Republicans take aim at school board candidate's taxes

Oct. 24—In the latest controversy in the race for Post 4 of the Cobb County Board of Education, Democratic candidate Catherine Pozniak is hitting back at accusations from Republican officials that she underpaid property taxes in 2021.

At issue are the school taxes levied on Pozniak's north Cobb home, which was formerly owned by her late father. State Reps. Ginny Ehrhart, R-west Cobb, and John Carson, R-north Cobb, charge that Pozniak took advantage of Cobb's senior tax exemption in 2021, enabling her to avoid paying thousands in school taxes.

In 2021, no school taxes were levied on the house due to Cobb's senior tax exemption. The exemption waives homeowners 62 and older from paying school property taxes. The exemption applies if the person owns, resides in and claims the property as their primary legal residence on January 1.

"Dr. Pozniak needs to play by the rules and dutifully pay her taxes like everyone else," Carson said. "This was probably an error, and I express my condolences for her father's passing. However, public officials are held to a higher standard.

"If she wants to decide how our school tax dollars are spent, then she needs to pay her own back taxes for Cobb County schools."

Pozniak disputes that anything untoward occurred.

"My father, Ed, passed away in the first month of the pandemic. Losing a parent is difficult at any time, and it was especially difficult during a global shut-down. Our family has ample documentation to show that we settled Dad's affairs with honesty and integrity, just as he lived his life," Pozniak said in a statement.

Homeowners of any age can claim a standard homestead exemption on the house they live in, which lowers the home's assessed value by $10,000. If in 2021 the home had received the standard homestead exemption, instead of the senior tax exemption, then about $2,360 more taxes would have been levied.

Tax bill

Pozniak's father died in April 2020. In June 2021, ownership was transferred from his estate to his heirs, Pozniak and her sister, court records show. Ownership was then transferred the same day solely to Pozniak, who now lives there.

Cobb County tax bills are mailed out annually by Aug. 15. In the 2021 tax bill, Pozniak's father is listed as the homeowner, hence the senior tax exemption.

Emails provided by Pozniak to the MDJ show the Cobb Tax Commissioner's Office was not aware of the change in ownership when the 2021 tax bill was sent out. Exemptions automatically renew each year unless there is a change in ownership or qualifications.

In early 2022, Pozniak sought to voluntarily pay the school taxes that were waived in 2021, but was told she couldn't, the emails show.

A county tax specialist told Pozniak that there would not be an additional bill for 2021 because of county policy.

"In other words had we been notified that your father had passed before you transferred the property to your name, we would have removed his exemptions for 2021 and sent a bill," the specialist wrote.

Pozniak responded, asking if there was a way for her to voluntarily pay the taxes.

"As I mentioned on the phone, the transfer of the property took longer than expected because of COVID-related delays, and I thought the county was aware of my father's passing after his voter registration was canceled," Pozniak wrote.

The county tax specialist responded, "I appreciate your honesty and desire to do what you feel is right. As I explained previously we can't bill a new owner for a previous owner's exemptions, so there is no way for you to pay. We have processed your application for homestead and will just go forward for 2022."

October surprises

In a press release, Rep. Ehrhart went further than Carson, calling on Cobb Solicitor General Barry Morgan to press charges against Pozniak. Ehrhart accused the candidate of stealing from Cobb students and "illegally us(ing) the senior tax exemption of a deceased individual to claim a fraudulent homestead exemption."

"This action is inexcusable. No one should commit such a violation, and most certainly not someone running for the Cobb School Board.

"Whether this violation was committed deliberately or by ignorance, there is no doubt it renders Ms. Pozniak unfit to serve. I'm not sure what sort of lessons in morality Mrs. Pozniak learned at Harvard, but I'm quite sure the average Georgian does not believe a middle-aged woman is entitled to cheat her way to a senior tax exemption," Ehrhart said.

(Pozniak earned a doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard University.)

Reached for comment, Solicitor Morgan said he had asked his chief investigator to "make some contacts and see if there is any need for an investigation, or if we should open an investigation.

"I looked at the law, and there is a law that perhaps could be applicable in this situation, perhaps not, based on whatever the facts and circumstances are," Morgan said. "And it's obviously too early for me to really comment on that."

Morgan added that any violation of the law Ehrhart referenced would require the person to make an "intentional decision to defraud the county."

Pozniak faces Republican school board Chairman David Chastain in the Nov. 8 election.

Post 4 is one of three school board seats on the ballot this year, and the only one with a Republican incumbent. The outcome is expected to determine whether or not the GOP retains control of the school board in Cobb, which has grown increasingly blue in recent cycles.

The race has become heated since the May primaries, with the candidates attacking each other in newsletters and social media posts.

Last week, Pozniak filed a complaint with the state ethics commission alleging Chastain violated state campaign finance law, charges Chastain dismissed as "baseless." The commission will investigate the complaint after the election.

The candidates also made hay of each other's donors — Pozniak pointed to Chastain receiving money from lawyers who work at the firm the school board hired to draw its district maps; Chastain said Pozniak was being funded by radical liberal groups.

On Monday, Pozniak accused Chastain and his "political cronies" of launching a smear campaign against her and her family in retaliation for the ethics complaint.

"With two weeks left in this race, David Chastain has already stooped to mining my father's obituary and weaponizing the details of his death and his estate to launch personal attacks because Mr. Chastain has nothing to say about the fact that half of Cobb's 3rd graders can't read and half of Cobb's students can't pass algebra."

She added, "My father served this country for 25 years in the Army, signed-up for two tours in Vietnam, and was a Bronze Star recipient.

"Mr. Chastain cannot trample on the reputation and memory of a decorated Vietnam Veteran to deflect from his own failures as a leader."

Reached for comment, Chastain denied that anyone was "going after her family."

"Obviously Representative Carson has been concerned about things that have been going on, and Ms. Ehrhart. So that's them doing due diligence, investigating the Democrat opponent," he said.

Chastain added that the issue was whether Pozniak is "willing to accept personal responsibility or not."

"If she's the one that chose not to make sure that everything was aligned with the law relative to her inheritance, that's her business," he said.