Property Tax (Jackson County)

[55dawg]

It's obviously a major factor. The housing market is an animal all its own, especially since 2008. I would be ok with a better blend of traditional appraisal methods and sales data. Just because the market popped doesn't mean the county/city needs a tax infusion.

Not sure what you mean by a “better blend of traditional appraisal methods”. The county is required by law to make sure their digest reflects current market value within a certain range. Think it’s a 10%. Variance. Now they could roll the millage rate back to offset increased market value.

 

[RedNBlackNtheDay]

All the smart people live in Nicholson. My taxes have been the same since 1979.

 

[drillnfilldawg]

Yep. I think some have gone out in Banks County and they're significantly higher as well.

I grew up in Barrow County and have seen a few people bitching on FB about increases they received in the mail today. My folks haven’t gotten theirs yet.

 

[DKDawg1985]

Franklin County hired a 3rd party to do a county revaluation for 2023. We see these types of increases in those counties where the 3rd party does the revaluation all of the time. You should be able to file an appeal in Franklin and receive some relief on the increased value.

Did GMASS do the reval?

 

[happytobeadog]

For those in Jackson County, can someone help me understand why our property tax is in the 99th percentile for Georgia? You’d think I have a property in Manhattan if you saw our tax assessment.

Can anything be done to get them lowered? I know you can appeal however I’m not sure how effective that actually is or what needs to be provided. Would appreciate any feedback

The county commission, city and school system should roll back the mileage rate to compensate for the new taxes or hold a public hearing advertising a tax increase. If this is a notification of assessed value the tax estimate does not reflect the roll back. Definitely appeal if you feel value is over valued. Check with a local realtor to get an idea of value. Property values for homes are through the roof right now. I have good understanding of how it works. DM me if you need to discuss.

 

[atthomas]

You'll get some temporary relief this year: Georgia Legislature is funding the HTRG (Homestead Tax Relief Grant) again, your homestead exemption can grow by up to 18,000.

Other posters have said it: everything the local assessors have to do is based on the actual sales in your county/area. State Department of Audits performs compliance audits every year, school funding depends on passing those compliance audits. Department of Revenue can levy penalties against counties who fail to meet the three-pronged statistical requirements.

level of assessment (median / aggregate)
uniformity of assessment (coefficient of dispersion)
assessment bias (price-related differential)

having said all that, State agency compliance audits measure the entire county, which doesn't prevent major inequities and errors from existing on your property. File an appeal - it's easy (you can literally write your appeal on a bar napkin and they have to accept it)- they can't deny your right to appeal. If they fail to process your appeal timely, your asserted value can become your value for the year.

 

[LakeviewDawg6]

Did GMASS do the reval?

They did

 

[55dawg]

We live in Jackson County ( Jefferson ) also, and are with you there. Ours went up additional $2000 this year. Absolutely Ridiculous. We moved here 11 years ago and it has more than doubled in that time. We pay for the school system. As soon as my kids graduate we are out!

Sounds about right. Investment should actually double every 8 years

 

[Heavychevy96on22]

I will be glad to help you out. This is the type of stuff I do for a living. Can’t promise anything but I can definitely provide plenty of insight.

To answer the sales question, the county uses prior year sales to determine fair market value. That said, there are always different ways to skin the cat. Shoot me a DM and we can talk about it.

That goes for everyone on here. I do this nationwide.

I live in Henry County Ga my property taxes going up every year, last was 6000.00. I need you input how to challenge that

 

[atthomas]

not trying to get too deep into the weeds here @Heavychevy96on22 , but the a snip of part of the law is below:
(d) Records and information availability. Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 50-18-71, in the case of all public records and information of the county board of tax assessors pertaining to the appraisal and assessment of real property:
(1) The taxpayer may request, and the county board of tax assessors shall provide within ten business days, copies of such public records and information, including, but not limited to, a description of the methodology used by the board of tax assessors in setting the property’s fair market value, all documents reviewed in making the assessment, the address and parcel identification number of all real property utilized as qualified comparable properties, and all factors considered in establishing the new assessment, at a uniform copying fee not to exceed 25¢ per page;
(2) No additional charges or fees may be collected from the taxpayer for reasonable search, retrieval, or other administrative costs associated with providing such public records and information; and

The intent of this was to provide you, the property owner, with the evidence and information use to form your appraisal. Sadly, many counties just point you to a public terminal or a listing of 1,000 sales that occurred in the county. That's not the intent here. Not really sure what your county will do. I hope they can provide you with some actual comparable properties.

There is an online area to start this process:

Henry County Assessor's Office

https://www.qpublic.net/ga/henry/docs/2023%20Appeal%20Form.pdf

Good luck.

 

[TimberRidgeDawg]

Reading this makes me glad I’m an oulde in Cobb County. When you hit 62 they drop the school portion of the tax bill. It literally sheared $6K off my bill. I live in the Walton HS area and assessments in my neighborhood have been pretty stable, knock on wood.

 

[HBSDawg]

It's obviously a major factor. The housing market is an animal all it's own, especially since 2008. I would be ok with a better blend of traditional appraisal methods and sales data. Just because the market popped doesn't mean the county/city needs a tax infusion.

Typical appraisal is sales data.

 

[orangeisgay]

Yeah, I'm not to worried about it. There hasn't been a home sell for anywhere close to $550k in the part of the county I live in... even during the pandemic peak. So its absurd to even suggest that mine is suddenly worth $725,000. There is no data to support this valuation.

I'd be happy as could be if there were though. We have a vacant rental right now that were renovating. If I could somehow squeeze anywhere close to $700k out of this place I'd do it in a second and move in there to ride things out. But sadly I dont actually live in a $700+k house. Jackson County is just trying to tax me like I do.

the home market is also being effected by California's and new Yorkers etc who are escaping those states selling their expensive homes and coming in with tons of cash, they are buying houses sight unseen at a premium for cash and have money left over.

 

[SLC_Dawg]

That's what we do with our property in Hancock County, where the millage rate is the highest the state allows. It's very rural, as most of Habcock is, dirt road that gets grader work maybe 1 time a year. That's the extent of the services the county provides.

Yeah, I got a road on the other side of my neighbors hayfield like that. They grade it 2 or 3 times a year. It connects me to the main road. On another subject, land ask prices are through the roof. 100 acres or less and they want $10k per acre. But they‘re getting $5k or $6k for it, which is still staggering.

 

[SLC_Dawg]

Look for homestead exemptions too. Like a friend in Cobb doesn’t pay the school portion of his tax bill after 65.

 

[Shuu]

Don't have much to offer except if there's ever a SPLOST vote to raise sales tax it's best to hold your nose and vote yes if you're subject to property taxes. Sucks paying a little more sales tax but it's better than a hefty increase in property taxes.

 

[Hwy11 dog]

Our assessed value in Jefferson has gone up 33% since 2021. We bought in 2020. Our first assessment was $100 less than we paid, so it seemed fair. I didn’t expect it to ramp up so much, but we could probably sell for a bit more than the assessed value. So I can’t say it’s obviously unfair

We’re up about the same in Barrow. I’m
sure J county is similar. It’s busting out. Three excellent school systems there so maybe a consolation prize.

 

[JCarbo76]

Look for homestead exemptions too. Like a friend in Cobb doesn’t pay the school portion of his tax bill after 65.

Nor does Cherokee.

 

[LakeviewDawg6]

I live in Henry County Ga my property taxes going up every year, last was 6000.00. I need you input how to challenge that

Just sent you a DM

 

[Jug Tavern Dawg]

I grew up in Barrow County and have seen a few people bitching on FB about increases they received in the mail today. My folks haven’t gotten theirs yet.

I got mine on Friday. We’ve lived in the city limits (Winder) for 25 years. Our FMV went up $156,089, and associated tax bill rose from $4602.77 to $6364.60. Our City Administrator and Mayor have gone absolutely land grab crazy with annexations that’s led to multiple lawsuits with the county, along with abolishing the city Planning Board that was previously staffed by appointed citizens because the City Administrator did not like it when the board refused her request to add PUDs to the city zoning code. Her solution: convince the city council the board was “disfunctional”, abolish it, outsource the city planning department, and now PUD’s are being approved all over town. It’s good old boys government at its worse. Our citizens haven’t grabbed the pitchforks yet like our neighbors in Jackson County, but I’m sure it’s coming. I’m holding out hope that the County Commission (which while not perfect is far better at governance than the COW) will at least consider a mileage rollback, but I’m not optimistic. I posted on here a couple of weeks ago soliciting advice about moving to Florida, and this latest assessment has damn near pushed me over the ledge with my decision.

 

[drillnfilldawg]

I got mine on Friday. We’ve lived in the city limits (Winder) for 25 years. Our FMV went up $156,089, and associated tax bill rose from $4602.77 to $6364.60. Our City Administrator and Mayor have gone absolutely land grab crazy with annexations that’s led to multiple lawsuits with the county, along with abolishing the city Planning Board that was previously staffed by appointed citizens because the City Administrator did not like it when the board refused her request to add PUDs to the city zoning code. Her solution: convince the city council the board was “disfunctional”, abolish it, outsource the city planning department, and now PUD’s are being approved all over town. It’s good old boys government at its worse. Our citizens haven’t grabbed the pitchforks yet like our neighbors in Jackson County, but I’m sure it’s coming. I’m holding out hope that the County Commission (which while not perfect is far better at governance than the COW) will at least consider a mileage rollback, but I’m not optimistic. I posted on here a couple of weeks ago soliciting advice about moving to Florida, and this latest assessment has damn near pushed me over the ledge with my decision.

I hear you and my parents got their bill this weekend and it went up significantly. They live off Highway 53 below the golf course and have some acreage. My father plans on going to protest it.

 

[Bells76]

I’ve been in Jefferson for 52 years. The taxes have gone up but no more than other areas. They went up Much more at my houses NC, if you can believe that.

Not taking up for them, it’s a joke, as Jackson co used to have some Of the lowest tax rates in the state, when we had local and frugal commissioners.

All this talk about high taxes equaling good schools is a bunch of hooey. Jefferson had the best school system academically and certain sports programs in the state when taxes were reasonable. Jack Keen was the best math teacher in the state and beyond, as well As starting and running the best wrestling and track programs in the state, all for a small fraction of what’s spent today. We didn’t even have A/C in his classroom in the 80’s. When I got to UGA, I felt superhuman in higher math classes.

City taxes in commerce are bad too because residents are subsidizing the huge battery plant, operating tax free for 10-15 years.

The point is, nobody should ever agree to or vote for higher taxes. Some people Justify it by pointing to new school buildings, new baseball Fields, etc. but excellence exists at the individual level. Higher taxes ALWAYS equates to more waste.

For an idea of what your taxes are paying for, look at the following video and decide if you think facilities like this are worth it.

 

[JCarbo76]

Again, I remind everyone that no one's tax bill has gone up yet. When property assessments are updated the tax assessor sends that out with a calculation of what your bill projects to IF last year's millage rate is used.

A great example is what happened last year in Cherokee County. We got our reassessments about this time of the year (they went way up, of course). The assessor then plugged in the last year's millage rate on the assessment notice and it APPEARED that everyone's tax bill was going up accordingly.

However, later in the year, the County Commissioners set the 2023 budget, and lowered the millage rate to reflect the increased assessments, and the final tax bill was almost equal to the penny as the pre-assessment year.

 

[Eastmandawg]

I will be glad to help you out. This is the type of stuff I do for a living. Can’t promise anything but I can definitely provide plenty of insight.

To answer the sales question, the county uses prior year sales to determine fair market value. That said, there are always different ways to skin the cat. Shoot me a DM and we can talk about it.

That goes for everyone on here. I do this nationwide.

Not hard, for example this is what they do in Saint Louis (not sure of every state or municipality):

1) the county appraises your home every 2 years, but it can be done anytime during that period….the front or backend. So, that means there could be a variance in “solds”….. which means it sometimes is not accurate.

2) they usually use comparables in the subdivision. If none or not enough are there, they move out, or extend the search.

3) once the home is valued, or appraised…..they take 19% x the value then apply a tax base, or a percent.

For example, a $400,000 home x 19% x 7% tax base =‘s $5320 yearly….or $443 monthly in property taxes.

Property taxes going up is not always a bad thing. But if any feel that it is too high and want to oppose it. You would need to pay an appraiser and to challenge the value.

The home values going up were mostly due to the lack of inventory….kinda like the car industry.

Hope this helps someone.