Admittedly Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand has a rather thankless job, but sympathy is a two-way street. In these days of obliterated home values, joblessness and general economic woe, he still has to collect property taxes so Fulton County (e.g. Atlanta) still functions. One of Ferdinand's tools in collecting these taxes is the practice of selling tax liens to collection agencies. It's probably perfectly reasonable for the city to outsource this function. But folks don't find it reasonable that Ferdinand and the county refuse to release tax lien records to prove that the use of collection agencies doesn't unfairly target the poor. The issue has been raised under the Gold Dome, and lobbyists are apparently involved. Sounds pretty gross. [AJC]
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