Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax Appeals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jones County assessors: board says state law bars late property assessment appeals
Summary
At a public meeting, the Jones County Board of Assessors said Georgia law prevents the board from accepting late appeals to the statutory appeal window; board members discussed adopting email/online submission policies for the future and then moved into executive session.
A Jones County Board of Assessors member said at a public meeting that Georgia law does not allow the board to accept exceptions to the statutory window for property assessment appeals, and the board will not reverse that legal interpretation.
The board member said, “Georgia law does not allow a board of assessors. It does not authorize the board of assessors assessors to make any exception to the window of appeal period. That appeal period is set, by statute, and we are simply not authorized to make an exception to that.” The member also said the board had consulted with the county attorney, Ashley Brody, on the matter.
The issue arose during public comment from residents who said they missed the appeal deadline. One resident said, “My property went up by almost $200,000.” Another commenter described using fax and said the newspaper notice “didn’t have a time,” and that contributed to the missed deadline.
Board members and commenters discussed whether the board could adopt a policy to accept appeals submitted electronically in the future. A board member said the board “can look at adopting that policy that, Mr. Davis mentioned would have to do to receive them by email, which I assume could mean a process online as well.” The board member added that reassessment work is underway and that “over 25% has been completed.”
On the limits of local authority, a member said, “I cannot and will not take action that goes directly, contrary to what the county attorney has advised.” Staff practices were described in public remarks: one participant said if an email had been received during business hours, staff (identified in discussion as Mr. Goodman) likely would have called the sender to explain that an original mailed filing or an in-person filing was required.
After public comment, a motion to go into executive session was made and seconded; the chair announced the board would be “about 10 minutes” in executive session.
The board took no public action to waive the statutory appeal window at the meeting. The board indicated it would consult legal advice and may consider creating an official policy to permit electronic submissions going forward, but no formal policy was adopted during the session.
