Assessors’ Office on Probation

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The Gilmer County Tax Assessors’ Office will be on probation come the New Year. According to Chief Appraiser Richard Lamb, the State Revenue Commissioner recently informed the assessors’ office that the county’s numbers are out of tolerance and must be corrected. In a recent email to FYN, Lamb explained the probation is due to the 2010 Tax Digest, during which time Dawn Pruitt was Chief Appraiser, and the 2011 Tax Digest. He added that the 2006 Lois Spence case was also a factor.

In 2006, Gilmer Resident Lois Spence filed a suit against the assessors’ office, claiming her land was assessed incorrectly, arguing it was worth $52,000. The assessors’ office, though, said it should be assessed on fair market value at $117,711. Previously, the case oscillated in and out court, with Spence winning the last round before Lamb appealed recently, bringing it back to court three months ago. In September, the assessors’ office went to trial and lost the case. In the settlement, the county was hit with the cost of Spence’s attorney’s fees of $86,000, in addition to the still-unknown amount of the assessors’ attorney’s fees. Lamb said, though, that the county will not be billed until next year.

Regarding the Revenue Commissioners’ comments, “out of tolerance” refers to inequitable property assessments for a given area, out of sync with market value. Similarly, according to the tax assessors’ website, some parcels in Gilmer reflect significant discrepancies. For instance, two parcels across the street from each other showed a difference of several thousand dollars; one was valued at $3,000 per acre and the other, $7,000 per acre. Also, two other parcels in the same area had a difference of $7,950. Still other comparable parcels showed a difference of over $2000.

In his email, Lamb explained that each of the 159 counties in the state is reviewed every three years. He also said Gilmer has yet to receive the 2012 Digest, which Lamb prepared. But, the bottom line is that the county is assessing values too low, Lamb says.

“We must appraise residential properties closer to the Market Value,”

Lamb wrote.
The assessors’ office will be under review for 2013, during which time Lamb said he hopes the county will be in tolerance and off probation.

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