Tax Appraisal Outsourcing Update

At last month’s Board of Assessors’ meeting on September 15th, the board discussed outsourcing appraisal services for the county. The board discussed the possibility of contracting Traylor Business Services (TBS) to assist the county in its appraisal needs. Traylor’s initial bid included several items that the board rejected outright. The first of these items was an automatic renewal clause. This means that the contract would automatically be renewed. An automatic renewal would violate the county charter, which states that contracted services require a request for proposal (RFP), meaning that such service companies need to submit a new proposal each year for the county to review. The other item in TBS’s first bid that the board rejected was a three-year review of taxes. According to its proposal, TBS would re-appraise or audit property from the past three years, property that conceivably has already been taxed. In its discussion at its last meeting, the board rejected this. Then, a motion was made to contact Traylor to see if the company would agree to these new terms.

The board also discussed a three month trial contract with Traylor rather than a three year contract, as was stated in the company’s initial proposal. Per its discussion, the board agreed to a three month contract to appraise personal property for $10,000. In a recent correspondence with Chief Interim Appraiser Richard Lamb, Traylor has accepted these terms and sent the county a contract.

With the revised contract sent to the Board of Assessors, though, Traylor requested that Board of Commissioners Chairman J.C. Sanford give the revised contract his approval. Sanford is not legally obligated to approve the contract in order for the contract to be initiated or for Traylor to begin its services. The Board of Tax Assessors has sole authority to approve and sign the contract without the Chairman’s approval. At an October 4th special meeting, Chairman Sanford and Post 2 Commissioner Danny Hall rejected the contract and Sanford did not sign the Traylor contract.

As of October 3rd, the contract has yet to be signed and Chief Appraiser Lamb does not know if it will be signed. No special Tax Assessors’ meeting has been scheduled to further discuss the matter. The next Assessors’ meeting is scheduled for October 20th at 5 p.m. at the Gilmer County Courthouse.