Property values continue slide

He said his office undertook a second countywide reassessment because the market is lower this year than it was last year.

“When prices were going up, we didn’t skip a year,” he said.

Also, the state now requires local governments to use the resale prices of foreclosed homes in determining the fair market values of neighboring properties, he said.

“They used to say we ‘could’ consider it. Now they say we ‘will’ consider it.”

IMPACT ON LOCAL TAXES

Following last year’s countywide reassessment, the tax digest — a compilation of all properties and their cumulative value— declined by 3.5 percent.

Residential properties lost $115 million in value and undeveloped agricultural land went down by $7 million. Those losses were mitigated some by the increased values of commercial properties and motor vehicles.

Highfield said he believes the digest this year will decline by at least as much as it did last year, meaning that barring a rate increase, property tax bills in December would go down again for many. The Barrow County Board of Commissioners did not raise the millage rate last year to offset the loss in property values.

However, commission chairman Danny Yearwood at recent meetings has said it is likely the rate would have to be raised for the FY2011 budget to offset the expected decline in property values.

If the millage rate were increased only enough to keep revenue “neutral” — that is, to keep property tax revenues at the level they are currently and not to raise additional revenue – it would not technically constitute a “tax increase,” he explained.

SURPRISING REVENUE NUMBERS

However, even a “revenue neutral” rate increase at this point could pose political risk for the board.

For more on this story, see the June 30 edition of the Barrow Journal or click here to read the full story online when you sign up for a free trial of our new e-edition. Free trial offer ends July 13.