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ZEBULON - Pike County Times attended the latest meeting of the Board of Assessors held on Tuesday, February 20. During that meeting, Chief Appraiser Greg Hobbs advised the board of a phone call that he had received from the Department of Revenue (DOR) laying out how and when the State Review will be conducted.

The Performance Review by the Department of Revenue (DOR) is set to begin on March 11 and will run through March 15. Hobbs said that the DOR representative advised that the Appraisal Staff, the Board of Assessors, the Tax Commissioner, and the County Commissioners will all be interviewed.

The Commissioners Meeting Room will be ground zero with interviews being conducted at that location by the DOR employee and two appraisers. They will have a secretary and support staff. They will also be using the EMA facility for their support staff as well.

As more information is being given to the county, it is being given to the county attorney and others who will be a part of this process.

Scroll down to read the original article dated 2.2.24 entitled "BREAKING NEWS: Commission Votes to Appeal Fine and Request a State Review of the Board of Assessors."

Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!

INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING BREAKING NEWS ALERTS CAN BE FOUND, HERE.

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ZEBULON - Members of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Assessors, Chief Appraiser Greg Hobbs, Tax Commissioner Donna Chapman, County Attorney Rob Morton, County Clerk Angela Blount, and County Manager Brandon Rogers met in the upstairs courtroom at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 1, 2024 to have a discussion of the 2022 Pike County Tax Digest. This discussion centered around a $48,645 fine that has been levied against Pike County by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

The less than 30 minute meeting ended with the Pike County Board of Commissioners voting on a resolution that appeals the order with its fine against the county and requests an independent performance review of the Pike County Board of Tax Assessors and its appraisal staff.

History

Pike County Times has been attending meetings of the Board of Assessors since September of 2023 with meetings were normally held at 11 a.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the EMA Building located by Public Works. After repeated suggestions that these meeting be held in the evenings when it was more convenient for the public and members to attend, the meetings were changed to 4:30 p.m. in the afternoons beginning in February.

Copies of Pike County Times’ notes from these meetings can be read from the last meeting that is online at www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor1.4.24.html with a link to all meetings that have been attended at the bottom of the page. There is also a meeting from January 18 that should be written up before the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, February 6 at 4:30 p.m.

Pike County Times began attending these meetings after being approached by a citizen with concerns about the meetings. Since that time, the county manager has been present at almost all of the meetings with at least one county commissioner and various members of the public attending many of the meetings.

There are changes that have come about since that time including open records documentation being placed on the county website prior to the meetings and documentation being given to board members prior to meetings on a regular basis. These are the same procedures that are followed for the Board of Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Board.

Documentation for the upcoming meeting and information from past meetings can be found at www.pikecoga.com. Click on “Resources,” scroll down to “Other Links,” click on “Meetings and Agendas,” and then scroll down to the List of Meetings below the search bar. This is the same procedure that is followed by the Board of Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Board.

There has also been changes to the members of this board including two current vacant seats that are available to the public. Information on how to apply for these seats is in the closing

The Board of Commissioners appointed Kristen Cudnohufsky to the Board of Assessors to begin serving in September of 2023. Christopher Tea’s term of office ended with her appointment. Since that time, Jessica Rowell and Hugh McAleer resigned from their board seats in 2023, and Tim Ingram was appointed to the Board of Assessors. 30 year Tax Assessor staff member Melissa Connell retired as well.

Cudnohufsky also resigned on December 5, 2023 but reconsidered and gave written notice that she rescinded her resignation. She was named as the Chair of the Board in the January 4, 2024 meeting. She resigned to the Board of Commissioners in writing on January 31, 2024 citing secrecy and corruption (based on the Department of Revenue letter that will be discussed in the next section), gossip within “your offices” about her age, sex, and even where she takes her children to lunch, and “a severe breakdown of communication” resulting in “employees not being held accountable nor their performance reviewed.” She stated that government offices are being left to their own devices which has resulted in a penalty that will hurt the citizens that “we have all vowed to help.” She thanked commissioners for their support and asked not be contacted about going back on the board.

Request for Performance Review

Many members of the public were present at the Special Called Meeting on February 1, and the meeting was broadcast on Facebook Live by Pike County Times and can be watched in its entirety at https://fb.watch/pYTRK0w_0o/.

A letter was sent to Pike County by State Revenue Commissioner Frank M. O’Connell on January 9, 2024 that advised Tax Commissioner Donna Chapman that Pike County’s 2022 Tax Digest has been examined and that the valuations of property in Pike County set by the Board of Assessors were “not uniform and equalized.” Therefore, according to the letter, the 2022 Pike County Digest has been conditionally approved with an allowance to collect taxes based on the current tax digest with a condition that the deficiencies stated in the letter are corrected by 2025.

O’Connell cited failed assessment standards in both 2019 and 2022. State standards require assessments to be between 36 and 44% of the assessed values on property. Pike County’s current Tax Digest is at 29.71% which is below the 36% to 40% assessed value that is required by the State of Georgia.

The letter gave Pike County two options. The first is to pay the penalty of $5 per parcel/$48,645 within the next 60 days. The second option was for the Board of Commissioners to appeal the penalty within 30 days after the receipt of the letter.

County Manager Brandon Rogers began the meeting by walking through failed audits and corrections that have been done in the past. He noted that housing inflation has been a problem in the past several years because it is hard to predict. He stated that our county was on the path correcting this problem and noted that 33 other counties failed to meet state regulations last year as well. Regardless, the county is required to respond to the notification that it received by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

This letter was not a surprise to the Board of Assessors or to the Board of Commissioners because this has been discussed in past meetings of the Board of Tax Assessors in which the county manager and county attorney were in attendance. However, the letter was sent by certified mail to Tax Commissioner Donna Chapman with a notification that it had been carbon copied to the Chairman of the Pike County Board of Assessors and the Chairman of the Pike County Board of Commissioners.

Chapman advised that she has spoken with someone at the State Department of Revenue about the letter to find out what happened with only her office receiving it. She was advised that the letter had been sent by regular mail to the other two parties rather than by certified mail to all parties listed, and those two other parties had still not received the letter as of last night’s meeting. Chapman had assumed that everyone had gotten the same letter that she had without realizing that the other two letters had not been received. She was also advised that the utility ratio on the current letter was incorrect which makes the current letter null and void. She was advised that a corrected letter had been sent out this week by certified mail.

Chapman said that when she receives the revised letter with a new 30 day appeal time and the correct utility ratio on it, she will ensure that the Board of Commissioners and the Tax Assessor’s Office receive a copy of the letter immediately. She said that this has happened in the past, and she remembers everyone receiving the same letter around the same time but that did not happen this time.

Chapman also advised that there is a third option which is to ask for a state review to find out what the Tax Assessor’s Office needs. County Attorney Rob Morton passed out a document entitled, “Resolution Requesting Performance Review of The Pike County Board of Tax Assessors Pursuant to OCGA 48-5-295.1” which outlined a request for an independent review board to investigate the Pike County Board of Tax Assessors and its appraisal staff. The review board would then issue a written report to include “evaluations, judgements, and recommendations” to the county.

Morton advised that this board will consist of two assessors from other counties and a member of the State Department of Revenue. He said that they will even look at our staff and technology and make recommendations so this can be part of the state required plan to make corrections to the county tax digest by 2025. He also said that this could reduce part of the fine; however, the county will be paying for the cost of the three member panel to make this review.

It was noted in the meeting that the cost is unknown at this time, but it was termed as “reasonable cost” as defined by the state. With the possibility of abatement of some of the $48,645 penalty and the need to know what is expected of the tax assessor’s board and staff, commissioners voted 5-0 to sign the resolution authorizing the filing of the appeal and request for performance review.

Current members of the Board of Assessors and the Chief Appraiser were asked if they wanted to say anything before the meeting was ended, and they said no.

At this time, Pike County is waiting for the new letter that will have the correct utility ratio and the new 30 day time to appeal the penalty assessed against the county by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Closing

There are open seats on the Board of Assessors, and the public is invited to attend meetings of the Pike County Board of Assessors.

The Pike County Board of Commissioners has made the following information available about the open positions on the Board of Assessors: “Pike County Board of Commissioners office is accepting applications for two appointments to the Pike County Board of Tax Assessors to fill one unexpired six-year term, set to expire June 30, 2027 and one unexpired six-year term, set to expire August 31, 2029. Applicants must be 21 years or older, reside within the County, have a high school diploma, or equivalent and be a registered voter of Pike County. Board applications may be picked up at the Board of Commissioners Office, 331 Thomaston Street, Zebulon from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. or download the application from our website www.pikecoga.com. Deadline for applications is Tuesday, February 20, 2024 subject to extension. Pike County is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Drug-free Work Place.” Please Note: Interested citizens can call the County Commission office at 770-567-3406 with questions.

Meetings of the Board of Assessors are held every two weeks and are currently scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the EMA Building located across from the ball fields and immediately on the left when pulling into the Public Works driveway. The public is invited to attend these meetings. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 6 at 4:30 p.m. [Note from the Editor: This meeting time has been changed back to the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 11:30 a.m.]

Please Note: There is no sign on the building, but there are many vehicles out there at each meeting. Come in the door facing the parking lot and walk all of the way down the hall to the last door on the right which is the EMA meeting room.

[Note from the Editor: There is more than 5 hours in just the research and writing of this article. If you enjoy the knowledge that you have gained from reading this article for free, please support Pike County Times with a donation through the mail, www.venmo.com/u/pikecountytimes, $pikecountytimes, or PayPal.Me/PikeCountyTimesLLC. You can also get on my Breaking News List where links to articles like this are sent to your phone or email as soon as they are uploaded to Pike County Times. Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!]

Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!

INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING BREAKING NEWS ALERTS CAN BE FOUND, HERE.

Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!