Property tax assessments have definitely been making the news over the past week in Chattooga County, but there is a good bit of confusion about the assessments.  Chattooga County Tax Commission Joy Hampton is reminding property owners that the assessment you received in the mail is NOT YOUR TAX BILL.

There are several steps that must be completed before property taxes can be calculated.  First, the county’s tax digest must be completed so that the county commissioner and the board of education know what the tax base is.  Then, both the commissioner and the board of education will set the millage rate to determine the property tax for each tax owner in the county.  After that, tax bills will be mailed out.

The only part of the process that is controlled by the tax commissioner is calculating and sending the actual property tax bill after the millage rate has been set.

There is some confusion because the assessments now have an “estimated tax” printed on them.  The problem with that is that figure is from last year’s millage rate, when property values were much lower in the county.  Years ago, the assessments didn’t list anything except your property’s value.  That all changed when Georgia Governor Roy Barnes signed the “Property Tax Bill of Rights”, which was intended to give people an estimate of what their upcoming tax bill would look like.  That works when property values stay close to the same as they were the previous year, but doesn’t take into account a housing market like we have seen over the past few years that has caused assessments to skyrocket.

Also, property owners should remember you can appeal the value the Chattooga County Board of Assessors valued your property at.  See more information HERE