Chief appraiser outlines 2025 digest: county assessed values up about 10.3%; assessment-notice templates, HB92 create tight timeline

The Glynn County chief appraiser briefed the Board of Assessors April 10 on the 2025 real property digest, saying the county’s assessed values rose about 10.3% from 2024 to 2025 — roughly 8 percentage points attributed to inflationary increases and about 2.3 percentage points to new growth.

The chief appraiser told the board the digest figure represents assessed values at 40 percent of market value, excludes exempt properties and personal property, and is a snapshot used by taxing authorities to estimate revenue and set rollback rates. He said the office plans to provide the digest data to the Glynn County school board and the City of Brunswick at least 15 days before assessment notices are mailed; the assessor’s office’s current target date for sending assessment notices is May 23.

State guidance complicates the notice process this year. The Department of Revenue supplied three assessment-notice templates (A, B and C). The county will use template A if all levying authorities provide rollback rates on time, template B if one or two levying authorities fail to provide rates, and template C — a version with estimated taxes — if none provide rates. The chief appraiser said the office is coordinating with its vendor and the Department of Revenue to verify data and requested extra proof copies of notices because of recent legislation.

The chief appraiser discussed House Bill 581 as a prior source of complexity and said House Bill 92, signed April 1, clarified some homestead rules. Under HB92, the assessor’s office said, homestead limits are limited to five acres or less (replacing a prior uncapped interpretation) and an individual who missed the homestead filing deadline may apply during a 45-day appeal window after assessment notices are mailed; applications accepted in that window can be considered for the 2026 digest or, in specific cases, may be applied to the current year under the statute’s provisions.

Office statistics in the packet included 1,505 sales in calendar year 2024, a median ratio of 0.92, a coefficient of dispersion of 0.07 (7), and a price-related differential near 1.01. The chief appraiser said those measures meet Department of Revenue statistical criteria and indicated the digest is close to final, with staff beginning edits and cleanup and planning to deliver the assessment notice data file to the printer on May 9 for sample proofs.

Board members raised public-education concerns about how taxpayers will read the new assessment notices, which may not show a clear tax estimate depending on which template is used. The chief appraiser urged the board to consider outreach options — mailers, newspaper ads, or presentations to county commissioners — to help residents understand the notices.

After the presentation, the board proceeded to other agenda items, including staff remarks and routine votes.