Gilmer County BOE Discusses Tax Digest, Construction

The Gilmer County Board of Education (BOE) met for a work session, September 4, to discuss items for the called meeting, September 9. On the agenda for discussion were the tax digest, the millage rate, and the proposed construction on Ellijay Primary and Ellijay Elementary schools. Each of these topics will be discussed Tuesday, September 9.

Herman Clark, of Clark and Clark Attorneys at Law, discussed the tax digest, and the current state of affairs with the BOE. "The tax digest is a problem in that reassessments need to be met," Clark stated. He went on to discuss that the tax digest needs to be under five percent of the total property tracts, that is, of the 34,000-plus tracts in Gilmer County, 95 percent or more need to be resolved before the digest can be set. Currently there are around 11,000 tracts still under appeal, which is well over the necessary five percent.

Clark went on to discuss the possibility of the county to file a motion with the courts to set a digest on a temporary basis. Citizens may remember that the same situation occurred in 1999 and the county had to go before a judge to set up a temporary digest. The petition will allow all nonappealed tracts to be billed at the full 100 percent, while tracts still unresolved will be billed at 85 percent of the reassessed value.

All unresolved tracts would either be rebilled or refunded for the remainder of their tax bill once the assessments are resolved. If after the initial billing an assessment comes back higher than the property tax bill paid, individuals will have to pay the difference. If an assessment comes back lower, they will be refunded the amount that they overpaid.

Clark asked that the BOE consider joining the petition with the county commissioners and the tax assessors. Since the BOE will be significantly impacted, Clark asked for their support in the lawsuit. He went on to state that they would be asking the city of Ellijay as well, since they will be impacted too. The petition is to be filed Wednesday, Sept. 10, with a tentative date to go before the county judge, Sept. 30.

The BOE will discuss and vote on the matter Tuesday, Sept. 9.