Conservation Use Appeal Hearings Are Conducted

Nearly two dozen taxpayer’s appeals were reviewed by the Jasper County Board of Assessors (BOA) during last week’s regular meeting.

The hearings, scheduled for the purpose of listening to appeal denials previously decided by the BOA, brought a multitude of county taxpayers to the Courthouse Law Library to present their cases.

With the exception of Providence Baptist Church, all the appeals heard were based on their conservation use (CU) status. More than a dozen church members convened Thursday to protest an exemption denial on some 180 acres of land located in Shady Dale.

A representative for the group explained that when the BOA’s field appraiser visited for the onsite review the gates to the property in question were locked. The church member also explained that the site houses a pavilion, hiking trail, and that youth hunting activities are planned for the fall and winter.

The church representative cited two separate Georgia cases, launched in Pickens and Leggett counties, where churches received partial tax exemptions.
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Assessor Cathy Benson said that the board’s concern with the application is what was happening with the property on or by January 1, the time at which the exemption would apply. She then motioned to deny exemption status because there was no pavilion as of January 1. The denial was upheld 3-0.

Assessors encouraged church members to reapply for exemption status next year once the activities had begun.

Conservation applications dominated the appeals portion of the meeting as six applicants made appearances to contest their denials. Three of the six appeal candidates were represented by attorney Dan Roberts, former legal counsel to the BOA.

Mr. Roberts represented Doug Thomas and Tim Slaughter, both Cedar Creek Subdivision landowners. With regard to Mr. Thomas’ appeal, the attorney said that the landowner had his 30-acre tract placed in conservation in 2005 and that he did not understand why the landowner was now being denied that status.

BOA Chairman James Harrell noted that the board had made errors and that they were trying to rectify those errors.

“We are diligently trying to go through every parcel in the county,” said Mr. Harrell in relation to the afore mentioned errors.
Mr. Roberts said that taxpayers are seeing that each are not being treated the same as others and went on to note that Mr. Thomas is in conservation and was approved before the current board’s term.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” responded Mrs. Benson.
Mr. Thomas’ CU denial was upheld 3-0.
Mr. Slaughter’s appeal on 23 acres was based on the premise cited by Mr. Roberts earlier—that as a taxpayer he wanted to be treated the same as others.

His denial was also upheld 3-0 and was based on the subdivision covenants that the assessors view as residential in nature not agricultural, the intended purpose of CU.

The last taxpayers represented by Mr. Roberts was Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Boyd. The couple owns 10 acres in North Jasper Farms which according to the BOA has restrictive covenants.

The Boyds appealed their CU denial based on equality. Mr. Boyd said that one of his neighbors had been granted the exemption and therefore did not understand why his application was denied.
Mrs. Boyd questioned as to whether the neighbor in question would be removed from conservation when the 10-year covenant expires. Chairman Harrell said that those neighbors would be removed this year before the board voted to uphold the CU denial 3-0.

Another North Jasper Farms applicant, David Fowler, also met with denial on Thursday. Mr. Fowler explained that he was making a farm on 18.75 acres that border Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center.

According to his interpretation of the Georgia code on CU, Mr. Fowler felt that raising agriculture was permissible. He said that there is a big “if” applied in the law. His passionate plea as a taxpayer was not enough to change the decision of the assessors.

J.L. Ozburn, a landowner with 198 acres on Hodges Farm Road already in CU, was seeking to place five adjoining acres under the covenant. His request was denied 3-0.

Allen McGinnis’s CU appeal was tabled for legal clarification. He said that when his Cooks Meadow property was purchased there were no covenants in place. The assessors agreed to have the county attorney review his appeal.

Bart Ellington, a Shady Dale landowner of 255 acres, had his CU status reversed by the BOA.
Mr. Harrell said that Mr. Ellington was given the tax exemption initially with the stipulation that the tenants who lived in the rental house worked on the farm. The BOA decided to reverse that decision after a visit recorded by the field appraiser to the tenant house.

When the field appraiser visited the house and asked whether the couple works for the landowner, the wife said they did not, according to Mr. Harrell. The husband, who was present with Mr. Ellington Thursday, said that both of them had full time jobs while still assisting with the farm work.

Mr. Ellington said that there was a misunderstanding between parties that was the result of a difference in semantics. In the only non-unanimous vote of the day, assessors voted 2-1 to uphold the denial. Chairman Harrell cast the dissenting vote.

Following the vote, Mr. Ellington questioned the time period during which it took for his appeal to be heard.

“Why did it take 10 months for my appeal to be heard?” asked Mr. Ellington.

“You’d have to ask our former chief appraiser,” replied Mrs. Benson.

“So I’m paying for his offenses?” said the taxpayer. Mr. Ellington went on to say that he had never received an original tax bill but had received a penalties letter.

During a review of pending conservation use applications, assessors approved Lanier Ozburn for 70 acres; the Funderburg family for 121 acres; the Ellijah Johnson Family, LLC for a continuation on 100 acres; Fox Farms for 52.7 acres; Kay Arbrose for 20 acres and 35 acres separately; and Larry Wayne Cason for 33 acres.

Conservation use denials voted on by the assessors included 23 acres located in the city limits; 12.4 acres partially situated in the city; and Hal Harris for 13 acres.

Also settled was the pending Robert Pennington conservation case while the Fitzpatrick Family application was tabled for further review.
The final action taken on CU applications Thursday was to review and remove any properties located in areas with restrictions.

Breaches included four North Jasper Farms existing covenants for John Price, Larry Cross, Molly Brown, and Mike Worthy; Cook Meadows taxpayer Charles O’Kelly was breached; and Monticello city limits covenants for the Gap Family, L.O. Benton, IV, Susan Stevens, and Shirley Davis were breached.

CU covenants also breached included Barnes Mountain Farms taxpayers Bill Wade, David Powell, and Lamar Powell; Rock Eagle Farms taxpayers Alvin Mitchell, Janice Weldon, and Teresa Williams; Lake Ridge taxpayers Andre Merritt and Sylvia Williamson; and Blackwell Creek Farm taxpayers David & Larry Morrison/E.O. Jordan, Marvin Patterson, Tony Carter, and David Morrison.

CHIEF APPRAISER REPORT
Chief appraiser Lynn Bentley reported that an appeal of the 2005 sales tax ratio resulted in a final figure of 37.20, a mark below the state’s 38.00 requirement. The Dept. of Revenue decision was rendered last week following the appeal that conducted the two weeks ago.

The chief appraiser reported that five residential properties were the only values removed from the reconfiguration presented to the DOR.

With regard to the 2006 tax digest, Mrs. Bentley reported that data entry should be complete once the conservation applications decisions are entered into the system. At that point, a preliminary report will be sent to the mailing service TBS and an error report will be produced. After corrections, the final reports will be generated for approval by the BOA during the August 8 meeting.

A 2006 consolidation report was provided to the assessors with the chief appraiser noting a $24 million value increase from last year. However, two-thirds of the increase was conservation values.

Also provided to the assessors were an updated policy regarding tax maintenance employees assisting front office visitors. The original policy banned any employee other than the chief appraiser from assisting previous or current assessors and commissioners.

Apparently the policy was met with some dismay and the revamped policy now allows any staff member to assist those particular customers at the front desk only. If a change of information is required by such customers, then they must be referred to the chief appraiser. If the chief appraiser is out of the office for more than two consecutive days and/or the business is urgent, the BOA chairman may be contacted.

In addition to approving error and release forms as recommended by the chief appraiser, the assessors approved contracting QPublic, LLC for $4,500 annually for website maintenance. The office’s website, www.jaspercounty.boa, is currently operational.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Assessors is Tuesday, August 8 at 1 p.m. in the Courthouse Law Library.