The Jones County Board of Assessors continue to move forward with keeping property taxes as well as the county’s tax digest on an even keel, despite working short one member.
The Oct. 1 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Dr. Leigh Stanford, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by board member Joe Rutledge. Board member Tina Pressley was not in attendance at the meeting, which meant there were only three members in attendance.
Applications for the vacant position are available on the county’s website, jonescountyga. org, under the boards and authorities tab.
Jones County Chief Appraiser Lori Buchanan began addressing the agenda items beginning with homestead exemptions. She presented five exemptions for approval, and after reviewing the documents, board member Andrea Riley made a motion to approve, which passed unanimously by the three voting members in attendance.
Buchanan presented 236 ACO and 261 ACOs for appeals approval. She noted that two of the items were excluded due to conflicts of interest. Rutledge made the motion to approve, which was approved unanimously.
The chief appraiser presented 20 motor vehicle appeals for approval, which were also unanimously approved, as was one CUVA application.
The next items presented were 30-day notices. That included 55 with the exception of one conflict, followed by 39 no-change notices. Both were unanimously approved.
The appeal update included 672 real appeals and 14 personal property appeals. Buchanan noted that of the appeals filed, 150 were applications for homestead exemptions only. She said 22 of the applications were for CUVA only.
She said 53 real property and three personal property appeals would receive 30-day notices. Thirty-eight real property and one personal property appeal will be forwarded to the Board of Equalization, and seven real property and two personal property appeals were certified to the hearing officer and filed with the clerk. The appraiser said the county attorney would be notified of the files and given all the information.
“I’m proud to say for our office, as of today, all appeals have been reviewed and processed and placed to the next appropriate level,” Buchanan said. “That’s pretty amazing.”
Riley agreed. “We appreciate the hard work of everybody,” she said.
Stanford added that next month the board should be able to present financial updates.
