Property tax assessments coming to the county

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Citizens of Houston County can expect some fluctuation in their property taxes again this year. According to a press release from the Houston County Board of Commissioners, property tax assessments notices were mailed to property owners May 12.

“Due to continued strong real-estate demand and a strong housing market, property owners will experience an increase in appraised value,” the release said. “County Tax Assessors are required by state law to maintain up-to-date appraisals of the fair market value of all properties in the county within plus or minus ten percent.

“Each year, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts pulls a record of all sales of real estate in each county and compares the values paid at the sale to the tax-appraised value on record.”

Mailed notices will include the value assigned to each property so that taxes can be measured, as well as any qualified exemptions. Additionally, any Houston County property owners who do not agree with the amount their property is valued for have a 45-day window to appeal the assessment — the window will close June 26.

To assist in breaking down how these assessments work, The Journal has attached a segment of a story published April 2, 2022:

The Journal reached out to Property Tax Educator Jim Davis for a better understanding of the revaluation process.

Davis has been working in the business of property evaluation and revaluation since 1972, having served a number of communities as a tax assessor, tax commissioner, chief appraiser, an educator and a member of Board of tax assessors — Davis is well acquainted with the Ad Valorem Tax Business.

According to Davis, the revaluation process all starts when there is a shift in the housing market — a shift in Fair Market Value.

“The Tax Assessors’ job is to follow that market,” Davis said. “They track and record sales prices on different kinds of property and if the valuations they’ve generated from their system — their valuation system, which is computerized — if those values begin to fall below what the actual sales prices on those properties are, then they’re bound by law and their sworn duty to get those values close to what the property is selling for.”

In layman’s terms, the Board of Tax Assessors has a set of values for property in the county, and if the market begins to drive prices too far above or below that set of values, a revaluation is triggered by law. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, there is no state mandated schedule for when a revaluation occurs — it’s all based on the market and how it shifts.

According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, if the county does not stay within a certain range of the Fair Market Value, they can be fined by the state government.

“There is no prescribed number of years,” Davis said. “The assessors’ job is to determine at what point values have fallen below sale price.

“It may be one year, may be two years, may be five years, it could be ten years. When they determine those values have fallen below [or above] sale price significantly, that’s when they decide to do a revaluation.”

However, the revaluation of a property does not immediately determine the property tax. There is also the county and city millage rate to consider.

Whatever the value of a property, 40% of that value will be the base for what a property owner is taxed on; however, the millage rate determines the actual tax.

Using an example provided by Davis, if you have a property valued at $100,000, 40% of that is $40,000, and that number is multiplied by the county and city millage rate. That generates your property tax bill.

However, whenever a revaluation occurs and the amount of taxes coming in has increased, the various governments receiving that funding are presented a rollback rate — a number that would generate the same money as if the revaluation had never occurred.

“Each of those living authorities has to either adopt that reduced rate, or hold hearings and run an ad in the newspaper called ‘Notice of Property Tax Increase,” Davis explained. He continued, this time with a warning: “Some of the tax payers think that if they the commissioners rollback the millage rate, everyone’s taxes will be the same; that is not true.”

If the county is receiving 10% more funding via property taxes, then the rollback will create a millage rate that brings in 10% less taxes. However, not everyone in the county will see the same percentage increase in their property value. Many will see varying increases dependent on the market driving up prices, any changes made to the home, or the value of the area shifting. Some may even see their property decrease in value, even while the market makes prices higher.

“Most folks think, ‘my commissioners and my school board, they all adopted the rollback rate, so when I get my tax bill it’ll be the same as last year,” Davis said. “It may be, but it may be more because your value went up more than the average.”

According to the press release from the Commissioner Board, the county has not yet discussed altering the millage rate, but will consider it in the coming future. The property tax and millage rate will be approved in July of 2023. Houston County’s millage rate rests at 1.177 mills, as it has for the past 16 years — the lowest millage rate in middle Georgia.

As more information on the millage rate comes available, you can read about it in the Houston Home Journal.

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