NEWS UPDATES

County close to getting property values certified

Reassessment notices are set to go out by Aug. 15, but county officials don't know yet what new values around the county will look like.

"We're getting very close to having the numbers," said County Administrator Sel Hemingway. "Loose ends should be tied up within the next week and we'll have everything finalized so we can send it to the printer."

Susan Edwards, county assessor, and Scott Proctor, the county's finance director, have been working hard to get the numbers ready, he said.

The numbers still need to be certified by the S.C. Department of Revenue, which checks them for accuracy.

When the county had its last reassessment in 2006, the ratios submitted were 98 percent accurate, well over the 80 percent required.

State law requires counties to reassess property every five years. Those values are used to determine property taxes. The goal is to distribute the tax burden evenly.

The last reassessment was schedule for 2005, but was delayed because the county was changing to a new software system.

Waccamaw Neck property owners who saw significant increases in property values during the 2006 reassessment are hoping to see their tax bills decrease in November as a result of this reassessment.

Those folks were upset earlier this year when it looked like the county might delay reassessment until next year. County officials were worried about unintended effects of reassessment on the county budget as a result of a property tax cap that went into effect in 2007.

County officials later realized they miscalculated and decided to move forward with reassessment as planned. The reassessment schedule was not affected by the county's consideration of a delay.

When it went ahead with reassessment in 2006, Waccamaw Neck residents pushed for an additional one-year delay to give the property tax cap time to take effect.

Once reassessment notices are mailed, property owners will have 30 days to file appeals with the assessor's office. The assessor's office then has 30 days to arrange an appointment with the taxpayer to go over the appeal and attempt to resolve it.

If no agreement is reached, the case moves to the assessment appeals board.

The changes in property tax values as a result of reassessment often aren't as great as people expect, because county millage rates are adjusted to compensate for the change, according to the S.C. Department of Revenue's website.

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