Muscogee County property tax deadline fast approaching

All Muscogee County property taxes are due Friday.

Property owners appealing their 2017 tax assessments are not exempt.

Those still tied up in the appeals process must pay either the amount of their 2016 tax bill or 85 percent of the 2017 assessment, whichever is less, until their final payment is determined.

Deputy Chief Tax Appraiser John Williams said the amount due already has been calculated and printed on a 30-day notice mailed to property owners in response to their tax appeals.

“So they’re not going to pay more than they did last year when they pay their temporary bill,” he said.

If the final 2017 assessment is less than the amount paid at the end of the appeals process, then tax assessors would refund property owners for the additional expense.

Normally, citizens would have received tax notices June 1 and tax bills Aug. 1, with first and final installments due Oct. 1 and Dec 1. But this year, the deadlines were pushed back because of a countywide revaluation and software conversion project, which resulted in the revaluation of 70,000 parcels.

That led to an unprecedented number of appeals — more than 10,000 — causing a domino effect and delaying approval of the county’s tax digest. The Columbus Consolidated Government and Muscogee County School District, which rely on the tax digest for significant amounts of revenue, were forced to pursue tax anticipation notes for short-term financing.

At a Tuesday council meeting, Williams said 5,697 of the active appeals had been reviewed, 53 percent of which were recommended for reductions. He said 862 appeals already had been certified for hearings with the Board of Equalization. Hearings began this week and are expected to continue through April.

Property tax payments may be postmarked by Dec. 1 and mailed to Muscogee County Tax Commissioner, P.O. Box 1441 Columbus, Ga., 31902-1441.

Property owners also can pay their bills at the Tax Commissioner’s Office located at the City Service Center, 3111 Citizens Way, according to a news release issued by the department. Payments may be made in cash, by check, money order, or major credit/debit card. No gift cards or prepaid cards are accepted.

Property tax information is available online at https://www.columbusga.org/taxcommisioner.

For more information contact Deputy Tax Commissioner David Britt at DBritt@ColumbusGA.org.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Muscogee County property tax deadline fast approaching."