WZQZ news reported on Thursday that company officials from GMASS – the company hired by Chattooga County to assist with property tax assessments – were in town on Wednesday of this week.  The company said emphatically that there was no “glitch” in the system that caused improper assessment values.  Stan King, the CEO of the company, laid the blame on the tax assessors office saying the errors were because of “bad data”.

The Chattooga County Board of Assessors maintains that the data has been there for a long time, but regardless of how long the data has been in the system, some taxpayers are going to pay a lot more in taxes this year than they should have to.  That’s because the only way for a tax bill to be adjusted after the assessments are mailed out is for the property owner to appeal their assessment, according to Georgia state law.  There can be no “mass correction” of tax assessments, as some have asserted.

The county is facing over 3,100 property tax appeals that they must work through before the county can submit its tax digest.  The due date for that digest was today.  Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton applied for an extension that was granted.  That gives the county until October 1, 2023 to have the tax digest submitted to state officials.

It is likely that the county will have to apply for a second extension.