Tax assessors spent four months processing over 10,000 appeals. Now they’re behind for 2018.

Having spent the past four months processing an unprecedented 10,906 appeals, Muscogee County tax assessors returned to Columbus Council Tuesday requesting additional workers for the 2018 property tax assessment process.

“... Because of this historic number of appeals, we directed and dedicated all of our resources to processing and reviewing those appeals,” said Deputy Chief Appraiser John Williams, addressing councilors during a consent agenda/work session. “... As you would imagine, that four months of allocating all our resources to appeals has caused our normal workload not to be accomplished.

“So that’s one of the reasons why I’m here with you today,” he continued. “Unless we address this delay in our annual work, it would preclude us from timely submitting our portion of the tax digest to the Tax Commissioner by June 1.”

In order to meet the June 1 date, Williams explained, the Tax Assessor’s office would have to get notices of assessment out in April. He said the current 2017 tax appeal process is expected to continue until about that month, leaving very little time to start the 2018 tax assessment process. He said the request for more help only applies to the residential division, which is under-staffed.

As of August 1, Muscogee County had 1,075 permits, Williams said, and he anticipates a total of 2,000 building permits by the end of 2017. He said there would also be about 1,688 property transfers that appraisers will have to review.

“That totals 3,688 parcels to review for sales and permits to be completed January to March 2018,” he said. “Some, but not all of these parcels, will be wrapped up and reviewed in the one-third of parcels to be review in the county.

“We do not have the resources to make both of those things happen,” he said. “We must review the 2017 permits and the transfers of property for 2018. Again, that would have to happen by that April 2018 time frame.”

To address the issue, Williams recommended contracting with Tyler Technologies, the vendor that conducted the countywide revaluation project while upgrading the county’s property tax software system. The project resulted in controversial assessments, some increasing by as much as 1,000 percent.

As Williams presented the information, Chief Tax Assessor Betty Middleton and members of the the Board of Tax Assessors sat in the audience. Those present included board chair Chester Randolph, members Matthew Moorefield and Pat Bettis Hunter, as well as attorney Randy Lomax.

Earlier in the meeting, Williams said tax assessors had reviewed all 10,906 appeals filed this year. He said there were 7,731 appeals still active as of 5 p.m. Monday, which is 11 percent of the taxable real property parcels in the county.

Seventy-two percent were recommended for reduction and 7,165 30-day notices had been mailed. Of those, 50 percent of the letters had expired. Williams said tax assessors sent 252 appeals to the Board of Equalization and 14 had withdrawn, leaving 238 still in the process. He said BOE hearings would begin the first week in December and end in April.

City Manager Isaiah Hugely said he recommended that tax assessors bring the need for more personnel to council after one of his deputy city managers alerted him of the problem. He said the holidays are coming and it’s important that the city have a strategy for addressing the situation before the start of 2018, when the whole process begins.

“My mind went through what we just went through and I told the deputy city manager, ‘They need to come to council and they need to tell council directly their current situation and if it’s not addressed where they’re going to be,’” he said. “‘And they need to talk about options.’”

Hugley said Tyler has the background and experience, and could provide the immediate help needed. He said he would bring more details to the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

Councilor Gary Allen agreed with contracting out the work because hiring employees would be too expensive for the city, he said.

“This goes back to the lack of communication between us and the Board of Tax Assessors last year and earlier this year and how we got into all this situation we’re in now,” he said. “... So we’re in a situation where we just don’t have the funds to start hiring employees.”

Councilor Judy Thomas said, “Mr. Williams, I still haven’t heard a figure for the amount of money we’re talking about.”

“Thirty dollars a parcel is the number that we’ve been given from Tyler,” Williams responded. “So that could range from $90,000 to $110,00.”

Thomas said, “Here’s my problem. You come to us and ask us to approve this hiring, however we do it - whether we do it hiring people on our payroll or contracting out. I don’t have any numbers for what we’re talking about.

“I will tell you, the hair on the back of my neck went straight up when you said Tyler,” Thomas said. “And part of that is because of all the things that have been going on with Tyler Technologies. I have some real concerns about doing what you’re asking us to do.”

Councilor Jerry “Pops” Barnes commended Williams and his staff for their hard work processing the appeals. He also expressed support for contracting with Tyler.

“We’re really not in a position to do otherwise this year,” he said. “And it makes sense because Tyler technologies has the personnel, there’s no lag period. We can get on it and meet the deadline. To me, right now, in this discussion, that’s the most important thing.”

Councilor Skip Henderson said he doesn’t think the city has a choice this year but to contract with Tyler or some other vender for the services. He also recommended an RFP for additional services as needed.

“And, lastly,” he said. “... I would ask Tyler if they would give us some type of relief on their normal cost because I still believe they have some culpability in some of the mountain of work that you guys were forced to deal with.”

Henderson said either the system didn’t work, or erroneous information was entered. Either way Tyler bears some of the responsibility, he said. Councilor Garrett Walker agreed.

At the end of the discussion, Mayor Teresa Tomlinson thanked tax assessors for doing “remarkable work.”

She said Fulton County recently had their tax digest rejected by the State Revenue Commissioner because they had a similar situation. County commissioners there froze property taxes to give citizens relief, she said, resulting in a significant community backlash.

“During this whole conversation, about everything from Tyler to software to all kinds of things, we too proposed that the 2016 valuations be reversed,” she said. “And had we done that, our tax digest would have been rejected.”

Tomlinson said Atlanta is desperately trying to get a hearing with a judge to set the valuation to collect property taxes, which could take up to a year.

She the Muscogee County Board of Tax Assessors decided to take a different course of action under the advisement of Lomax and city attorneys Clifton Fay and Lucy Sheftall, despite some councilors’ desire to rollback the assessments to 2016 levels.

“...There was no thanks at the time,” she said to tax assessors in the audience. “There was a protest downstairs. You were picketed. You were called out online, social media. Your names were published. People were encouraged to contact you and force you to do something you knew was not legally appropriate or correct.

“... And so, one of the authorities that I have under the charter as mayor is that I am the public spokesman for this city,” she said. And so, as the public spokesman for the city, she thanked tax assessors for “standing steadfast under unbelievable, unfair political push-back, for some of the personal assaults you had to undergo.”

Tomlinson said she believes the assessments increased significantly because of a countywide valuation hadn’t occurred in more than 30 years. She recommended that one be done every 10 years and that assessors review any assessment of over 100 percent that’s not the result of construction and improvements in the future.

Williams said the department has a staff of six residential appraisers, which includes the manager. The manager and two other staff members will be working on the 2017 appeals, which are expected to continue until April. That leaves the other three of his staff to work on permits, property transfers and assessments for one-third of the county, as required annually by state mandate.

“... My point here in all this is that we’re in desperate need of some additional staff,” he said.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Tax assessors spent four months processing over 10,000 appeals. Now they’re behind for 2018.."