Local officials mum about their plans for revenue increases from reassessements

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

A larger than expected increase in the value of Fayette County property due to reassessments by the county assessor's office will result in a windfall that can be spent by local governments or given back to the taxpayers through a rate reduction.

But most local officials aren't saying yet which direction the governments are likely to jump.

Tax rates may be rolled back to adjust for any windfall, officials say, and in any jurisdiction where officials decide to increase the budget to accommodate the windfall, state law requires that public hearings be conducted.

Preliminary figures suggest the value of all properties in Fayette will increase by a little over $784 million this year, said Ellen Mills, chief tax assessor. More than half — about $405 million — of that increase is due to county-wide reappraisals of property value to reflect fair market value, as required by the state, Mills said. The remainder is from new construction.

Total effect of the reappraisals on taxes levied county-wide will be about $162,000 for each mill of property tax. A mill is one dollar of tax for each $1,000 of a property's assessessed value. Assessed value is 40 percent of fair market value.

Each city government will deal only with the portion of taxable property within its borders, so the windfall will be less. And final numbers won't be available until next month, after residents who disagree with the assessors' reevaluation of their properties have had a chance to appeal.

Emory McHugh, county finance director, said he had estimated during budget preparation that reassessment would account for only about 15 percent of the growth in property values, instead of more than 50 percent as preliminary figures indicate.

But the county's $56.6 million budget is already in place, and McHugh said his task will be to recommend a tax rate that will raise the expected amount of money, and no more, once the tax digest is approved.

“All I do then is drop the millage down to reflect that,” he said.

The county budget anticipates a tax increase of about 1.5 mills to pay debt service on construction of a new county jail and courthouse complex, but with the reassessments, McHugh said, the increase may be somewhat less.

Likewise, Fayetteville's budget is set for the 2001 fiscal year, and the city's millage will roll back to compensate for any increase from either reassessment or growth in the tax digest, according to City Manager Joe Morton.

“We're required to roll back on reassessment, or we'd have to advertise it as a tax increase,” he said.

Peachtree City spokesman Betsy Tyler said officials in her town don't want to say anything about possible tax rates until the final figures come out.

Tyrone Town Administrator Barry Amos and Board of Education finance director Jim Stephens are equally cautious.

“It would be premature to decide what they're going to do now without any numbers,” said Amos. “If the numbers seem to indicate it, we may do a millage rollback.”

“It'll be mid-September before we know what we'll do,” said Stephens.