A lot of people were shocked when they got their annual property assessments from the Chattooga County Assessors Office a few weeks ago.  Most properties in the county have seen about a 20% increase in value.

Local officials are reminding people that the percentage of increase in property assessments may not translate into a 20% increase in property taxes.  The Chattooga County Board of Education and Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry have yet to set the millage rate for tax collections.

WZQZ has heard from a number of residents questioning why their assessments took such a big jump in just a year’s time.

Tax assessments increased primarily for two reasons.

First, the county is under a consent order from the Georgia Department of Revenue because the county has not properly assessed property in the past.  The Department of Revenue requires the county to properly reflect the value of properties based on several factors – including recent sales.

Second, properties in the county are selling for quite a bit more than they were just one or two years ago.  The assessments have not kept up with the increase value reflected in property sales in the county, and now the state is forcing the county to catch up.

According to Rocket Mortgage, the average house in Chattooga County is now selling for $174,900.  That is up $34,900 from just a year ago; that translates to a 24.1% increase in just a year’s time. While other counties in Northwest Georgia have seen an increase in the selling price of houses, Chattooga’s increase is well above the average in neighboring Walker and Floyd County where housing prices have increased around 18% over the past year.

The same report shows that there were 34 homes sold in the month of June in Chattooga County.  Of those 34 homes, 13 homes were sold over asking price and 9 homes were sold at asking price. Which means, if you’re buying a home in Chattooga County, you could pay more than the asking price as 38.2% of homes here sold above asking price last month.