Tax bills will be earlier, higher
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

Tax notices should be in the mail by mid-November, thanks to the state's timeliness in providing property values for Georgia Power and Oglethorpe Power.

According to Burke County Tax Commissioner Cynthia McManus, property tax bills may be sent out as early as Nov. 12 - giving residents the option of paying in time for a 2007 deduction or waiting for the Jan. 20 deadline.

With tax dollars from local utilities making up about 85 percent of Burke County's total digest, the board of education and county commissioners can't set their millage rates without the state's figures.

Last year, the wait for those figures pushed tax bill generation into late January.

But with the 2007 assessments already in hand, final millage rate hearings are set for Nov. 8.

McManus will head to the Department of Revenue office in Atlanta the next day. If they find everything in order, bills will be printed shortly thereafter.

But for most folks, the earlier bills will also be higher ones.

County administrator Merv Waldrop said property owners can expect to pay more this year.

"Our sales tax revenue was down from the previous year by $400,000 while the budget increased by about a million," he said.

To compensate, commissioners will most likely add a mil to the current rate, bumping it up to 22.49 in unincorporated areas.

Based on that estimate, the tax bill for a $100,000 home will be $37 higher this year. In Waynesboro, it would run about $19 higher, thanks to a city-funded fire department.

On top of higher taxes, higher assessments will push most bills even higher. The county saw property values rise by about $40 million this year.

According to Waldrop, Georgia Power, Southern Natural Gas and Norfolk Southern have already appealed their higher assessments.

While it could take up to a year for the court's decision, the county is bound, by state policy, to go ahead and use the original assessment when setting the millage rate.

That means if the appeals are granted, it'll mean trouble come late 2008. Right now, for instance, the county is struggling to make up the $200,000 deficit between Georgia Power's 2006 original assessment and actual taxes.

For Burke County's five incorporated cities, however, tax formulation will be a bit less complicated.

Waynesboro City Administrator Jerry Coalson anticipates tax notices going out in mid-November. Although the millage rate hasn't been set, it is expected to remain at 11.

Keysville and Sardis residents should expect their tax notices around the same time, however Midville officials were not yet sure when theirs would be posted.

As with the county notices, higher assessments will add up to slightly higher city bills.