Jones County hears appeals from River North and Eatonton Highway homeowners; board adopts several valuation adjustments

Jones County property owners whose 2025 assessments rose sharply told an appeals panel their increases were excessive, and the panel made several targeted adjustments during a multi-hour hearing recorded in the county transcript.

At the hearing, residents said sudden, large increases in assessed values would cause hardship for people on fixed incomes. Michael Clark and other River North homeowners contested recently raised values; Clark told the panel his property’s assessed value rose to $426,009 from roughly $335,000 and said he had placed a new roof on the house this year. Appraisers from the assessor’s office presented comparable-sales analyses and defended their methodology, saying countywide revaluation raised base price-per-square-foot tables to better align with market sales and with state guidelines.

The panel and assessor’s staff debated uniformity measures used in mass appraisal, including sales-ratio targets and the coefficient of dispersion. County appraisal staff said they had removed previous “overrides” and raised base residential square-foot prices this year to move the county’s overall sales ratio toward the state-recommended target. Staff acknowledged the county’s uniformity measures were not yet ideal and said they expect more complete adjustments in the next cycle.

Votes at a glance

- Michael Clark, 317 Wimbledon Court (River North): Assessed at $426,009 by assessor’s office. After discussion the panel set a revised assessed…