BOA Appeals BOE Reversals

The Jasper County Board of Assessors (BOA) voted on the decisions of the Board of Equalization (BOE) in 16 cases where the appeals on property tax had been granted.

Two of the decisions were approved by the BOA, however the board voted to send 13 appeals, and part of a fourteenth appeal, to the county attorney with instructions to file an appeal in Superior Court on the BOE decisions.

In total, there were 72 appeals to the BOE on property tax assessments. Other than the 16 cases mentioned above, 35 cases were rejected, nine were rescheduled, and 12 were withdrawn before a hearing.

Also, there were two Conservation Use Value Exempt Appeals on the agenda. In the first case King Shaw and Mr. Vaughn presented their case on The Farms at King Plow Road on Post Road. They argued that houses on the property do not disqualify it as agriculture under the code, and that potentially only 15 houses will be on the property taking up only seven acres and leaving 98 percent of the 277 acre property as a wildlife habitat, and that by maintaining over 10 acres as a wildlife habitat qualifies property as a type of agriculture.
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Mr. Shaw produced pictures of the property and a membership to the National Wildlife Association. He also assured the board that no hunting would be allowed on the property and that all types of wildlife would flourish. He went on to say the property gets no water or any type of service from the county and is supported by dues from the property owners association. In addition, Mr. Shaw said he has talked to members of the Georgia Legislature concerning the matter and they have urged him to go to court if necessary, and that he was ready to do that.

The board, after discussion and questions, voted to render a decision on the appeal at their next meeting scheduled for DEC. 4, allowing them time to get legal advice.
The other CUV appeal, which was reviewed and denied last June by the BOE, was from the Providence Baptist Church covering 180 acres on Wyatt Road near Shady Dale.

Representatives from the church, led by pastor Ed Westbrook, argued that the property is used 100 percent for religious purposes with a pavilion and Bible trails. Mr. Westbrook told the board that three and one-half miles of trails were used for youth activity with scripture posted on trees, that the church spends money on it as an outreach program to get people to hear the word of God, and it was utilized approximately every six weeks.

The board voted 3 to 1 to uphold the original denial.
The results of a mobile home digest were approved by the board, in which it was revealed the county has 410 mobile homes representing $7.7 million in value, as opposed to last year’s count of 467 representing $8.6 million in value.

Under Conservation Appli-cations for 2008, the board approved nine applications, all renewals from last year, pending no change in ownership.

Under Chief Appraiser Items, the following was covered:

•An employee review form was approved with reviews scheduled to be submitted to the board of commissioners in January.

•Outsourcing of personal property returns was approved at a cost of 67 cents per return including postage.

•An education update revealed the tax assessors office now has two appraisers III and three appraisers II, a level far above any recent times in the office.

•Approved the replacement of two three-year-old com-puters.

•Approved the denial of an automobile appeal based on a NADA review.

•Approved a newspaper ad with open information to taxpayers.
In the last item on the agenda, the board approved an Error & Release report representing changes in tax amounts due to changes in ownership/location/reno-vation, etc.