TIFTON – County residents continue to voice concerns over the ongoing reassessment, speaking with greater fervor at the Aug. 12 county board of commissioners meeting compared to earlier this month.

Numerous community members took to the podium during the most recent meeting with frustrations about how the revaluation process was being handled and the values that had been assigned to their properties.

Kimberly Johnson reported that her home value had been reduced by $20,000 after it had been previously doubled on account of the high values of neighboring homes, due to providing evidence that said properties had been extensively renovated.

She went on to share evidence of over 700 residential sales in the county listed on Zillow, with around 300 having been improved or wholly renovated and around 200 of those being sold for more than 150% of their prior assessed value, which she argued should have triggered an inquiry at the county assessor’s office.

Johnson provided a collection of appeals, including her own, to demonstrate the discrepancies, and criticized the need for an outside contractor like GMASS when the county’s own assessor’s office should have or be given the staff and resources to fully handle the revaluation.

County manager Jim Carter was appreciative of how much research Johnson had put into her arguments, and felt she deserved to be heard for longer than the allotted five minute period typical of public comments. He suggested constructing a committee of county staff, including himself, a commissioner, and representatives of the tax assessor’s office, state department of revenue, and GMASS, to better address Johnson’s and other residents’ concerns.

Lynzi Williams was left frustrated regarding the increases of ad valorem tax by the reassessment, and asked the commissioners to consider a rollback of the millage rate or to explore an expansion to agriculture or homestead exemptions for residents who kept chicken coops.

Hayward Fowler advocated for a more concise system to be put in place so everyone in the county would come away from the next reassessment with a “square deal,” while Theresa Ryan and Debbie Burns felt something needed to be done to fix the issues this assessment had caused.

Ryan reported that her neighbor’s house had been valued incredibly low compared to her own and surrounding homes, despite being in a neighborhood with relatively identical homes, and was told nothing could be done about it. She requested the county delve into the matter and resolve all of the issues plaguing the reassessment, no matter how long it took.

Burns criticized the county’s employment of GMASS, noting they did not possess a good reputation, and asked to know who would be tasked with correcting the problems of the revaluation.

Carter explained that the county was statutorily required to fix and reappraise property values or be severely fined by the Department of Revenue, but that the county had only been informed by the state department to have residents go through the appeal process and obtain their ratio, at which point they would be able to identify any issues.

However, he assured every community member in attendance that he would be sharing as much as he could regarding the reassessment with the state department in an upcoming testimony he will be providing them during their next session, expressing dissatisfaction with how the entire process had been conducted himself.

Responding to concerns he had heard about the due date for appeals, tax commissioner Chad Alexander reported that the initial deadline of Nov. 15 would be delayed due to the number of appeals being above 8% of the value of the gross digest.

Alexander said this would prevent the county from developing a tax digest to turn into the Department of Revenue, and that they had no idea how long the process would be delayed. He explained that the tax assessor’s office was hopeful they could have a tax digest turned in by late December or the first of January.