There is a fabulous nonprofit group here in Atlanta called the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation. I found out about them by accident, and attended one of their classes last month. The class was taught by a former tax assessor, information they provided was very useful in regards to how taxes are formulated, how to appeal if you think your assessment is out of kilter, and how to gather your information for your appeal. Although their name is "Fulton County", the info they provided was valid statewide, and they welcomed anyone from any county in the state. It was well worth two hours of a Saturday morning to attend, and the class was free. See if you have a similar group nearby. BTW, they had no political orientation or agenda that I could determine. They presented purely property tax related information. Here is a link that might be useful: FCTF Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation

Mike-I’m not sure your wording equates to the explanation of the escrow account and calculating the amount needed at closing. There is no capitalization of an escrow account. The lender actually uses a very simple formula to determine that there won’t be a shortage when it comes time to pay those bills. In many areas, the taxes paid in 2019 are actually 2018 taxes. In your case, it sounds like the taxes paid in 2019 are 2019 taxes. So by paying in July 2019, you are paying the “current year’s” taxes. If you were paying the 2020 taxes in 2019, you would then be paying a year ahead. How much you bring to closing has more to do with how soon the taxes need paid. You bring more to closing if the taxes are due in 2 months versus if they were due in 11 months.

It took them 3 years to come out and reassess our home after our restoration. Needless to say, we were a bit surprised to hear from them. We didn't realize this was a thing. They just came last week, so I don't know how it will affect things. We added a bathroom and A/C, but lost a bedroom. Other finishes remained about the same. We added a new garage at the same time (tore down a 100 year old single car and put up a dble car, but in the same style to match our 100 yr old house). We did pull permits for this, but he looked out the window and said, "And you still have a garage". I didn't lie, but I also didn't respond.

Because people don't object to tax increases. For any government entity... You can always hire more policemen. You can always give every policemen a newer SUV. Provide a high end car and a driver to every principle and superintendent You can always hire more vice principals. You can always give 3 , 4, 5 percent raises or better retirement packages to every employee. You can spend infinite amounts of money on schools, roads, bridges, improving infrastructure, cleaning lakes, ponds, etc. You can always build a new school and order new architectural design with 20 million payment to architectural firm . You can always spend more money decorating and equipping every classroom. Build new stadium, cricket field, public pools. Hire more administrators to make sure every process is documented and better computers / software. As a taxpayer you should always vote NO to every tax increase or spending venues. Because the government has the ability to spend infinite amounts of taxpayer money.