Walker County spending $170,000 on assessors

photo Bebe Heiskell, the sole commissioner in Walker County, Ga., has been working in the same location as a public administrator for four decades.

Walker County Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell agreed to give the local tax assessor's office $170,000 more this year after the office failed to accurately assess property values.

Under threat of a $165,000 fine from the Georgia Department of Revenue, Heiskell signed a consent order Thursday agreeing to hire three new property appraisers. The department sent Heiskell the order after auditors concluded last year that some of Walker County's property values were out of whack -- some too high, some too low.

The property values affect how much money a citizen pays Walker County in taxes. In other words, the county might not be taking in as much money as it should. It also might be taking in too much.

To prevent this from happening again, the revenue department told the county to take certain measures. Officials have agreed to pay $50,000 to hire an outside company to assess the base value of land in Walker County.

The department also asked the county to hire three new property assessors. It told the county that two of those assessors could be part-time employees, saving the county money. But local officials decided to hire all three as full-time employees for a total of $78,000 a year.

Chief Appraiser Terry Gilreath said hiring two employees part time would have been a waste. He said his office would have to spend two years training those part-time employees.

But beyond that, Gilreath argues that this whole order from the revenue department is a waste of money. He said the auditors who looked at the county's properties ignored a legal loophole that temporarily drove down some property values.

In Georgia, certain property purchases qualify as "arm's length" transactions. This happens when a buyer purchases the property for less money than the tax assessor says that property is worth. When that is the case, the new owner pays taxes at a lower level than he normally would for one year.

For example, a buyer purchases a home in Walker County for $300,000. The assessor says that property is worth $400,000. For the first year after that purchase, the buyer will pay taxes on the property as if it is worth $300,000. After that, the buyer pays taxes at a $400,000 rate again.

Gilreath says the revenue department ignored the "arm's length" transactions.

"The numbers they are using don't account for that [loophole]," he said. "It's not right. It's really not right. If they would have used our actual numbers like our system has ... if they would just use those current values, we wouldn't even be sitting here talking about this."

A member of the department of audits, which assessed Walker County's property values, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In addition to three new hires, Heiskell has announced that she wants to buy a new tax assessor's office. She said the county is trying to purchase the abandoned Stearns Bank building in Rock Spring, at the corner of U.S. Highway 27 and Georgia State Route 95.

In a video posted on Facebook, Heiskell said the county has offered to buy the building for $500,000. She says the bank has asked for $700,000.

The tax assessor's office now is located at 201 S. Main St. in LaFayette. Heiskell thinks the building is about 75 years old, and she said the conditions are so poor that mold has grown on the arms of the office's chairs.

"I don't think it's very healthy," she said on the video.

Heiskell also said that the Department of Revenue is demanding that the county buy a new tax assessor's office. She said the demand is part of the consent order, that not buying the new building will lead to a $165,000 fine against the county.

But that's not true, said Ellen Mills, director of the revenue department's local government services division. The consent order states that the county must provide "necessary" office space, and Gilreath says he has handled the new hires by putting two employees in each room in the office.

Mills said the order does not actually demand the county purchase a new office -- be it for $500,000 or less.

"We are just ensuring that the assessor's office is properly funded," Mills said. "We are not being so specific as to tell them they have to buy property."

Heiskell did not return a call seeking comment after signing the consent order.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.

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