County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. The county claims to have equalized all property values which means no one should be getting any special deals on their property tax. Some friends told me that they knew of some houses that were under appraised and the property owners were getting a special deal from the county. Is that true?
A. While I certainly cannot vouch for 22,000 parcels, I have had no one contact me about such a problem. The Tax Assessor’s office has done a good job in equalizing values county wide. However, if you know of someone that you think is getting a sweetheart deal, please let the Tax Assessor’s office know or contact me directly. All property values are open records or can be accessed on the internet or at the Tax Assessor’s office.

The next two questions are from a “Letter to the Editor” in last week’s issue of the North Georgia News. The questions are from one person.

Q. You stated that the county tax increase was less than five percent and the school tax was thirty percent. I saw the budget and the school budget increase was fifty-two percent and the county portion was a little less than twenty percent. Why do elected officials continue to insist upon using the lower figures, unless it is to fool the public?
A. I explained this at the public hearings which this gentleman attended, but will do it again. Yes, the county budget increase was just under 20%, but the tax increase was only 4.72%. The balance of the revenue came from new home construction and new lots developed, not tax increases. The same was true for the school numbers. Both numbers were used accurately and according to the provisions of state law that require that we use these numbers in advertising tax increases to the general public.

Further, as stated in the public meetings, these percentage increases were for the county as a whole and if your property assessment increased near the county average of a 50% increase, then your tax numbers should fall within these guidelines. If you still do not understand, you might want to call the State Revenue Department, Property Tax Division, and ask them to explain it to you further.

Q. If elected officials keep insisting that the tax increase was not too much or that the increase is only keeping up with progress, let them publish the 2005 and 2006 tax digest and the budgets and let voters see for themselves how their money is being spent and used.
A. This is the second part of the above question by the same gentleman. These numbers have all been published in the newspaper and are always available to the public. We do not hide any financial information from anyone as he seems to insinuate.

I have spoken and written many times about the county budget and how it is determined. Maybe this writer wants to look for another area in which to live where he thinks he gets more value for his money. For his further information, the 2005 general and administrative budget was $8,683,517 and the 2005 digest was $778,165,856. The 2006 budget was $11,378,972 and the digest was $1,213,368,726.

If he or anyone else has any additional questions please contact my office at 706-439-6000 or by e-mail, unioncounty@alltel.net.

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