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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13,2018
Tax board explains hike in property assessments
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Tax assessment notices
went out June 4, and
many county residents
have noticed an upswing
in their property value
assessments since last
year. If you belong in that
category, there are a few
reasons why those values
have increased.
Last May, the board of
commissioners voted to
spend over $500,000 to
hire a company to per
form a mass appraisal of
all real and personal prop
erty in the county, approx
imately 15,000 parcels.
The appraised value is
simply the estimate of
what the property is
worth.
Normally, the tax asses
sor’s office splits the
county into thirds and
only one third of the prop
erty assessments are
adjusted every year.
However, the Department
of Revenue states that the
county is supposed to per
form a mass appraisal, or
countywide revaluation,
every 10 years.
The last countywide
revaluation was done in
2006, and due to the
growth that the county has
seen and the length of
time since the last total
assessment, the county
contracted with Georgia
Mass Appraisal Solutions
and Services, or GMASS,
to conduct the two-year
process.
Residential and agricul
tural assessments began
last June and were com
pleted just before the tax
assessment notices were
mailed out. The commer
cial and industrial revalua
tions should be completed
by next summer.
Sam Gutherie, chair of
the tax assessor’s board,
said that the board voted
May 29 to accept the new
assessments by GMASS
for all residential and agri
cultural properties in the
county.
“Someone came in the
other day and theirs had
gone up 44 percent, others
were less, it’s raising a lot
of eyebrows in the coun
ty,” he said. “But a lot of
the properties had previ
ously been appraised well
under what’s considered
market value.”
The demand for hous
ing in Dawson County has
grown as the population
has, and the value of prop
erty has increased as a
result. The US Census
Bureau has estimated that
the county population has
grown by 2,049 people
since 2010, an increase of
about 9.1 percent.
Assessors establish the
fair market value of tax
able real and personal
properties in the county
based on what is happen
ing in the marketplace.
GMASS used data from
350 sales in 2017 as a
guide for the assessments.
According to numbers
supplied by GMASS, the
total market value for all
residential and agricultur
al properties in the county
went up by 15 percent
from 2017, from $2.97
billion to $3.4 billion.
Residential market values,
totaling 12,806 parcels,
went up 16 percent, from
approximately $2.4 billion
to $2.8 billion.
Agricultural, totaling 524
parcels, went up 15 per
cent.
Gutherie said he
expects similar increases
next year when the com
mercial and industrial
property appraisals are
completed. Hopefully, he
said, this will enable the
board of commissioners to
lower the millage rate.
“A lot of people moved
here with the understand
ing that this was a laid
back county, very beauti
ful, and it wasn’t growing
like Forsyth and some of
those other counties,” he
said. “But now we’re get
ting that growth and our
sales tax revenue is show
ing that too with people
coming here to go to the
stores. With the combina
tion of this and sales tax
revenue, I’ll be disap
pointed if the commission
doesn’t lower the millage
rate. They haven’t raised it
in a number of years but
they haven’t lowered it in
the eight years I’ve lived
here.”
The millage rate is set
each year by the county
commission and the board
of education. Both have a
separate millage rate that
is used to determine the
property taxes they will
collect.
One mill is equal to $1
for each $1,000 in
assessed property value.
Assessed property value is
40 percent of the fair mar-
FROM 1A
Budget
be available until the end
of June, but the system’s
budget must be approved
by that time according to
law.
Millage rate hearings
will not begin until
August after the tax
digest is known.
Dawson County
Schools also received a
reimbursement grant
from the state in the
amount of $47,940 for
safety upgrades. The
board had previously
approved $400,000 in
ESPLOST funds to be
spent on safety upgrades,
and will apply for reim
bursement from the state
for the $47,940 spent.
Other budgets
approved Monday
include those for debt
service, capital projects,
Title I, Title IIA, Title
VIB, federal preschool,
Bright Start, Ivey funds,
JROTC and school food
service.
Member Will Wade
was not present at the
June 11 meeting.
Cet'fiivtietf
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ket value. For a house
that is worth $100,000, its
assessed value is $40,000.
If the millage rate in the
county were 25 mills, the
property tax on that house
would be $1,000.
The county’s millage
rate has been set at 8.138
since 2004. Each year the
commissioners decide
whether to keep the mill-
age rate the same,
increase it, or roll it back.
Rolling the millage rate
back means that property
taxes would be kept the
same as the previous year,
so if your home did not
increase in assessed value
in that time, your taxes
would stay the same.
If you believe you are
being unfairly taxed, there
is an appeal process that
you can go through.
Appeals are required to be
filed in writing and must
be submitted by July 19,
2018, according to Chief
Tax Appraiser Elaine
Garrett.
Copies of the appeal
form are available in the
Tax Assessor’s Office on
the first floor of the
Dawson County
Government Center, or
online at the Georgia
Department of Revenue
website.
Garrett said her office
has answered at least 700
phone calls since the
notices were mailed out,
and have seen an increase
in foot traffic as well. As
of close of business June
11, 24 appeals had been
submitted as a result of
assessment notices, she
said.
“We encourage folks to
call the office or come in
if they have any questions
concerning their property
values,” Garrett said. “We
will be glad to take the
time to discuss the assess
ment with them.”
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1575 Harmony Church Rd.,
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June 18-22 nd
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