Department of Revenue Reports Jasper County Sales Ratio as 37.16

Jasper County’s official sales ratio figure for 2005 is in from the Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) and is currently valued at 37.13 percent – .87 percent below the state’s required standard.

The sales ratio for a county is determined by averaging percentages of residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial properties. The state department requires at least a 38 percent sales ratio for all counties. In the event that this standard is not meet, the state may place counties under consent order and/or impose fines in addition to allotting an amount of time to raise the ratio percentages.

During the May 2 Board of Assessors meeting, chief appraiser Lynn Bentley estimated a 39.47 sales ratio from the total average of all four sales group. The DOR’s configured sales ratio returned last week included a three percent variance in the agricultural sales percentage from that estimated by the chief appraiser.

Mrs. Bentley said Wednesday that the DOR’s agricultural sales percentage is what contributed significantly to the county’s low overall sales ratio. Whereas the chief appraiser had the total of 40 plus agricultural sales valued more than 37 percent, the DOR’s sampling of 19 of those sales yielded a 34.75 percentage.

Mrs. Bentley said that she would be working closely with Jasper County Schools finance director Kathy Thomason to locate any deficiencies in preparation for an another DOR appeal.
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With the current sales ratio falling below the mark like last year, Superintendent Jay Brinson told Board of Education (BOE) members Tuesday that the central office staff will be preparing for another appeal this year.

Sales ratios below the state’s required average generally produce reduced education state funding through the quality basic education (QBE) program which affects public school system’s budgets.
Supt. Brinson said that reduced state funding translates into increased taxes for property owners in order to cover operational costs. He noted that last year local property owners experienced such because of reduced state funding.

Last year’s original sales ratio of 37.16, based on property transfers during 2003, was also below the state’s requirement prior to an appeal launched by the BOE. The ratio was later revalued at 38.27 whereas preliminary reports from Technical Appraisal Systems (TAS), the revaluation firm, had anticipated a 39 percent sales ratio.