Here’s why the Board of Tax Assessors rejected council’s request for rollback

The Muscogee County Board of Tax Assessors rejected Columbus Council’s request to revert tax assessments to 2016 levels earlier this week.

Randy Lomax, the board’s attorney, said tax assessors voted unanimously against the resolution on Monday, one week after tabling it for discussion. At Tuesday’s Columbus Council, Lomax enumerated the reasons for the decision as follows:

• The resolution does not address the fact that 23,086 parcels in Muscogee County are the recipient of valuation decreases and reverting to the 2016 digest may negatively impact the owners of these parcels.
• The resolution does not address the thousands of pending 2017 appeals, which have been submitted to the Board of Tax Assessors.
• The resolution does not address the possibility of the Board of Tax Assessors having to provide a new notice to each property owner of the new assessment of their taxable real property upon reversion to the 2016 tax digest as contemplated by O.C.G.A. §48-5-306, thereby delaying submission of the tax digest to the Tax Commissioner.
• The resolution does not address the hundreds of parcel splits, issuance of building permits, nor issuance of Certificates of Occupancy acknowledging completion of construction, all of which occurred during 2016.
• The resolution does not address Homestead status changes which occurred during 2016.
• The resolution does not address the approval of conservation use valuation or similar tax programs, which occurred during 2016.
• The resolution does not address any changes in the taxable status of real property, which occurred during 2016.
• The resolution does not address property purchases which occurred during 2016.

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Here’s why the Board of Tax Assessors rejected council’s request for rollback."