Kem Caldwell
Property tax assessments typically hit mailboxes in late spring or early summer, but Oglethorpe County residents haven’t received them this year.
Chief appraiser Kem Caldwell said the delay is caused by a new senior homestead exemption and ongoing property inspections.
The exemption applies to residents aged 67 and older, shielding them from increased school property taxes tied to rising home values. Because this is a specialized local exemption, calculating it into the county’s computer-assisted mass appraisal software, WinGAP, has taken time.
“Our IT people have been trying to implement that into our system, and so far, they haven’t got it quite worked out yet,” Caldwell said. “There’s so many scenarios and different things that they have to incorporate to figure a tax bill for each individual tax parcel.”
Alongside the software adjustment, Caldwell had to take time off earlier this year to recover from back surgery, delaying field work. He is conducting appraisals, and has about 30 properties remaining on his inspection list as of Tuesday.
To help combat the delay, the Tax Assessor’s Office has been approved to hire another employee.
When assessments arrive, residents will see their property’s fair market value alongside its assessed value, which is the taxable 40% of the fair market value. Caldwell emphasized this is only an estimate until the millage rate is finalized.
But without a completed tax digest, the total taxable property value that is used to calculate the millage rate is unknown, meaning that the board of commissioners, board of education and local municipalities cannot finalize this cycle’s rates.
To set the rates, local entities also need finalized budgets to determine the deficit that property taxes must cover after funds like the new Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) are applied.
The county has been approved to apply the first five months of FLOST revenue to this tax cycle, which will contribute $536,793 toward the budget, influencing both city and county taxes.
“It’ll help lower property tax,” county administrator Jason Lewis said. “And once we’re able to realize a full year of that special penny, it’ll help lower property taxes even more.”
Because the BOE operates on a July to June fiscal year, it has a completed budget. Meanwhile, the board of commissioners is working on finalizing the county budget after receiving the final departmental request from the sheriff’s office on July 24.
“It’s never too early to have a budget in, but definitely we want it in by now or early in the month of next month,” Board of Commissioners Chairman Jay Paul said.
Paul noted that the county’s goal is to hit the “rollback” millage rate every year, which is a rate adopted when property values rise to ensure that the same amount of tax revenue is collected as the prior year.
If a higher rate is set, the county must hold three public hearings, place notices of the increase in The Oglethorpe Echo and issue press releases.
A finalized digest is due to the Georgia Department of Revenue by Sept. 1, but an extension can be applied for, if needed. Despite the delay, residents will still have 45 days from the date the notice is mailed to file an appeal.
While Caldwell said he hopes assessments will be ready by the end of July, he said they may not be mailed until August.
“We’ve got a few moving parts that we’ve got to get in sync with each other … before we can send out notices,” he said. “But just know that we’re trying and we’re working hard to get it done.”