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Hart County tax appraiser outlines 2025 digest, new homestead filing window; commissioners set tentative millage rate
Summary
Tax Appraiser Shane Hicks told the Board the 2025 digest is largely complete, new law lets missed homestead claims be filed during the 45‑day appeal window, personal‑property audits are under way, and commissioners voted to use last year’s millage rate as the tentative rate.
Hart County Tax Appraiser Shane Hicks told the Board of Commissioners on July 22 that staff completed a heavy year of reprogramming and audits following voter approval of HB 581 and a state law change that affects homestead filings. Hicks said assessment notices were approved and would be printed and mailed beginning Aug. 4, and that a law effective July 1 allows taxpayers who missed the April 1 homestead-filing deadline to file during the 45‑day appeal window.
Why it matters: Changes to homestead eligibility and how values are calculated can affect homeowners’ tax bills and the county’s digest, and the Department of Revenue audits can change utility assessments and the county’s required adjustments.
Hicks said the assessor’s office and the vendor reprogrammed systems to accommodate HB 581 and related processing. He reported that the 2025 digest used 482 sales, with a median sales ratio near 38 — within the Department of Revenue’s acceptable range — and that the county expects to pass its audit. "It's been quite a busy year, especially with the approval of the HB 581, by the voters and then, we had to have reprogramming done within our systems," Hicks said. He added that the office included an insert with assessment notices to explain the new filing option: "People that missed the chance to file for Homestead, April 1, they can now do so, during the appeal time, the 45 day appeal window."
Hicks also told the board that a contractor is performing personal‑property audits of cell‑site equipment; audits look back three years and can produce tax bills, penalties and interest if companies underreported. He said the county has begun receiving routine contacts from the state audit office but that the formal audit of the digest had not concluded.
After the presentation commissioners voted 5‑0 to adopt the prior year’s millage (the tentative mill rate) for purposes of preparing the digest and notices. County staff said a resolution or formal minute entry will be required to document the tentative millage as required by law.
Details and constraints: Hicks clarified that the homestead freeze applies only to the dwelling and land and that improvements (for example, an addition built under a permit) will reset the locked value to the year of the change. He also noted the Department of Revenue and state audit ranges differ slightly: the county must be generally between 36–44 percent median ratio for the digest and the audit review range can be narrower.
What’s next: Staff will mail assessment notices beginning Aug. 4, include the homestead‑filing insert, and notify the commission when the state audit report arrives. Appeals and homestead filings received during the 45‑day window will be processed as described by the assessor.
