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Transcript

Valerie Fuller (intro): 

You’re tuned in to the Clayton Connected podcast in Clayton County where the world lands and opportunities take off. 

Valerie: 

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Clayton connected Podcast. I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller, Communications Administrator in the Office of Communications in Clayton County where the world lands and opportunities take off.  Today we are talking annual assessment notice with the Chief Appraiser Emmett George. Welcome! 

Emitte George: 

Thank you so much.  Thank you for having me again. 

Valerie: 

I can only seem to get you here like once a year. What’s up with that? 

Emitte: 

That seems to be when everybody wants to talk to me. 

Valerie: 

So again, we’re talking about the annual notice of assessment and some important changes that residents can expect this year compared to previous years. So, we’re gonna start with why the change? 

Emitte: 

So just a few weeks ago the legislation was passed, Senate Bill 566, that made everything for this year, retroed everything for this year, but 566 has changed the formatting of the notice along with a few other things; Homestead related and different things like that, but the primary thing that people will notice this year with this change is a format change of our notice of assessment. 

Valerie: 

And so, what exactly is the annual notice of assessment? 

Emitte: 

So, notice of assessments are sent out every year by law to every parcel. Years ago, before 2012, you only got it if property ownership changed or if your value increased. Now everybody gets it every year, and this is the time that you look over the valuation of your property and if there’s any disagreement with the valuation of your property this is your 45-day window to appeal that and have that review. 

Valerie: 

And the typical deadline for Homestead exemption filing is April 1st? 

Emitte: 

Yes ma’am, January 1st to April 1st each year. 

Valerie: 

Okay and there’s nothing that stops you from filing Homestead throughout the year but that’s the deadline to qualify for the Homestead for the upcoming year? 

Emitte: 

Yes ma’am, so the deadline for that given year, so if you qualify for that particular you can get it by April 1st. If not, but our tax commissioner is very gracious and that she accepts them year-round, it’s just depending on your qualification. 

Valerie: 

Right, so I also think it’s really important for us to note that our Chief Appraiser Emmett George is the tax assessor and Ms. Danielle Smith is the tax commissioner. What’s the difference between the two offices? 

Emitte: 

So the tax commissioner’s office and Ms. Smith makes a great analogy all the time, is her job is to collect and disperse. She also manages all the Homesteads, so anything about Homestead exemption you go through the tax commissioner. Your tax bill you pay through the tax commissioner.  The tax assessor’s office we are charged with the valuation of the parcels. Everything in the county has a value, we must establish it every year and from there then that’s where eventually millage rates are created off of that go to collection but we are just the valuation of parcels.  

Valerie: 

So now we need to share really important information about the annual notice of assessment that will come this year as opposed to previous years. So we’re going to talk through both forms and we’re going to show you our residents, for those of you that are watching the video portion, we want to share an illustration, if you will, of what the previous notice looks like compared to the notice that you’re going to receive this year based on the changes. Let’s start with the previous form.  What did residents see on the previous form?  

Emitte: 

So, the previous form across the top you would have, of course, our address, the owner’s address and the 45-day window was kind of in a grayed out block up on the upper right. Then it had three sections an A and a B and a C. The A section would talk about your right to file an appeal and who to contact at our office.  Section B would be the properties information as far as like the parcel number, if it has acreage it would list if you had a homestead or not. It would also give you your previous year 100% value, your previous year’s 40% or assessed value, you’re taxed in the state of Georgia at 40%, and then it would give your current year’s value also 40%.  And then we get down into the lower section which would give you, in some years, your estimated taxes at the bottom. Last year it changed that we had to give you an estimated rollback millage rate but those are you know kind of what you would see in previous years forms and this is a state promulgated form so it is not like a formatted for each county it is the exact same format across all 159 counties. 

Valerie: 

For the entire state of Georgia so if you are in Georgia you are affected. 

Emitte: 

Yes. 

Valerie: 

So, and it’s really important to clarify that this is not in reference to your taxes but the value. 

Emitte: 

Right. What you can appeal is the value of your property. 

Valerie: 

So now, let’s move to the new form that residents can expect to see. What does that form look like and what do residents need to pay close attention to on that form? 

Emitte: 

All right so the new form it starts off kind of the same way in that it’ll have my office’s information and the owners information.  It’ll also kind of have the year of the assessment notice and the 45-day window.  It’ll list, when we do send these notices out, what’s your beginning and your end date to file an appeal. It does go down into your right to appeal and how to go about it. It gives our website.  It actually also contains this year if you need to do anything about filing a homestead exemption it’ll give the tax commissioner’s website on there. It’ll still give you your staff contact. We do come down into where it also starts with your parcel ID number and some little bit of description about your property; address, commercial, residential, things like that.  But it will then go into a previous year’s 100% value only and then a current year’s 100% value only and then from there it will come down, and at the very bottom portion of the new notice, it will list it if you have a homestead exemption.  It will list which exemption you have there at the bottom, on the bottom left hand side and on the bottom right hand side, and this is the big thing for this year, it’s got an estimate of tax savings box. The estimate of tax savings box is not a estimate of taxes from last year to this year of what you’re going to save, it’s an estimate of what your homestead is worth this year versus if you did not have homestead on this property this year. 

Valerie: 

And that is extremely important to note. Homestead versus no homestead. 

Emitte: 

Yes ma’am it should be basically listing an estimate of homestead savings on there but it isn’t,  it says estimate of homestead. If you do not have a homestead then it’s not going to have a savings.  So if there’s not anything homestead in the left-hand box the right-hand estimated savings box will not have any information. It’s really key that right below it is some fine print that’s put in by the state and it really explains that that is not an estimate of savings, it’s an estimate of homestead but in smaller print so I always want to make sure I’m, I’m highlighting that for our homeowners. 

Valerie: 

Absolutely and we talked a little bit about the appeals process but just to remind them after you receive this notice of assessment for this year what are the steps that residents need to take if any? 

Emitte: 

Yes ma’am on our website right now we’re letting people know that you know we do not have a mail out date; this just came to us end of last week, these formats, so we are still testing some data and things like that to make sure we get it right but we will update and, when we’re going to send these out, but when you get your notice it will have your 45-day appeal window.  I don’t get to set that that’s flexible once we establish the beginning date 45 days later is the ending date.  And that’s, every counties will be different but when that date ends that is the last day to appeal.  You have the right to appeal the value of your property.  If you disagree with the value of your property then come in fill out that form and, I’ll go through there’s more steps than they just come in, but come in and fill out that form.  When you appeal a property it then goes to your appraiser.  Every parcel has an appraiser signed to it.  We’ve got seven residential appraiser areas, three commercial appraiser areas, and so we have staff working those.  They look through any information that you put on the appeal form, anything you want them to know, there’s a spot on the appeal form that you can just, you know, let them know anything you want to talk about as far as disagreement of value.  And once you do that the staff will look through it and they usually can try to find some way for resolution of these appeals. We usually can work them out in the office among the appraisers and the homeowners but there are times where the Board of Equalization or hearing officers, Superior Court, things like that might get involved but there is a resolution that always will be done to these.  You can file your appeal when you get the notice.  You can go online when it’s, when our notices go out.  There will be a link on the top of our page, box right there that you can quickly just get in to file the appeal.  

Valerie: 

And that’s the tax assessors page and you can find that at claytoncountyga.gov website.  

Emitte: 

We also, like I said, you know, you’re more than welcome to come into our office and file that appeal.  This year we will have at the bottom of the notice a QR code that will link you to that link to get you into the appeal form.  The last thing is you can mail in if you want.  It has to be U.S. postmarked by the Postal Service by the date of the last day to appeal for us to be able to accept it, but you can do that if you so choose and you don’t even have to have an appeal form.  You can just simply write on a piece of paper “I wish to appeal my property.”  Let us know of course the address, parcel number, a good contact phone number for you and if you’ll sign it and date it and get it in by the deadline you know that is an acceptable form of appeal also 

Valerie: 

So, trying to make the process as easy as possible for residents; one making sure that you’re informed about the changes that are coming to the form that’s coming in the mail to you, what your rights are to appeal whether you’re going to do it via online through claytoncountyga.gov via mail, completing the online link or form on claytoncountyga.gov, and of course you can always call 770-477-3285 for the tax assessors and most importantly just remember you’re appealing, in the appeal process, the value not your taxes. 

Emitte: 

Right, that’s usually, if anybody’s ever heard me speak, that’s one of the first things that comes out of my mouth every year. 

Valerie: 

Yes.  All right, Chief Appraiser Emmett George in the Clayton connected Podcast studio. Thank you so much for coming to join us and we know that we’ll see you hopefully throughout the year with anything and everything that we can inform our residents about in reference to the tax assessor’s office and anything that impacts our residents.  So, we thank you for being here today and we look forward to seeing you again.  

Emitte: 

Thank you so much for having me Val.  

Valerie (outro): 

I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller, thank you for listening to the Clayton Connected podcast in Clayton County Georgia where the world lands and opportunities take off!