Glynn County assessors report below‑market valuations in several districts, outline timeline under House Bill 581

Glynn County Chief Appraiser Ron Glissant told the Board of Assessors on Feb. 20 that the county’s beginning 2025 sales‑ratio analysis shows several districts below the state’s acceptable assessment range and outlined a timeline for revaluation and for the updated rollback‑rate process required under House Bill 581.

Glissant, who identified himself as chief appraiser with the Glynn County Property Appraisal Office, reported preliminary median level ratios by district for calendar year 2024: District 1 (Brunswick) median 78.975 with 206 sales; the TAD district inside the city beginning at 45.16; District 2 (outskirts of the mainland) median 89.47 with five sales; District 3 at 81.67 with 1,004 sales; District 4 (St. Simons Island) median 79.05 with 784 sales; District 5 (Sea Island) 61.9 with 36 sales; and Jekyll Island (District 6) 80.42 with 34 sales. "0.95 to 1.1 is the is acceptable range for the state," Glissant said, describing the state’s acceptable price‑level differential range and urging the office will bring final numbers to the board in about two months.

Why it matters: those preliminary ratios guide the office’s revaluation work for the 2025 digest and feed levying authorities’ rollback‑rate calculations under House Bill 581, the recent state law that adds a new municipal homestead exemption option. Glissant said the county will supply growth and inflation reports to the city, school board and county so those levying authorities can issue rollback‑rate estimates; the levying authorities’ estimates will be included on assessment notices rather than tax estimates this year.

What staff will do: Glissant described the office’s process—verifying sales data (square footage and sale details), applying uniform adjustments to unsold parcels at the neighborhood level, and using comparable neighborhoods when sales are sparse. He noted special attention to logic edits, quality control, and coordination with the state tax commissioner’s office. Revaluation entries will continue through a system shutdown scheduled for May 5, and staff identified a target date of May 16 for mailing assessment notices. The office also set an internal target of completing the growth and inflation work by April 1 to produce data needed for rollback‑rate estimates.

House Bill 581 and local decisions: Board members discussed that Glynn County and the city and school board must decide whether to "opt in" or "opt out" of the new municipal homestead exemption; one board member said the three levying authorities were working toward decisions by March 1. Glissant and board members warned the change will alter the content of assessment notices and could increase public inquiries when notices arrive.

Schedule and public outreach: Glissant asked the board to reschedule the April meeting to April 10 and the May meeting to May 8 to better align with the assessment‑notice timeline; the board approved the schedule change by consensus during the meeting. He also reported continued heavy workload for homestead processing and said customer service staff had received recent positive feedback.

The board did not take a formal final action on valuations at the Feb. 20 meeting; Glissant said staff will return with final sales‑ratio and digest numbers in roughly two months and will present the revaluation results before assessment notices are mailed.