards said. “I’m willing to pay that $1 to get that kind of person in our midst.”

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7/20/17  -  FULTON COUNTY

South Fulton mayor upset over tax fee decision

Commission’s denial of tax collection fees goes against Ga. law.

By Arielle Kass akass@ajc.com


Bill Edwards
HENRY TAYLOR /HENRY.TAYLOR@AJC.COM

Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand.
BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
Bill Edwards, mayor of the new city of 

South Fulton, just wants to give Arthur Ferdinand some of his city’s money.

Ferdinand, the Fulton County tax commissioner, is willing to take it. Fulton County commissioners are standing in the way.
“I’m so mad, I don’t know what to do,” Edwards said, hours after commissioners voted Wednesday not to allow a contract between Ferdinand and the city to collect the city’s taxes. 

That agreement would have enhanced Ferdinand’s salary by $1 for every parcel he collected taxes on. There are 40,596 taxable parcels in the city of South Fulton. 

Ferdinand, who is the highest-paid elected official in the state, collects a similar per-parcel fee in the three other Fulton cities where he collects taxes: Atlanta, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs. Altogether, the fees netted him an additional $210,281 last year. His total salary was about $390,000.

State law allows the fees from cities that have contracts with their county’s tax commissioners. It says the tax commissioner can accept additional compensation for taking on more duties — like city tax collection. But the money has to pass through the county.

And Fulton isn’t on board.


“I think it’s wrong the money would go to his salary vs. going to the department that’s actually doing the work,” Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann said. “It’s troublesome.”

A 2007 law tried to curb the practice, but existing contracts were grandfathered in. The new South Fulton contract is subject to the fee only if Fulton agrees to it. Edwards doesn’t think that’s fair.

“I was floored today that they didn’t pass this thing,” he said on Wednesday. “It’s our call. If we want the man to do our taxes, what have you got to do with it?” ‘I was floored today that they didn’t pass this thing. It’s our call. If we want (Arthur Ferdinand) to do our taxes, what have you got to do with it?’

Bill Edwards, Mayor of the new city of South Fulton

Kevin Payne, the Floyd County tax commissioner and president of the Georgia Association of Tax Officials, said it’s not uncommon for tax commissioners to have contracts that pay them $1 per parcel for their work. His does. So does Irvin Johnson’s in DeKalb County. Gwinnett’s tax commissioner collects for cities but does not collect the fee. Cobb does not collect tax revenue for cities.

In areas where the fee exists, it’s a remnant of a time when constitutional officers made their income through fees and fines. “It’s a fairly common practice,” Payne said of the fee.

The high number of taxable parcels in Fulton County puts a spotlight on Ferdinand.

The fee may add to the cost of tax collection, but Payne said it’s far less than it would cost for each city to collect taxes on its own, and the process is more efficient.

Jeff Breslau, a Johns Creek spokesman, said last week that the city uses Ferdinand to keep residents from getting two tax bills. Jenna Garland, an Atlanta spokeswoman, said the city partnered with Ferdinand in 2002 after trying to collect on its own. Before then, she said, the collection rate fell below 90 percent. And the fees for collection are less than it would cost to reestablish that office.


Ferdinand could not be reached for comment on Friday. But he said Wednesday that he was not willing to negotiate the $1 per parcel fee.

“I am open to the law, and the law says I will be compensated,” he said.

Hausmann said she hopes Ferdinand will reevaluate his position. The matter will again come before the board Aug. 2.
In South Fulton, Edwards is worried that he’ll have to contract with someone else if commissioners don’t approve the agreement. 

Right now, no taxes are being collected in the city. “Dr. Ferdinand ain’t doing nothing illegal, he’s doing something you don’t like,” said Edwards, a former Fulton County commissioner. “He takes advantage of it....The state of Georgia thinks it’s fine.”

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7/20/17

Fulton tax commissioner’s fees in dispute, will delay tax collection


Posted: 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, 2017


Tax collection in the new city of South Fulton is in limbo after Fulton county commissioners balked at an agreement that would pay Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand an additional $1 per parcel for doing the work.
Ferdinand, who is the highest-paid elected official in the state in part because of such fees, said Wednesday that he would not negotiate a deal that would deny him the money that state law says he can collect.
“I am open to the law, and the law says I will be compensated,” he said.
State law allows Ferdinand and other tax commissioners to collect the fees as part of their salary. Dan Ray, the executive director for the Georgia Association of Tax Officials, said previously that tax commissioners deserve high compensation because they handle so much public money.
Ferdinand earned about $390,000 last year, a total that included $210,281 in $1 fees for collecting taxes in Johns Creek, Sandy Springs and Atlanta. Atlanta paid him the largest amount, $152,865.
South Fulton has 40,596 taxable parcels, according to the county tax assessor’s office.
Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann said she could not support an agreement that allowed Ferdinand to add an additional $40,000 to his salary, calling it problematic. Money should go to the county, and not to individuals, she said.
“The issue is not the fee, the issue is where the fee goes,” Hausmann said. “I wish you were more willing to look at a different structure.”
County commissioners have to approve the agreement for Ferdinand to collect taxes for South Fulton, a new city that incorporated this spring. They decided Wednesday to delay a vote on the agreement until August in the hopes of negotiating another agreement. In the meantime, county attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker said, taxes would not be collected on South Fulton’s behalf.
“I just hope we don’t jeopardize the new city with this decision,” Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves said. “…We’ve got to figure something out. I don’t want 100,000 residents of the new city to be a victim of an ideological tug of war.”
South Fulton Mayor Bill Edwards did not return several phone calls seeking comment about the fee. Because the law allows the county tax commissioner to collect fees only from cities, Ferdinand did not charge any additional money to the area when it was part of unincorporated Fulton County.
In Johns Creek, spokesman Jeff Breslau said the city paid Ferdinand $26,670 in $1 fees last year. The city elects to use Ferdinand’s services for efficiency’s sake, Breslau said, to keep residents from getting multiple tax bills.
Ferdinand is not the only tax commissioner to collect the fee. In DeKalb County, Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson collected $113,000 in fees from 10 cities last year for a total salary of $285,781. Tax commissioners in Gwinnett and Cobb counties don’t receive salary supplements from cities.
Earlier this year, the Georgia General Assembly passed a law that curtailed some other fees Ferdinand was collecting. It eliminated a 50-cent fee that also went to the tax commissioner every time he sold a tax lien. Between 2011 and 2015, Ferdinand collected more than $200,000 as a result of that fee. He continued to collect it through July 1, the effective date of the new law.
Ferdinand earlier this year had proposed a different agreement that distributed the South Fulton payment among his staff. Members of South Fulton’s city council approved that agreement in May, though county commissioners were opposed to it.
Hausmann, the county commissioner, said her opposition was nothing personal. Ferdinand does “a great job collecting taxes,” she said, but her north Fulton constituents are opposed to the $1 fee.
“Other people like the job I do also, and they pay for it,” Ferdinand said.

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