Jones County assessors confront state review findings; staff and chief appraiser exchange testimony

At a meeting of the Jones County Board of Tax Assessors, board members and staff spent the bulk of the session debating a recent state performance review and related audit findings that the board and staff said have left the assessor’s office under intense scrutiny.

The board reviewed documents including a peer review, Department of Audits and Accounts findings and Georgia Department of Revenue guidance while asking the office to explain why the county missed required sales-ratio targets in recent years. Board members said the materials showed failures to meet sales-ratio thresholds for 2022 and 2023 and noted a large number of manual property changes that state reviewers flagged.

Board member Mr. Andrews summarized the materials the board had examined and asked whether Chief Tax Appraiser Anthony George believed a pending court case involving two board members created a conflict of interest for participation in matters tied to that litigation. Andrews said the state review and court filings overlapped and that a legal opinion would be required to determine whether any board member should abstain from…