Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 560 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Chapter 560-11 - LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES DIVISION
Subject 560-11-2 - SUBSTANTIVE REGULATIONS
Rule 560-11-2-.56 - Review of County Tax Digest by the State Revenue Commissioner

Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 560-11-2-.56

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024

(1) General.

(a) County boards of tax assessors are required by the State Constitution and state law to continuously maintain assessments of property that are reasonably uniform and that are based on fair market value as defined in § 48-5-2(except as otherwise stated in § 48-5-6 and § 48-5-7(c.3)). The Department is required by law to periodically review the county digests to determine if the digests are in compliance with such laws.

(b) This Regulation imposes no additional requirements on the county boards of tax assessors. It merely sets forth the statistical and other methods that are used by the Department in making its determination. The Department does not determine when to revalue property. Each county board of tax assessors determines for itself when it believes a revaluation of property is necessary for legal compliance. Failure to revalue property shall not in and of itself be a basis for assessment of any penalty.

(c) Any digest submitted shall be reviewed utilizing information established by the State Auditor to determine whether or not the county tax digest is in accordance with the uniformity requirements of § 48-5-343.

(2) Review of County Tax Digest by the State Revenue Commissioner.

(a) County Notification: In the event a county fails to meet the standards set forth in paragraphs (c) through (k) of subparagraph (2) of this Regulation, the Commissioner shall immediately notify the county. The notification shall include the findings of the State Auditor regarding assessment bias and assessment ratio, and any additional information the Commissioner believes would be of assistance to the county board of tax assessors to establish uniform values.

(b) Property Classes: For purposes of this regulation the real and personal property of each county shall be classified into five classes of property:
1. Residential (including Residential Transitional and Historic);

2. Agricultural (including Preferential, Conservation Use, Environmentally Sensitive)

3. Commercial;

4. Industrial; (including Brownfield)

5. Utility.

(c) Average Level of Assessment: The Commissioner shall maintain uniformity among the classes of property by setting standards for the average level of assessment for each.

(d) Standard For Level of Assessment: The standard for level of assessment for all classes of property will be in compliance with the Code if the upper limit of a ninety-five percent confidence interval about the average level of assessment, as established by the State Auditor, is equal to or greater than thirty-six percent, or the lower limit of a ninety-five percent confidence interval about the average level of assessment as established by the State Auditor, is less than forty-four percent.

(e) Uniformity Within a Class of Property: The average assessment variance for each class of property shall be ensured by the coefficient of dispersion of the sample for each class, as established by the State Auditor.

(f) Standard for Uniformity: The standard for uniformity will be deemed to have been met if the resulting coefficient does not exceed fifteen percent for the residential class of property or twenty percent for the non-residential classes of property.

(g) Residential Class of Property: If the State Auditor adds non-residential observations to the residential sample to determine statistics applicable to the residential class of property, the standard of uniformity for the residential class of property shall be the same as for the non-residential classes of property.

(h) Assessment Bias: The level of assessment bias within each class of property shall be measured by the price-related differential as established by the State Auditor. It shall be deemed to be in compliance if the resulting price-related differential is in the range of 0.95 to 1.10, inclusive.

(i) Magnitude of Deficiency: If a class of property constitutes ten percent or less of the assessed value of the total digest, and does not meet the uniformity requirements the Commissioner may approve the digest if, in his judgment, the approval will not substantially violate the concept of uniformity and equalization.

(j) Overall Average Assessment: The overall average assessment ratio for the county shall be the weighted mean of the average level of assessment of the classes of property as established by the State Auditor.

(k) Deviation of Overall Average Assessment: If the overall average assessment ratio is less than thirty-six percent, the digest shall be deemed to deviate substantially from the proper assessment ratio. The Commissioner shall assess against the county governing authority additional state tax in an amount equal to the difference between the amount the state's levy of one-quarter mill would have produced if the digest had been at the proper assessment ratio, and the amount the digest actually used for collection purposes would produce.

(3) Digest Review by Department.

(a) County boards of tax assessors are required by the State Constitution and state law to continuously maintain assessments of property that are reasonably uniform and that are based on fair market value. The Department is required by law to periodically review the county digests to determine if the digests are in compliance with such laws.

(b) The Department does not determine when to revalue property. Each county board of tax assessors determines for itself when all classes of property should be valued in accordance with § 48-5-299(a). This regulation imposes no additional requirements on the county boards of tax assessors. The Department's digest review cycle is only established to validate that counties are meeting the 40% of fair market value requirement of § 48-5-7, and no particular period or schedule of revaluations is required of the counties by the Department for approval of a county digest. Failure to revalue property shall not in and of itself be a basis for assessment of any penalty.

(c) The digest review cycle for each county commencing January 1, 2008, shall be as follows:
1. January 1, 2010 and every third January 1 thereafter for the following counties: Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Bulloch, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Clarke, Clinch, Coffee, Dougherty, Emanuel, Fannin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Glynn, Gordon, Greene, Hall, Haralson, Irwin, Jasper, Jenkins, Johnson, Lumpkin, McIntosh, Meriwether, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Putnam, Randolph, Screven, Stewart, Sumter, Tattnall, Tift, Toombs, Turner, Twiggs, Union and Wheeler.

2. January 1, 2008 and every third January 1 thereafter for the following counties: Bartow, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun, Candler, Chatham, Chattooga, Cobb, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Dawson, Douglas, Early, Echols, Effingham, Forsyth, Grady, Gwinnett, Habersham, Harris, Hart, Henry, Houston, Jones, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marion, McDuffie, Monroe, Montgomery, Pierce, Polk, Rockdale, Spalding, Taliaferro, Terrell, Treutlen, Upson, Ware, Warren, Wayne, Wilcox, Wilkes and Worth.

3. January 1, 2009 and every third January 1 thereafter for the following counties: Appling, Banks, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Bryan, Burke, Butts, Camden, Catoosa, Charlton, Clay, Clayton, Columbia, Coweta, Crisp, Dade, Decatur, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, Elbert, Evans, Floyd, Hancock, Heard, Jackson, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Miller, Mitchell, Morgan, Oconee, Pulaski, Quitman, Rabun, Richmond, Schley, Seminole, Stephens, Talbot, Taylor, Telfair, Thomas, Towns, Troup, Walker, Walton, Washington, Webster, White, Whitfield and Wilkinson.

(4) If all three of the following circumstances exist, the Commissioner may require the county tax receiver or tax commissioner to submit the digest being used for the collection of taxes. That digest may be reviewed by the Commissioner to determine if the valuations are reasonably uniform and equalized between and within counties and to determine if any grants should be withheld or any specific penalty assessed:

(a) The county tax receiver or tax commissioner has failed to submit the digest by the due date and has exhausted any extensions of the due date granted by the Commissioner;

(b) The county governing authority has successfully petitioned the superior court under § 48-5-310 to authorize the temporary collection of taxes on the basis of a temporary digest; and

(c) The property under appeal or subject to appeal is less than the maximum allowable under § 48-5-304(a).

O.C.G.A. §§ 48-2-1, 48-2-7, 48-2-12, 48-5-1 to 48-5-3, 48-5-7, 48-5-9, 48-5-260, 48-5-263, 48-5-274, 48-5-299, 48-5-340 through 48-5-349.5.

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