Dear Editor,
Do you want to lower your property taxes?
We already know the answer to that question. I am now going to tell you how to do just that.
There is presently a bill in the state Senate that will help lower your property taxes. It is Senate Bill 346. This bill was introduced by, and I quote the Morris News Service, “Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers in response to a series of homeowners who testified last year about the loss in market value due to the recent recession which wasn’t reflected in their recent tax assessments. The system has not been updated in several decades.”
Therefore, if you want to ensure that your true property values are accurately reflected in your tax assessments, contact both of your state representatives requesting that they support this issue.
Our representatives for Effingham County are Ann Purcell and Jon Burns. The senator is Jack Hill. Their e-mail addresses can be found at www.legis.state.ga.us.
I suggest that all taxpayers write your state legislators to request they support Senate Bill 346 and to introduce an amendment to that bill that would keep the county honest. The amendment would work like this — when one sells their property and if the county has been overtaxing their property by $25,000 or more when the property is sold, the county would pay you the back taxes on the difference between the taxed value and the as sold value. This amount would be compounded quarterly at 6 percent. The values would be computed back to the first time you appealed the appraised value.
To be fair to the county, if your property was under valued by $25,000 or more when your property is sold, you would owe the county the back tax difference between the county appraised value and the as sold value. You would pay the county the back taxes on the difference between the taxed value and the as sold value. This amount would be compounded quarterly at 6 percent. The values would be computed back seven years, and the taxes would be deducted at closing.
For the people who have their land in CUVA, etc., the county would add an additional item to their tax form. It would contain the actual value of the land and the reduced value showing the amount the land is reduced by. To determine back taxes on CUVA land that was sold, the county would use the actual value of the land and the as sold value to determine the difference.
I feel that would be fair for the county and keep the good ole boys honest.
Joseph R. Oliver Jr.
Guyton
