Oconee County is doing better than most counties during the Recession. However, there are some trouble spots- Sales Taxes are down; Land and House values are down and the Tax Digest should be lowered…………..

AVOC

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January 28, 2010

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Oconee Sales & Property Taxes and other revenue issues

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Oconee County is doing better than most counties during the Recession.However, there are some trouble spots- Sales Taxes are down; Land and House values are down and the Tax Digest should be lowered; water revenues are less than projected during debt commitments and large dormant or dead subdivisions dot the landscape.

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Past capital projects cost more in annual maintenance and operations cost and put much pressure on the budget with less revenue.   For years, growth in the budget came from increasing digest values and income.    That is not the case today but obligations and commitments from the “Boom Years” must be paid.

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1-25-10 OCONEE COUNTY SALES TAX RECEIPTS FY 05-10.pdf x

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More citizens are questioning the lack of property tax assessment rollbacks.   The decreases of 1 to 2 % are not consistent with previous value increases during ‘boom times”.   Now is the time to file a return an appeal.    Citizens can get information about sales in their neighborhood lower than their assessments and use that as support for lower assessments.   Sources have told AVOC that appeals to the Equalizers and Arbitration have met with success.   It tends to remove the issue from the “courthouse environment” that can be influenced by loss of revenue.   Tax assessment has no part in budget concerns.   The market value and uniformity in values and treatment are the primary mission of the Tax Assessors.

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For information on filing a Return, see below:

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PROPERTY TAX RETURN FORM  (PT50R)

http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/forms/pt50r/index.aspx

1-29-10 Lee Becker Articles on Budget Issues

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OCONEE OBSERVATIONS

http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2010/01/county-finances-and-project-plans.html

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January 24, 2010

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LOST and SPLOST Problems

$ 4,281,944 in unspent funds for County Facilities Expansion and Renovation

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When Oconee County began collecting money in October from the new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax voters approved early last year, it still had $ 10 million in unspent funds from the 1-cent-on-a-dollar sales tax voters approved back in 2003.
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The county had $ 2,423,930 in unspent funds for Water and Sewage projects.

It had $ 385,344 in unspent funds for Recreation and Cultural projects.

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It had $ 977,879 in unspent funds for Roads.

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And it had awhopping $ 4,281,944 in unspent funds for County Facilities Expansion and Renovation

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…………….The issue of money remaining in the SPLOST account came up at the Citizen Advisory Committee on Land Use and Transportation Planning  meeting on Jan. 12, when members were guessing about how much the county has to spend toward a new courthouse.

1-17-10 Becker on Clean & Beautiful Budget Issues

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Communication Was Terrible

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From: Lee Becker [mailto:lbbecker@mindspring.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 6:17 PM

FILING A COUNTY PROPERTY TAX RETURN

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Using the information available at the County Tax Assessors Site, one can complete a new Return for 2010.   SEE:  http://qpublic.net/ga/oconee/index-search.html.   The Tax Return Form must be filed between January 1 and April 1 of each calendar year. http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/County/LGS_Local_Property_Tax_Facts_for_the_County_of_Oconee.pdf

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PROPERTY TAX RETURN FORM  (PT50R)

http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/forms/pt50r/index.aspx

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Oconee County citizens and taxpayers can check their tax assessments and those of neighbors.   Information on sales of properties in Oconee County and other considerable information is now available at the Oconee Tax Assessors Public Web Site.Click on:  http://qpublic.net/ga/oconee/index-search.html.

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Go to Search Records (by Owner) and put in last name and then a first name.  It will bring up owners and parcels.  Click on the Parcel No on left side and it will give breakdown as to size, exemption and values.   Then click on Map on right side and it will bring up the map of the property.  You can click on surrounding parcels and the owner name, parcel number etc will come up.

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Back at the home search page you can click on Sales and a list by each month comes up.  You can go through those and see size, sale date and price.

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One can also obtain a Tax Return Form online and use Online Information to complete it.

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You can also check Tax Bills status as to year, amount and paid status.  That information is located at a Tax Commissioner Site:  http://www.oconeecountytax.com/

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If the assessment is not lowered based on the return, one can appeal to the Board of Tax Assessors and then to the Board of Equalizers.   More information on that process is available at: http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/County/LGS_Local_Property_Tax_Facts_for_the_County_of_Oconee.pdf

FILIING RETURN TO LOWER ASSESSMENT VALUE

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SEE:  http://qpublic.net/ga/oconee/index-search.html.   The Tax Return Form must be filed between January 1 and April 1 of each calendar year.

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For more information, SEE:http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/County/LGS_Local_Property_Tax_Facts_for_the_County_of_Oconee.pdf

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PROPERTY TAX RETURN FORM   (PT50R)

http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/forms/pt50r/index.aspx

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Many forms for filing Real and Personal Property forms are available at the following link
http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/forms/index.aspx

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2-4-08 Oconee Citizens Alert- Tired of spiraling tax assessments and spending- file return now

5-2-08 Time to Tell Tax Assessors & Officials that the “Party is Over”!!

2-5-09 Tax Assessments and Digests should decrease this year BUT don’t hold your breath!

12-19-09 Oconee Land values are down- Tax evaluations and Digest should follow in 2010

11-16-07 Increasing Revenues and Growing Tax Digest Do Not translate to Lower Taxes

Oconee is not the only county struggling with some of these issues:

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1-8-10 Jackson County has challenges with over 60 defunctsubdivisions

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The Jackson Herald   January 8, 2010

http://www.jacksonheraldtoday.com/archives/2950-Kaput-subdivisions-creating-county-headache.html

Kaput subdivisions creating county headache

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1-17-10 Barrow BOC demands meeting for more financial information from Chairman Yearwood

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BOC demands meeting to 'discuss' chairman's media statement Barrow Journal -1-16-10

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1-17-10 Walton County SPLOST Funds shortages

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The Walton Tribune - January 17, 2010

http://www.waltontribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=aa948872f6796847

SPLOST funds to be returned to county

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1-8-10 Morgan Appraisal Values probably will decline for 2010

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The Morgan County Citizen - January 7, 2010

http://www.morgancountycitizen.com/?q=taxonomy/term/1

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