Larry Hess, the Berkeley County assessor, presented personal property and parcel details and requested commission approval for several tax exonerations at the July 31 meeting.
Hess said the county has “just a little over 60,000 parcels” and about 39,000 personal property accounts that must be keyed and appraised annually. He described a three‑year real estate appraisal cycle across eight districts and noted July and August are a busy period for personal property returns and data entry.
Hess brought several exoneration requests to the commission: two taxpayer‑error exonerations totaling $266.63; three office‑error personal property exonerations totaling $2,317.02; and a larger group of 58 personal property exonerations the assessor said sum to $11,465.85. Commissioners voted to approve each set of exonerations as presented.
Hess also requested approval to split the tax bill for a divorce case (Andrew and Kelly Sparks). He reported the total assessed value for the two vehicles was $30,915 and proposed assigning the Toyota (assessed $17,280) to Andrew and the Honda CR‑V (assessed $13,635) to Kelly. Commissioners approved the split.
Why it matters: Exonerations adjust tax bills and affect county revenue and taxpayer obligations. Hess said many exonerations come from data‑entry corrections and double bills discovered during proofing.
All motions for the exonerations and the billing split were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote, with Commissioner Whitaker recorded as abstaining on a separate earlier minutes approval due to absence but not on these tax items.