Residents are strongly encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearings on property tax in Muscogee County so their voice may be heard as a citizen and may also contact their respective city council members.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — If you’re like most real property owners in the Fountain City, you probably had quite the sticker shock upon opening your annual property tax assessment notice.
Though the county now has the option to lower the millage rate and still earn the same revenue it did last year, city officials are instead moving to keep the rate just as high and garner an estimated $10 million more from the pockets of residents anyway.
As we broke down in detail last week in our Deep Dive Into The Columbus Property Tax Increase, the millions in additional taxes are alleged to be coming from so-called “reassessments” of residents’ properties that are said to have appreciated in value. When added together, the total value of all taxable property in the Muscogee County tax digest is alleged to have increased by an ungodly 11%.
The extremely-sharp increase also follows an additional 7% increase just the year before.
Many residents have since reached out to us at the Muckraker expressing concerns of the city’s gross overvaluation of their properties. For some, the increase in their tax bills on a single property were in the tens of thousands of dollars per year.
When property taxes are increased, owners typically have no choice but to pass that increase along to tenants by raising rents. Being able to keep property taxes as low as possible doesn’t just save the owner money, but prevents rents from increasing throughout the entire county; it keeps more of everyone’s dollars in their own pockets. It affects everyone.
Fortunately, even the smallest real property owner can file an appeal with the Columbus Tax Commissioner’s office and contest their “newly-assessed” property value.
Even the city’s Chief Appraiser, Suzanne Widenhouse, says she understands that mistakes are often made when providing property tax assessments.
“I mean, we like to think that we're perfect and we get it all right, but we know we don't,” Widenhouse said during the May 23 city council meeting. “There are times where appeals are absolutely the avenue to take.”
Residents are now within a 45-day window to file their appeals, which began on May 30 and concludes on July 14. Appeals must be filed before the July 14 deadline.
It really isn’t all that difficult to put together an appeal and file it, though it is important to remember that you’re on a strict deadline to get it done.
Here’s how:
Keep in mind that your entire appeal needs to be filed by the July 14 deadline. If you’re mailing a paper appeal, it must be postmarked by that date.
If you have any questions, you can call the Tax Commissioner’s office at 706-653-4398 for Real Property, or 706-653-4402 for Personal Property.
You may also email general questions to ccgboa@columbusga.org.
Residents are strongly encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearings on property tax in Muscogee County so their voice may be heard as a citizen and may also contact their respective city council members.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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