Putnam County property owners will soon receive new property valuations reflecting a growing real estate market.
But Putnam County Assessor of Property Steve Pierce said the rising appraisals could trigger a corresponding drop in the county tax rate. The county is currently undergoing its state-mandated five-year reappraisal cycle, with the last update occurring in 2021. Pierce said the office spends four years physically reviewing properties before using recent sales data to calculate new market values during the fifth year.
“There’s there’s not a windfall of taxes, the tax rate will drop when values go up, tax rates drop,” Pierce said. “Our market is, you know, we’ve had a real estate boom since ’21 which was our last reappraisal, so the numbers will reflect that in value, the value will go up considerably. But also tax rates are going to drop considerably too.”
Pierce said the state calculates a new certified tax rate designed to bring in the exact same amount of tax revenue as the previous year. Property owners whose new valuations fall below the county average could actually see their tax bills decrease. An increase in taxes only occurs if a specific property outperforms the average market growth across the county.
“Just that don’t want people to get upset and panic when they open that up because we’re going to see some dramatic increases from the real estate market changing since 2021,” Pierce said. “But also that tax rate’s going to drop.”
Pierce said the office plans to mail out notices of value changes on May 8, which will include a preliminary certified tax rate and a formula allowing residents to calculate their new taxes. The notices will feature the office logo and display both the current value and the new value.
“We’ve been able this year, this is the first time ever, we’ve been able the state has allowed us to create our own change notice,” Pierce said. “And I think the information we’ve created one ourselves within the office, and I think it flows very well, it gives the best information, it’s legible, it’s easy to understand, and if they if they disagree with it or have questions, call the office.”
Pierce said residents who disagree with their new valuation can begin an informal review process with a field appraiser throughout the month of May. If the issue remains unresolved, property owners can escalate their appeal to the County Board of Equalization in June, followed by the State Board of Equalization and Chancery Court.
“We want to be very proactive in making sure people know their rights and they understand this process best we can we can educate people,” Pierce said.
State statute requires all change notices to be mailed to property owners by May 20.