Jones County assessors face removal process after peer review flags compliance gaps; commissioners request reevaluation RFP

Mister Nolan, an attorney retained by the Jones County Board of Commissioners, told the Board of Tax Assessors on Feb. 6 that the commissioners voted to remove two members of the assessors’ board and that the removals are subject to a Superior Court hearing under state law. "On February 3, I filed a petition asking for a hearing," Nolan said, and he cited OCGA 48-5-295 as the statute that requires a judicial recommendation before the commissioners take a final removal vote.

The matter stems from a county peer-review of the assessors’ office that Nolan said documented several instances of noncompliance, including a sales-ratio study the review identified as out of compliance for tax years 2022 and 2023. Nolan told the board the commissioners’ vote followed that review and the earlier letters the commissioners sent in December outlining grounds for removal. "Until that time, ... no decision has been made," Nolan said of the final removal outcome for the named members; he added that the affected assessors maintain the right to a superior-court hearing and remain board members until the court issues recommendations under the statute.

Why it matters: the removal proceeding and the peer-review findings affect how property values are set countywide, the timing and legality of the digest, and public confidence in valuations used to calculate property taxes. Nolan framed the commissioners’ authority narrowly: they can remove board members for cause but do not run day-to-day appraisal operations.

Chief Appraiser Anthony George, who presented the office’s written materials and the peer-review response to the assessors, said the department has already addressed many of the review’s recommendations and disputed parts of the report. "This report is recommendations. Let's be clear. Its recommendations ... give us better ways to operate," George said, adding that about 80% of the report’s items were complete or in progress when the review was published. George also said the office submitted the digest on time in 2023 and that the county’s last full revaluation took place in February 2007, noting ‘‘So it's 18 years since the last revaluation.''

The discussion included specific operational points flagged in the review and by board members: staffing shortages, training backlogs and certification timing, and whether the office had performed physical reviews on a multi-year cycle. George told the board the county lost about half its appraisal staff in 2022–23 and that the office has worked to regrade roughly 500 properties and to restore valuation schedules. The peer review report also noted the office was two appraisers short; George said he requested funding for one appraiser this year but the commissioners denied that request.

Board members pressed for clarity on which findings are violations (which can support removal) versus recommendations. Nolan emphasized that removal requires showing legal noncompliance and that some items in the review were recommendations rather than statutory violations. He said the commissioners voted to remove the existing board as it then stood but that any final removal must follow the superior-court hearing and recommendation process under OCGA 48-5-295.

The assessors voted to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for a countywide revaluation to update cost tables and appraisal schedules; Chief Appraiser George supported a professional, external revaluation because counties typically hire outside firms to perform full revaluations. The RFP motion carried during the meeting.

What happens next: Nolan said the county has filed a petition and the superior-court hearing had not been scheduled as of the meeting. If and when the court issues its recommendation, the commissioners may take a final removal vote; until then, the named assessors remain board members. Separately, the assessors will begin the RFP process to identify a vendor for a countywide revaluation; George said a revaluation is customary about every 15–20 years and that the county’s last full revaluation was in 2007.

Quotes used in this article come from the meeting transcript of the Jones County Board of Tax Assessors’ Feb. 6, 2025 meeting and are attributed only to speakers listed in the meeting record.

Ending: The removal process now moves into the judicial arena; the assessors’ office and the commissioners plan separate steps — court scheduling for the removal petitions and a competitively procured revaluation to update the county’s valuation schedules.