Oconee County (Ga.) Chief Appraiser Allen Skinner predicts that 500 new homes could be built in the county in 2016. Skinner told the Board of Tax Assessors recently that there has been a climb since 2011, when only about 50 single-family permits were issued for the county.
“It has gone up year, from 50 to 100 to 200 to 300 and last year 400,” Skinner told the Oconne Enterprise. “I believe that next year we could build 500 houses. We are obviously getting further and further away from the recession.”
Skinner said that more than 40 single-family permits were issued in January, while also reporting that rural land sales also had increased. He reported that a 400-acre sale near Watson Springs Road sold for $3,200 an acre, and he hopes that comp sale will help the county in its ongoing dispute with Plum Creek Timber about property valuations.
Skinner said he would again ask the county for two additional appraisers, as he did last year. County officials approved one additional hire, but Commissioner John Daniell struck it from the budget at the final budget hearing.