Update on Property Tax Revenues: Appeals Impact on Numbers

In a recent communication to Sole Commissioner Blake Elsberry and County Schools Superintendent Jared Hosmer, Chattooga County Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton provided a comprehensive update on the evolving scenario of property tax revenues.

In her message, Hampton acknowledged the commitment to informing the officials as property tax appeals were being processed. With 1206 bills awaiting finalization, Hampton offered a preliminary overview of the situation at the current juncture.

The projected property tax revenues reveal a decrease in actual tax dollars for key entities:

• Chattooga County School Board: -$193,929
• Chattooga County Incorporated/Unincorporated: -$159,692

Despite these reductions, Hampton cautioned against making premature assumptions about the final numbers. The appeals process has presented a complex dynamic, with properties undergoing adjustments that impact the overall landscape of the tax digest.

Read the correspondence below: 

Good afternoon,

I promised to keep you apprised of how your numbers were looking as the appeals were worked.  We now have 1206 bills waiting for final numbers, so it’s a good halfway point to see what’s happening to the digest.

 

As of today, I am showing the projected property tax revenues decreasing by these amounts (actual tax dollars):

 

Chattooga County School Board -$193,929;

 

Chattooga County Incorporated/Unincorporated together -$159,692.

 

It is still too early to make any guesses on where your numbers will wind up; however, they may not decrease by as much as we had originally tried to guess.

 

At the time the numbers were sent to me from the BOA, many of those under appeal had already had a “chunk” of the value of the land removed.  What I’m seeing is that once the appeal is finalized, part of that “chunk” has been reapplied to the residence.  That is acceptable under the law as long as it does not go over the original assessment value overall. So while the overall appealed numbers are decreasing from the assessments that were received in July from the BOA, they are increasing from the numbers I have currently.  In short, while some properties are decreasing in value from what you based your tax rates on, many of them are actually increasing from what you based your tax rates on.  Normally, the numbers I would send to you all would be those original numbers from the assessments, but it didn’t work out that way this year.

 

I am curious to see what it all looks like when it’s all said and done, but I do think it will still be several months.  I will keep you all posted as I see changes come through so that you can adjust your budgets accordingly.