Lucy McBath and her husband were ordered by Cobb County to pay back taxes because McBath misrepresented her permanent residency as being in .

• Cobb County ordered McBath’s husband to pay back-taxes for the years 2015-2018 after an audit determined that the McBaths didn’t qualify for the homestead exemption they had claimed. “Cobb County allows residents to lower their property tax liability through a homestead exemption to residents claiming a permanent residence in the county. McBath's husband has taken the homestead exemption since 2000, but has now been ordered to pay back-taxes for the last three years, according to documents obtained by AllOnGeorgia.com. The documents from the Cobb County Tax Commissioner’s office show an audit was performed after allegations were made that the McBaths were misusing the homestead exemption. The findings of the audit were that the McBaths did not qualify for the homestead exemption from 2015 through 2018, the year McBath was running for office. It cited vehicle registrations, voter registrations, and driver's license applications in other states.” (Brent Scher, “Tax Docs Show Lucy McBath Wasn’t Recognized as Permanent GA. Resident During ,” The Washington Free Beacon, 4/1/19)

o The McBaths were required to pay back over $1,197. “Ultimately, the Tax Commissioner assessed over $1,197 in taxes due to the county for the three year lookback in which homestead exemptions were wrongfully claimed. The Commissioner’s office confirmed Tuesday that the taxes had since been paid.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

• AllOnGeorgia.com reported that “the McBath's did not meet the requirements to call Cobb County their primary residence for the three tax years leading up to the election.” “AllOnGeorgia reported back in October 2018 that then-congressional candidate Lucy McBath and her husband, Curtis, were set to have their homestead exemption in Cobb County revoked by the county tax commissioner’s office because they did not meet the requirements for primary residency. The proposal for revocation was appealed by the McBath’s and the final decision was not made before Election Day on November 8th. But the Cobb County Tax Commissioner's Office confirmed Tuesday that the McBath's homestead exemption in Cobb County was, in fact, revoked for the tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018 - the year McBath ran for Congress and won - and back taxes were assessed. The audit on the homestead exemption dated back to 2015, but Georgia law only permits a three-year lookback. The final decision: the McBath's did not meet the requirements to call Cobb County their primary residence for the three tax years leading up to the election.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

o The reasons the McBath’s did quality for a homestead exemption included having driver’s licenses/tags in another county/state and having voting registrations in another county/state. “The reasons cited included: having tags/drivers licenses in another county/state [;] having voter registration in another county/state.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

o “The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office confirmed in July 2018 that McBath registered to vote in Tennessee again on March 23, 2016, but the McBath campaign claims Lucy voted for herself in May and July of 2018.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

o In October, 2016, McBath posted on Facebook that she voted in the 2016 Presidential Election in Tennessee.

(Lucy McBath, Facebook, 10/26/16)

Editor’s Note: Since the retrieval of the above post, McBath’s personal Facebook account’s privacy settings have been enabled.

o McBath has claimed that she has been a Georgia resident since 1990, but during a debate in May, 2018, admitted—that for personal reasons—she voted in Tennessee in 2016. McBATH: “I have been a Georgia resident since 1990. My son was born and raised in Georgia. In 2016, as I was traveling on behalf of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, for personal family reasons, I voted in Tennessee, and then in 2017 I switched it back. Now, as I was traveling on behalf of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, I heard some horrible things that were said about me from the Republican Party: that I was a pawn for Hillary Clinton, and that I was pimping my child, and that is very hard rhetoric to hear from the Republican Party. However, for anyone in this party to challenge my commitment to the Democratic Party, I think it’s very painful and I really think that we can do better than that.” ( Press Club, “Democratic Debate: 6th Congressional District,” Clip begins at 20:00, Uploaded 5/2/18)

o “The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in 2018 that Curtis McBath has been registered to vote in Tennessee since 1991.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

o McBath said on multiple occasions that her husband Curtis is a permanent resident of Tennessee 0 he owns three parcels of land in Blount County, Tennessee. “The Blount County Tax Office in Tennessee indicated that Curtis McBath owns three parcels of land in the county and Lucy McBath said on more than one occasion that her husband is a ‘permanent resident’ of Tennessee.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

o Curtis McBath has also claimed a homestead exemption on a property in Blount County, Tennessee since 2002. “The audit letter was sent to the McBaths at an address in Rockford, Tennessee (which is among the properties owned by McBath in Tennessee, per the Blount County property tax records) but details the property in question on Brentwood Drive in Marietta. At the time, the property tax records from Blount County, TN listed the Marietta address as the correspondence address for Curtis McBath. The Marietta address was the same one on which Curtis McBath has claimed a homestead exemption since 2002.” (Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

• Per documents retrieved by AllOnGeorgia, Lucy McBath’s name appears alongside Curtis’ on tax bills asking for corrected payment of 2016 taxes.

(Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

• Per documents retrieved by AllOnGeorgia, Lucy McBath’s name appears alongside Curtis’ on tax bills asking for corrected payment of 2017 taxes.

(Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

• Per documents retrieved by AllOnGeorgia, Lucy McBath’s name appears alongside Curtis’ on tax bills asking for corrected payment of 2018 taxes.

(Jessica Szllagyi, “GEORGIA POLITICS3 Years of Homestead Exemptions Revoked for GA Congresswoman, Back Taxes Assessed,” AllOnGeorgia.com, 3/26/19)

Additional Links to Tennessee:

• THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON HEADLINE: “Tax Docs Show Lucy McBath Wasn’t Recognized as Permanent Ga. Resident During Election” (Brent Scher, “Tax Docs Show Lucy McBath Wasn’t Recognized as Permanent GA. Resident During Election,” The Washington Free Beacon, 4/1/19)

o THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON BYLINE: “County Orders McBath to Pay Back Taxes After Learning Family Improperly Applied For Homestead Exemption” (Brent Scher, “Tax Docs Show Lucy McBath Wasn’t Recognized as Permanent GA. Resident During Election,” The Washington Free Beacon, 4/1/19)

• In March 2020, McBath sent out voicemails inviting constituents to a Coronavirus town hall using an eastern Tennessee phone number. “A Georgia Democrat, who has been accused of carpetbagging, used a Tennessee phone number to alert constituents of a coronavirus tele-townhall, according to a voicemail shared with the Washington Free Beacon. Rep. Lucy McBath (D., Ga.) left a voicemail to constituents of her suburban Atlanta district announcing the townhall Thursday, though she used a phone number with an eastern Tennessee area code. McBath voted in Tennessee as recently as 2016, and her husband was a permanent resident of the state during her 2018 bid to oust former Republican congresswoman Karen Handel.” (Collin Anderson, “Georgia Dem Sets Up Coronavirus Townhall Using Her Tennessee Phone Number,” Washington Free Beacon, 3/30/20)

• McBATH: “Well, my husband is a permanent resident of Tennessee, and there were some considerations that we were making, and we made those decisions and we switched.” HOST: “I guess I’m asking what does that mean there were considerations you were making. I do think that’s a question the people have a right to ask.” McBATH: “Well, I mean, my husband is a permanent resident of Tennessee, and you know we were dealing with some personal issues. His father was not healthy at the time. They run their personal family farm. So those are all reasons that we were considering.” (Atlanta Press Club, “Democratic Debate: 6th Congressional District,” Clip begins at 22:35, Uploaded 5/2/18)

• In an October, 2018 article, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that voting records showing Curtis McBath—Lucy McBath’s husband—as registered to vote in Tennessee made it “pretty hard to square with his Cobb County tax exemption.” “Yesterday afternoon, though, our partners at the Georgia News Lab got their hands on a copy of Curtis McBath’s voter registration. It shows that he has been registered to vote in Blount County, Tenn., since 1991. That makes it pretty hard to square with his Cobb County tax exemption.” (Jim Galloway, Greg Bluestein, and Tamar Hallerman, “The Jolt: Stacey Abrams, Georgia Dems Double Down On ‘Exact Match,’” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/12/18)

• In 2018, McBath disclosed two vehicles on her Personal Financial Disclosure Report, both associated with her husband and located in Tennessee.

(Clerk of the House of Representatives, “Financial Disclosure Report: Ms. Lucia Kay McBath, Office of the Clerk, 5/21/18)

o According to Georgia Law (OCGA 48-5-444), each vehicle owned by a resident of Georgia must be returned in the county in which the owner claims the Homestead Exemption. xt“As proof of residency, you must be a permanent legal resident of Cobb County and the state of Georgia to claim homestead exemptions. Georgia law (OCGA 48-5-444) states, ‘Each motor vehicle owned by a resident of this state shall be returned in the county where the owner claims homestead exemption.’ In other words, you must provide the registration or tax receipts for all vehicles you own showing that you paid motor vehicle taxes in Cobb County.” (Cobb County Tax Commissioner, “Exemption Information,” accessed 8/29/20)

• On her 2019 personal financial disclosure, McBath discloses her husband owns a “1 Acre Lot” in Rockford/Blount County, TN.

(Clerk of the House of Representatives, “Financial Disclosure Report: Ms. Lucia Kay McBath, Office of the Clerk, 8/13/20)