WABE
Project: Fulton’s Property Tax Collection Ensnares Black Families’ Homes and Wealth
Georgia law gives every tax commissioner the choice. When people don’t pay their taxes, the commissioners can collect the debt on their own. Or they can let investors do it for them.
Of all the counties in Georgia, possibly only one, Fulton County, takes investors up on this offer. The practice can be a quick way to shore up the county budget. But the policy comes at a cost. It puts investors in charge of a process that can end with residents losing their homes.
A WABE investigation showed the harmful results for Black homeowners.
Atlanta, Georgia
https://www.wabe.org/
Interview with Stephannie Stokes, project lead
Technology used:
Excel
Python
Geospatial
How it started:
Reporter Stephannie Stokes had previously reported on issues facing low income communities and usually black homeowners in Atlanta. But a lot of these neighborhoods face a lot of disinvestment for years. And then, just recently, there's been rising property values and there's been a lot of investors prowling through the neighborhoods and trying to get people to sell their homes.
She also previously looked at how cash offers like the “We Buy Houses” signs might lead homeowners to sell for less than their homes are worth, missing out on potential to build wealth for their families.
Code enforcement can pressure homeowners to feel like they have to sell their home, and how that can also lead to loss as well. So Stokes always knew that tax auctions were potentially a piece of this. But she didn’t previously have the ability to analyze the tax auction data.
Challenges:
Analyzing the data itself proved to be a challenge as Stokes lacked the skills to do more than a simple spreadsheet. Although there was early discussion on hiring a data editor, the newsroom instead opted to train Stokes to do the data work necessary. Training also connected her to multiple network of mentors and support.
Finding people to talk about their own experiences also proved to be difficult - in part because some may have felt shame over a tax sale and in part because phone numbers change.
Data/Documents:
Property tax records
Addresses of properties that were auctioned
Census data
Impact:
The project was shared widely among housing advocates and people who lead affordable housing policies in Atlanta. There was also legislation proposed to help ease the pain for property owners who are in danger of losing their homes over unpaid taxes.
Advice:
Spend time identifying data sets you’ll need and familiarizing yourself with the issue so you can present a strong proposal to your editor.
Set aside a budget for public records - even from a local municipality.