Assessors Set Digest

From the action taken by the Jasper County Board of Assessors (BOA) during their regular monthly meeting last Thursday, March 24, it appears that property values in the county will be decreasing for the second year in a row.

The board approved the following Summary of Value Adjustments as presented by Chief Appraiser Lynn Bentley.

• Rural Land: All rural land in the county was reduced from 20-25 percent depending on sales in the area.

•Residential structures: All were depreciated for age. Houses on rural land reduced by 10 percent. Houses on residential land reduced from 10-20 percent depending on sales in the area. Turtle Cove interior residential structures were reduced 20 percent, and all other were reduced 10-15 percent.

•Residential Land: Five acre subdivisions—land was mostly unchanged as these are usually sold as owner finance and the vacant land sales were close to current value.

• New Subdivisions: Lots decreased from 30-60 percent.

• Interior lots in lake neighborhoods: Minor changes in some, mostly unchanged as most are already valued at $2,000-$3,000.

• Lake Neighborhoods: Ten percent reduction on most of the higher valued areas, lower valued areas unchanged.

•Monticello: Some lot values decreased to be in line with lower priced areas.

•Developments valued by acre: Values were adjusted to be in line with rural land schedule, unless sales indicated otherwise.

•Commercial/Industrial: Based on three commercial sales in the city which sold for more than the current value there were no changes to city commercial property. Two other sales in the county warranted a slight decrease in land. There were no local sales for industrial.

However, a state wide analysis of sales indicates industrial properties selling $21 to $36 per square foot based on size. Of the county’s 24 industrial properties, 18 are currently valued under $36 per square foot with the median being $14 per square foot. Therefore no adjustments were recommended for industrial.
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According to the office of the BOA, assessment notices will be mailed out around the middle of April. The notices this year will be very different than what has been sent in prior years. Senate Bill 346, passed last year, states that a uniform state-wide assessment notice must be created, and that all Georgia counties will be using the same notice and are not allowed to change or alter it in any way.

The notice requires that all property owners will now receive an annual notice, regardless of whether the value changes. The purpose of the notice is to inform property owners of the value that has been assigned to their property, and to give them an estimate of what their tax bill will be. The estimated tax, however, will reflect the reduction in value of a property, but it will be based on last year’s millage rate. Therefore, the estimate could easily change significantly if the school board or county commission increases the millage rate.

Values are reviewed and determined every year based on the activity of the real estate market. An assessment notice shall also be posted in the newspaper at a future date.

Also, according to the tax commissioner’s office, tax bills are tentatively scheduled to be mailed out by July 20, and will contain a tear sheet showing that 50 percent of the property tax bill is due on September 20, and the remaining 50 percent is due on December 20. The taxpayer will have the option of paying 100 percent on September 20, or 50 percent in September and 50 percent in December. There will not be an option of paying 100 percent in December, and taxpayers not paying 50 percent in September will be considered delinquent and subject to fines and interest.

In other action the BOA considered a tax exemption application for a interior residence in Turtle Cove claiming the house was used for religious purposes only. No proof was furnished of this claim and upon inspection the residence appeared to be an empty house that was for sale. The board voted unanimously to deny the application.
The board also approved the Error and Release Forms in which the fair market value was adjusted on three mobile homes.

In addition, the board approved the Conservation Renewals of Keith and Michelle Mosley, Benjamin Warren Pope ETLA, Suzanne Lindsey and Walter Cowan, Suzanne Lindsey, Ronald and Nealie Dodd, James A. Bowden, Michael and Jason Wakeman, and Neal and Sherry Golf; the Conservation Continuations of David and Kristin Crumpler, Mary Ann Farms LLC, and Emily Kelly; the New Conservation of Paul R. Phillips, Michael L. Holloway, and Elijah Johnson, Jr.

After scheduling their next regular meeting for Tuesday, April 12 at 5 p.m., the board adjourned.