Gilmer County will be able to collect a bigger share of public utility taxes than first anticipated after the local assessors office received a low property sales ratio from the state Department of Audits and Appeals (DOAA).
Even after an appeal filed by the county resulted in a recent review and sales ratio adjustment by the DOAA, public utility taxes still won’t be collected at the full rate this year.
Chief Appraiser Theresa Gooch gave an update on the county’s appeal to the DOAA during a Board of Assessors meeting last Thursday.
The DOAA’s adjustment brings the current sales ratio up from 35.88 to 37.74. However, a ratio that’s less than 38 is still below what’s needed to tax such public utilities as phone, power, internet and railroad companies at the full 40 percent rate.
“They took into account the information we had provided, and ultimately made a higher time adjustment for the market we’re seeing up here. They added a greater difference between the sales price and our value,” Gooch said about the adjusted sales ratio.
The adjustment will allow the county to collect almost 50 percent more in public utility taxes than without the revisions. The difference is a loss of approximately $45,000 with the revised sales ratio instead of approximately $84,000 with the initial ratio. The taxes apply to public utility operating and nonoperating properties, including real estate and transmission lines, Gooch noted.
At a previous assessor board meeting, Gooch said the current “accelerated” housing market, as well as the assessors office and the DOAA having to use sales from different timeframes in their calculations, contributed to the initial low sales ratio.
The ratios are used to determine how close assessed property values are to fair market value. If they fall below 36 percent, a county is considered “out of compliance,” Gooch noted.
The assessor board was given the option of voting to further the appeal to arbitration, but Gooch said she didn’t think that would accomplish anything for this year. The deadline to proceed to arbitration has now passed, she noted.
A letter from Gilmer’s assessor board has been sent to state legislators, and board members have also asked the county’s commissioners to address a similar letter.
“We are reaching out to legislators to see if they can look into the matter of the accelerated market that’s been happening and how it affects these studies,” Gooch said.
At the assessor board’s September meeting, chairman Bill Logan said 96 of Georgia’s counties are in a similar situation with their sales ratios this year.
“I think (communication with state legislators) has to come not only from us, but from the commission level. This is affecting the school board and (them),” Logan said then.
Gooch said public utility tax notices haven’t gone out yet, and companies will be billed using the adjusted rate.
“We anticipate sending out their notices of assessment at the higher ratio in November, and then they’ll get a bill to follow,” she added.