Oconee County (Ga.) Chief Property Appraiser Allen Skinner is looking for help to keep his staff from falling further behind in its appraisal work.
Skinner presented an early ratio study to the state’s Board of Assessors indicating that in comparison with 2015 transactions, the county’s appraisals are too low. But if the county is forced by the state to contrast current appraisals with the previous year, it will add to the office’s workload, according to The Oconee Enterprise.
The county could be forced by the state to revalue all property to enforce its tax digest and legally collect taxes. Skinner has lobbied the Board of Commissioners unsuccessfully for more personnel. The BOC added one new person in its original budget proposal for the current fiscal year, but had the position dropped.
In March 2015, Skinner asked the BOC for two additional appraisers to dedicate themselves to re-evaluations. Skinner said the problem is that his staff of appraisers cannot keep up with standard re-evaluations. Most of Skinner’s time is dedicated to evaluating sales, building permits and conversation use applications.
The alternative to hiring more staff is contracting with an outside company to assist staff. Outside contracting prices range from $30 per parcel to $75 per parcel, and the county has 14,000 housing units, plus vacant land and commercial properties.