Assessment Notices To Arrive Soon

Jasper County property owners should be on the lookout for assessment notices in their mailbox next week.

During the regular meeting of the Board of Assessors Tuesday afternoon, newly appointed chief appraiser Lynn Bentley said that she had reviewed approximately 2,211 real property assessments with an increased value of $90,679,304 as well as 255 personal property assessments with an increased value of $2,451,491.

Assessors Jim Harrell, Cathy Benson, and Gerald Bramblett voted to approve mailing those notices along with a tax maintenance office brochure prepared by TBS, the mailing service who will be sending the notices.

Mrs. Benson inquired as to whether TBS had the correct information for the notices so as to avoid the printing error that occurred earlier this year when tax bills were mailed with an incorrect exemption deadline.
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Assessors also awarded Traylor Business Services the personal property revaluation contract, pending a review of the proposed contract by county attorney John Nix. The company submitted the lowest bid, $89,500, of three companies received. Funds for the revaluation project were included in the 2006 budget, said the chief appraiser.

Assessors instituted a new conservation use (CU) policy, slated to begin in 2007, during Tuesday’s meeting. The new policy requires more rigid guidelines and increased documentation for bona fide agricultural use of the property. The current guidelines will elapse at the conclusion of this year.

The chief appraiser’s report included a review of the 2006 sales ratio report. Jasper County’s final overall totals for all fair market sales totaled .3947 as the median ratio which meets the state required ratio of .38 to .42. The county’s price related differential (PRD) totaled 1.0149 and coefficient of dispersion (COD) totaled .1297, the state requires a .95 to 1.05 PRD and less than .1500 for residential sales.

The report also included an analysis of sales in various areas of the county. Those areas included improved Turtle Cove interior lots and golf course lots, Sky Ranch hangar lots, Templeton Heights lakefront lots, Cedar Creek Subdivision, and tracts in northern Jasper more than 15 acres.
Mrs. Bentley said that she was hoping to offer one-of-two candidates the personal property vacancy in the office by Friday. Chairman Harrell said that the new employee would be required to obtain a level II appraiser status within two years.

The chief appraiser also praised former employee Cheri Phipps-Shaw for her work on the personal property digest before vacating the position.
At the close of Mrs. Bentley’s office update, the assessors voted unanimously to upgrade her employment status from deputy chief appraiser to chief appraiser at $45,000 per year.

A request to allow her to serve as chief appraiser had been submitted to the state Dept. of Revenue weeks ago but has yet to solicit a response although she is listed on their website as chief appraiser.

In other business, assessors granted one CU exemption after an appeal with the applicant; denied another exemption appeal; denied one homestead review; breached two CU covenants with prejudice; decided to post one possible CU breach at the Courthouse for the lack of an address; gave a 21-day notification to a possible CU breach; approved several error and release forms; and denied Providence Baptist Church an exemption on 180 acres.

Assessor appointees Jody Claborn and John Graham attended the meeting and will be taking the assessor course in July. Phyllis Norwood was scheduled to take an educational course in the fall.