After approximately 85 percent of Oconee County property values are reassessed this spring, many property owners could see lower tax bills next September, and the county government will see a need to reevaluate its budget.

“Most (property values) will either stay the same or go down,” said county tax assessor Allen Skinner. “We can’t make any inflationary adjustments to the properties.”

Because of House Bill 233, which was signed by Governor Sonny Perdue last May, the only taxes to increase will be those on properties that have been changed since the last assessment, or in cases where a factor was overlooked in the last assessment.

Last year, 14,000 out of 17,000 parcels in Oconee County were reassessed, and the same number is expected for this year. Assessment notices will be mailed to property owners in April or May, and residents will have 45 days in which to appeal their assessment.

“This year, with things going down, people may be okay with (their assessments) and may not appeal, but there are still those that don’t think it went down enough and will still appeal,” said Skinner.

The tax assessor’s office received around 580 appeals in 2009, which was slightly more than the year before. Skinner expects about the same amount of appeals this year. 

Property owners appealing their tax assessments should do so in a letter to the tax assessor’s office, stating why they are disagreeing with the value and including any supporting information, as well as contact information. After the appeal is received, a reassessment of the property will be made.

With lower assessed values on property, the county is also expecting to see a decrease in the its tax base, 36 percent of which is made up of property tax revenues.

“Last year, revenues decreased 1 to 1.5 percent, and we are expecting another decrease because of what has occurred with the economic conditions this year,” said commission chairman Melvin Davis. “That will, in turn, cause us to have to reduce our budget again because we will not have as much revenue from property taxes as we have had this past year.”

The number Davis was given to work with by the tax assessor’s office is a 2 percent decrease in property tax values, and Davis projects the county will have to reduce the budget another 3 to 5 percent.

In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the county has kept its expenses below budget, having only used 40 percent rather than the 50 percent anticipated.

The current general fund budget, which stands at $21.7 million, will have to be revisited for the next fiscal year. Two ways to reduce the county’s budget, Davis said, is to reduce services or to reduce fixed costs, such as utilities and travel expenses.

“We would be providing what is essential,” said Davis. “Not what we would all like to have.”

Potential cutbacks in county services could include eliminating particular programs in the Parks and Recreation Department, or only answering animal control call during regular hours of operation and not after hours, Davis offered as examples. 

The county’s budget for Fiscal Year 2009 was $21.9 million. In trying to create a leaner

budget last year, the county offered early retirement to 24 eligible county employees, 17 of whom accepted the early retirement. 

“Currently, we have only filled critical positions, so I think we will continue to hold vacant positions as they become vacant,” said Davis. “Then we may have to consider the transfer of individuals from one department to another.”

Another effort to save money came in the form of position consolidation with the City of Bogart, which had a vacancy in a code enforcement position. The county and Bogart collaborated to fulfill the responsibilities of the position and to jointly fund the position.

The county draws in revenue from other sources, including administrative fees, which make up 17 percent of the $34.7 million in total revenues for FY10 (total revenues exceed the general fund budget for specific items such as the SPLOST and Enterprise fund), and the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which makes up 15 percent of total revenues. Other parts of the additional revenues to the county come from the fund balance, utility and water and sewer fees and judicial fees. 

The end of 2009 marked the conclusion of the 2004 SPLOST, which was projected to reach $25 million at the end of five years. Because the projection was fulfilled in exactly the amount of time projected, no excess revenue was collected. 

So far, the current SPLOST revenue has decreased around 45 percent.

“All of this means that what we’ve got to do to improve our situation is to make sure that we have enough revenue to cover our budget and be very, very conservative in our budget projections,” said Davis.

Anna Dolianitis is a reporter for The Oconee Leader. She can be reached at 706-310-1104 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

---