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Spalding County tax commissioner flags TAD accounting error affecting 2025 disbursements; corrections underway
Summary
Tax Commissioner Sylvia Hollams told commissioners a missing base-year value in assessor data meant TAD allocations for some 2025 tax bills were not calculated, sending excess funds to the county general fund; unpaid bills will be corrected and disbursements adjusted, and commissioners agreed to handle transfers at the 6:00 meeting.
Sylvia Hollams, Spalding County tax commissioner, told the board that when her office received the 2025 tax-bill file from the assessor it lacked base-year values for parcels in the county's Tax Allocation Districts (TADs). Because the base values were absent, the county's accounting system did not calculate the difference that should have been routed to the TADs and the city, Hollams said.
"There's no money missing," Hollams said. "You all got more money than you were supposed to." She explained that the county received funds into the general fund that should have been separated and routed to the city and TAD accounts; the issue stems from missing data on the assessor file rather than from a bank or cash shortage. Hollams said the county has corrected records for any unpaid 2025 tax bills and will adjust disbursements as payments are processed.
Commissioners questioned whose error it was — the assessor's office or the assessor's vendor — and discussed logistics for returning funds and whether the transfers would come from the general fund or contingency. One commissioner said the amounts involved (discussed as in the hundreds of thousands) warranted bringing the matter to the full board rather than handling solely between the tax commissioner and county manager. Chair Davis said the board would approve necessary transfers at the 6:00 p.m. meeting.
Hollams offered to provide a parcel-level list of affected TAD locations (she cited downtown/Kroger-area parcels as among the largest) and said her software staff could prepare maps or graphics if commissioners wanted them.
Next steps: staff will coordinate with the City of Griffin and the tax commissioner’s office on the mechanics of transferring the amounts to the appropriate TAD and city accounts; the board will consider formal approval at the evening meeting.
