Chattooga County government relies on property tax to fund county operations.  Normally, taxes are collected on December 1st, but that won’t be the case this year. 

The county is dealing with over 3,100 property tax appeals after tax assessments skyrocketed for many local property owners.  By this time last year, the tax process was all but complete, but this year it hasn’t gone past the assessment phase.  The assessment of property values must be certified by state officials, but that can’t happen until appeals are heard.  Once the tax digest is approved by state officials, the county commissioner and Chattooga County Board of Education must set the millage rate – which will determine the amount of taxes owed by each property owner.  At that point, the tax commissioner can prepare bills to be sent out.  Then, those bills must be printed – a process that can take at least two weeks.

When those bills are sent out determines when taxes are due.  With the delay in the process tax day could be around Christmas – or even later.  There is a real possibility that 2023 property taxes won’t be due until January of 2024.

Normally, county government uses year-end property tax money to pay off any tax anticipation notes and get caught up on outstanding balances before the beginning of the new year.