Cherokee County to pursue aircraft valuation audit; school system to share costs under IGA

The county manager presented a proposed five-year agreement with Aviation Capital Partners LLC (doing business as Specialized Tax Recovery) to audit aircraft based at the Cherokee County Airport for untaxed or misreported aircraft and to recover additional ad valorem tax revenue.

The initial-year engagement would include a look-back of the last five years of tax data. The county manager said the first year’s not-to-exceed cost was expected to be $253,062 and that total payments over the five-year term would not exceed $350,000. The company’s compensation is structured as a fee tied to the amount of additional assessed value discovered; the contract lists a fee schedule by value ranges.

Under a separate intergovernmental agreement presented the same day, the Cherokee County School System (CCSS) will cost-share the audit: CCSS would pay 70% of the annual cost and the county 30%. Based on the $253,062 example year, the county’s share would be $75,918.75 and CCSS’s share $177,143.75. The manager said subsequent years’ costs are expected to be lower after the initial discovery work.

Commissioners asked how the company would identify aircraft (for example, whether physical inspections suffice or whether historical tracking is needed) and whether tax bills could be issued retroactively. The tax assessor’s office representative explained the contractor has access to flight-navigation and tracking data and the company can trace aircraft presence and ownership to support audits; the company also can look back multi-year periods. The county manager said discovery could produce additional assessed value and resulting tax revenue, but commissioners noted practical limits on pursuing very old tax years.

Ending: Planning staff placed the proposed service agreement and the CCSS IGA on the agenda for the Board to consider; no formal contract approvals were recorded during the work session.