Residents may voice their concerns about the city’s use of three-year-old data from the peak of the pandemic’s inflated housing market to calculate property tax assessments for the current tax year by contacting their respective city council members.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Muscogee County’s Chief Appraiser, Suzanne Widenhouse, openly admitted to using market data that was up to three years old when developing property tax assessments for the current tax year, despite state regulations requiring property values to be calculated based on the conditions in the year they are to be taxed.

The admission was made several times — on camera — during a line of questioning from city councilors during the city council meeting held on June 20.

During the council meeting, several city councilors began to ask Widenhouse very blunt questions regarding the methodology of how her office arrived at such inflated property values for so many property owners here in the Fountain City. 

Through that line of questioning, Widenhouse brazenly stated that her office never “catches up” on current market conditions to make property valuations, but instead uses data that is between one and three years old.

Widenhouse’s statement appeared to be a bold violation of Georgia State Law, which caught the attention of councilors who then honed-in on the topic.

Councilor Glenn Davis (District 2) then asked Widenhouse about the timeframe of the data used to calculate property values, asking if her office ever “catches up” on current market conditions or uses old market data instead:

“It's almost like the properties are being inflated,” Davis began. “But then you look at the local economy … does that really reflect the true valuations in your economy? You can make the argument that you said you never catch up.”

Widenhouse responded by again admitting — as if there was nothing wrong with it, we might add — that her office does in fact use data that is between one and three years old to appraise properties for taxation in the current tax year:

“We never catch up,” Widenhouse responded, “because we're always looking at sales that are a year or two years old.”

That statement means that all property values assessed for the current tax year were made using market data from as early as 2020 during the peak inflationary housing market of the pandemic. 

Widenhouse's office then used those inflated values to send out property tax assessment notices to tens of thousands of Columbus residents for the current tax year.

If that sounds a bit off to you, that's because it absolutely is.

THE LAW

Based on Widenhouse’s statements, the tax assessor’s office appears to be *hugely* violating the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia covering property tax assessments; specifically Rule 560-11-10-.09(b)2, which states:

“Assessment date. Code section 48-5-10 provides that each return by a property owner shall be for property held and subject to taxation on January 1 of the tax year. The appraisal staff shall base their decisions regarding the taxability, uniform assessment, and valuation of real property on the circumstances of such property on January 1 of the tax year for which the assessment is being prepared. When real property is transferred to a new owner or converted to a new use, the circumstances of such property on January 1 shall nevertheless be considered as controlling.”

The item of extreme concern within that regulation is the sentence which reads, “The appraisal staff shall base their decisions regarding the taxability, uniform assessment, and valuation of real property on the circumstances of such property on January 1 of the tax year for which the assessment is being prepared.”

As you will recall, Suzanne Widenhouse was recently questioned by Glenn Davis during the meeting on June 20 on this very topic. 

When asked how her office forms valuations for fair market value, Widenhouse openly stated in plain English that the market used for appraisals and comps is based on conditions from between one and three years ago. As Widenhouse stated several times, her office is never “caught up,” as Councilor Davis had put it, even though state regs require Widenhouse to always be “caught up” for each tax year.

In short: the law requires Widenhouse’s office to value properties based on their current circumstances within the current tax year. However, Widenhouse openly admitted on camera several times on June 20 that the valuations are based on market conditions that are between one and three years old. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

As plainly admitted by the county’s own Chief Appraiser, your current property values for the current tax year were determined using market data from the peak of the pandemic’s inflationary housing market, even though Georgia Rule 560-11-10-.09(b)2 requires that “appraisal staff shall base their decisions regarding the taxability, uniform assessment, and valuation of real property on the circumstances of such property on January 1 of the tax year for which the assessment is being prepared.”

As a result, CCG had projected to bring in an additional $10 million in property tax revenue from your pockets during one of the worst economic periods our country has seen since the Great Depression.

Have we mentioned that City Manager Isaiah Hugley presented an initial budget for the city’s upcoming fiscal year that just-so-happened to have a deficit of $10 million — the exact same amount that just so happened to now be ‘found’ in property valuations?

Maybe our city councilors ought to very seriously consider the connections between these two items, along with how they contrast from the very clear wording of Georgia Rule 560-11-10-.09(b)2.

Follow the money. The evidence speaks for itself.

Residents may voice their concerns about the city’s use of three-year-old data from the peak of the pandemic’s inflated housing market to calculate property tax assessments for the current tax year by contacting 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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