SUMMARY:  This bill would amend Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the O.C.G.A to establish County Property Tax Evaluation Committees who would review and evaluate county property assessment methods.

REQUIREMENTS:

• The County Property Tax Evaluation Committee in each county would consist of:
  • Members of the county board of commissioners,
  • Members of the county board of tax assessors,
  • The county tax commissioner, and
  • The state legislators whose district includes part or all of the county,
  • Or designees by each member.
• Duties would include meetings for discussions to follow an agenda:
  • The number of foreclosures in the preceding 12 months with a comparison to previous years;
  • Current assessed values compared to assessed values in previous years and in similar locations;
  • Overall fairness of property values as related to fair market prices;
  • Current state of property conditions in the county, including commercial and residential property; and
  • Methods used to determine ad valorem taxes of each homeowner.
• Meetings would be set by the county board of commissioners chairman with a minimum of 7 days notice in writing (required 1 meeting with no more than 3 annually ) between September 1 and December 1 of each year.
• No compensation for the meetings would be granted other than actual costs paid from the county treasury in the same manner as other payments by the county.