Jasper BOA Shines in State Audit

Jasper County was one of only two counties to pass a recent audit covering the last six years, conducted by the Audit and Accounting Department of the top 10 counties with the largest Forest Land Protection Assistance (FLPA) grant amounts, according to information presented at the Jasper County Board of Assessors (BOA) meeting last week.

The FLPA was established to assist large land owners with tax relief, and to reimburse counties for lost tax revenues on properties in the program based on the county Board of Assessors (BOA) uniform reporting of fair market values.

During the regular monthly meeting of the BOA on January 14, Chief Appraiser Lynn Bentley presented a report to the BOA from the state which read:

“Over the past six years the Department of Revenue’s (DOR) tax digest review has found that the assessed values in eight of the top counties, with the exception of Jasper and Taliaferro counties, were not reasonably uniform or based on fair market value. Three of these eight counties were found deficient for two consecutive review cycles.

“As a result, the DOR required them to pay a $5.00 penalty per parcel or enter into a Consent Order Agreement to revalue all taxable properties in this digest. The DOR conditionally approved the tax digests for the remaining five counties with the expectation that revaluations would occur before the next three year review period.

The FLPA assistance grant amount to Jasper County for the year 2012 came to a total of $808,067, said Ms. Bentley, contributing greatly to much needed revenue by the county.