Total residential property values reflected by recently-mailed county assessment notices have increased by 31 percent, while this year’s preliminary gross tax digest figure is up by 26 percent, according to the Gilmer County Assessors Office.
In 2021, preliminary residential property values (which precede property appeal outcomes and input of tax exemptions including homesteads and conservation use) saw an almost 19-percent increase from the previous year.
Then, Chief Appraiser Theresa Gooch said Gilmer County was in “an accelerated market with a lot of inflationary to it” due to homes selling for prices higher than their fair market values.
That market has shown no signs of slowing down since then, Gooch confirmed.
“What we’re seeing is a combination of two things. We’re seeing new construction, which is built into that residential figure. You have newly built houses and additions like garages and things of that nature,” Gooch said. “Then, there’s the sales aspect of it. We’re still seeing individuals paying above what we have listed as the fair market value. For that reason, we have to adjust accordingly.”
Gilmer’s real property sales are looked at yearly, and the prior year’s sales are used to determine the current year’s values. There are 1,678 qualified sales for this year’s digest, while last year’s digest had 1,225 sales.
“Back in 2013 or 2015, when the market was a lot slower, we still reviewed the sales every year. But we weren’t seeing the volume of sales we’re seeing now,” Gooch said. “Last year, low interest rates probably helped with the market. A lot of it, I think, is people wanting to relocate up to this area.”
The county’s total preliminary agricultural property value is up 30 percent this year, while total preliminary commercial and industrial values didn’t change that much due to a revaluation done last year, Gooch noted.
Higher property values do not necessarily mean a tax increase is coming, noted Charlie Paris, Gilmer County commission chairman.
The estimate of this year’s taxes included on assessment notices is based on the previous year’s millage rate.
“It’s intended to be helpful, but the odds of the current millage rate staying there are not that high. They don’t have anything else to base it on for comparison, so they put that in there,” said Paris. “We have to calculate a rollback rate every year, and that rollback rate guarantees we don’t get a whole lot more than we got last year.”
Paris said there’s only been one year out of eight since he’s been commission chairman in which the county did not go with the rollback rate.
“If we decide not to do the rollback rate, even if we lower the millage rate but don’t lower it all the way back to what the rollback rate is, then we’ve done a tax increase. Then, we have to go through all the motions and advertise we’re increasing your taxes,” he added. “Never say never, but I can certainly say we don’t want to do something like that.”
Paris said county departments are currently being hit hard by inflation and rising fuel prices. A budget amendment to cover the rising gas prices might have to be made before the year is up, he noted.
Should that happen, the money would likely come from the county’s financial reserves.
“Usually, what we’d do is, if we need more money in one section of the budget, we’ll look around and see if there’s another section that’s doing well enough that we can move some money over. This year, that’s just not the case,” Paris said.
“With (gas) prices essentially double what they were when we made our budget, I can’t imagine we could make it through the year on what was budgeted. That will be for 2022, but will also give us an idea of what we’ll be looking at for 2023. I certainly hope that we can expect no worse for 2023 than what we end up with for 2022.”
After the final tax digest is approved and submitted, the millage and rollback rates will be determined, which is usually in July or August.
Property owners who’ve received an assessment notice have 45 days from the notice date to appeal their values. The last day to submit a real or personal property appeal is June 30.
Appeals can be submitted by mail, online (gilmerassessors.com) or in person at the assessors office inside the Gilmer County Courthouse.
“We are seeing about the numbers (of appeals) we saw last year, which is about average right now,” said Gooch. “We encourage property owners to look over their property record cards online or come in the office and make sure all the information is listed correctly. If they have any questions, they can call the office and we’ll go through the process with them.”