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Board of Tax Assessors Meeting - July 14, 2026

ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Assessors met on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 8:37 a.m. Those present included Members Parrish Swift, Lyn Smith, Christopher Tea, Brent Davis, and Brent Taylor as well as Chief Appraiser Greg Hobbs, and Appraiser/Secretary Emily Morris, and Appraiser Danyeal Smithey. County Attorney Manager Rob Morton was not present at this meeting.

Chief Appraiser Hobbs asked to read a statement at the beginning of the meeting. He was told no at that time but does read it after the executive session.

Motion to amend the agenda.

Move executive session before the Invocation. New Business 12g transfer data between Tax Assessor and Tax Commissioner. Real Property 12n to approve 18 waivers. Motion to approve the changes.

Motion to enter executive session. 8:39 a.m.

Back in Session. 9:33 a.m.

Motion to amend the agenda to recognize Chief Appraiser Hobbs to speak. Approved 5-0.

Chief Appraiser Greg Hobbs read a statement aloud advising that he was resigning immediately and said that he had been informed that the Board intended to terminate his employment after their executive session.

[Note from the Editor: This following information is from the article, "BREAKING NEWS: Chief Appraiser Resigns from Tax Assessor's Office" that can be read at: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWSresignation7.15.26.html .]

"He said that he has always respected the role of the Board of Assessors along with the responsibility that it carries to serve the citizens in Pike County and has taken his responsibilities seriously and tried to lead the Tax Assessor’s Office with professionalism, integrity, and accountability. He expressed his disappointment in the Board for him learning about possible actions with his employment outside of the meeting room but said that his appreciated the experiences and relationships that his position as Chief Appraiser has provided. He closed by saying that is has become unmistakably clear that his vision for leading the Assessor’s Office and the Board’s expectations are “fundamentally incompatible.” He said that these differences are so substantial that he no longer believed that he could effectively serve as the Chief Appraiser under this Board’s direction and submitted his resignation “with immediate effect” and wished the employees of the Assessor’s Office nothing but success in the future."

He also read a letter that was addressed to Board Member Brent Taylor.

Said that Board Member Brent Taylor had said (in a prior meeting) that Hobbs advised her that the county would pay her boarding expenses for her dogs during required tax assessor training. He then said that she accused him of lying when the expenses were not paid. Hobbs said that this was false and rejected any suggestion that he misled her. Hobbs said that Taylor said that she would not have attended the training had she known that she would not be reimbursed by the county and that raised concerns with him about her commitment to her duties as a board member. He offered to reimburse her expenses since this had become "a source of unncessary conflict" as a way to resolve this dispute, that her public accusation had damaged the trust and professionalism expected of members of the board, and called on her to consider resigning.

[Note from the Editor: To give some clarity. This discussion took place in a prior meeting in public session. Taylor and her husband were both out of town that week resulting in the dogs needing to be boarded for a week. Taylor said that she would have gone to different training if she had known. A vote was taken by the Board of Assessors in that meeting regarding whether to pay this expense, and it was denied. There is documentation like policies and procedures, etc. that might have given some clarity on issues like this (and much more) related to serving that would have been helpful to members when they came into office in January. That wasn't done until months later -- and after this incident, but it has been done now. I wouldn't have asked for this, but it was done, the vote was taken, and it is done. Lesson is learned, and we move on. This letter left a bad taste in my mouth, and I wish the entire situation had been handled differently.]

Motion to accept Hobbs' resignation effective immediately. 4-0-1 with Christopher Tea abstaining.

No comments were made about the letters. They then began the meeting with a prayer and pledge of allegiance.

Question about the secretary position. According to the statute, they must elect a secretary that is an appraiser and a part of the staff. Emily Morris has resigned her position as secretary for the Board of Assessors. This will be addressed on the next agenda. [Note from the Editor: Emily Morris did not resign her position in the office; only her position as secretary for the Board of Assessors.]

Motion to approve the June 4, 2026 minutes. Approved 5-0.

Public Comment.

Comment from the audience. Thanks for stepping up.

Invited Guest. Joe Norman from Norman Appraisal.

There are 261 appeals. Tom has visited about 100 of them. Gave members a list of everyone on the appeal list with what we think it's worth and what they think it's worth.

The biggest on that they had was TenCate. Their assessment went from $2.2 to $8 million and back down to $5 million. The square footage was doubled but there is some unfinished area. That has been corrected.

Question about how square footage works. There are some issues with WinGap that are being addressed here in Pike County. Everybody is working on the new House Bill.

McLeRoy. It’s been assessed at $8.2, and they think it’s worth $5.2. They have had the same value for the past 4 years. It would be 16% if it went up 4% per year for 4 years. We have to depend on income because we don’t have anything comparable in Pike County. Question about contract rent and market rent. We are assessing at market value. Going to use market rent for appraisal for what this is worth if it were sold today. [Note from the Editor: A lot of this is technical, and I don’t understand it so the public is welcome to watch the meeting to see exactly what was said. I am not going to confuse people and try to explain what I don’t understand.] This is done by mass appraisal, and if they don’t give us information, we will go by market rent. They can go to the Board of Equalization if needed. If over 320 appeals, we will be at 3% and will give the county another 180 days to work through the appeals.

Is there an explanation why commercial hasn’t been touched for so long? Can’t answer for here, but it’s hard to do. Norman Appraisal is working in 9 counties now, and it's a common issue.

Dollar per acre overrides. 294 of these. Parcels that have overrides. The overrides are only supposed to be on the property for 3 years. Some of these have been frozen for 10 or 15 years. These will be reassessed. Commercial and residential. They have to take the override off and reassess correctly. Been trying to get this done here and in other counties too. 30 and 45 day appealon these properties.

Motion to resend correct notices for those on overrides for longer than 3 years. Approved 5-0.

Brent Taylor asked Christopher Tea to explain the assessments and the millage rate.

Christopher Tea. A lot of anger being directed at the board and the office. The anger is real and justified, but he said that the county budget in 2021 was $15 million, and it has gone up to $38 million last year. Taxes are not going up because of assessments. The county is spending more money. The assessor’s office is a tool to collect money for the county to operate. The county needs a certain amount of money to operate. The budget keeps increasing. He said that Pike may have missed the ratio a few times… in general, Pike County residents have been treated fairly overall. $2000 exemption is a not a lot today because it’s been in place since the 1930’s. Laws and notices effect all of this too.

[Note from the Editor: The county budget has gone up over the years, but this is more complicated than that. County budgets and checkbook expenditures are on the county website for everyone to read at www.pikecoga.com. It was also said that people in that office have had death threats over taxes. I called the Sheriff's Office and inquired about any complaints that have been brought to them and was advised that this had not happened. But... the Sheriff's Office will investigate any complaint that is brought to them. Words will end you up in jail if you speak without thinking in this day and age. We need to take care with what we say and how we say it.]

New Business

A. Non-disclosure

2 of them. Motion to approve. Discussion. Smith. Doesn’t like these because it’s for life. State law says this is for current or former so it’s forever. Approved 5-0.

B. Board Consideration. Bridges.

To send to the commissioners. The house burned after January 1. This board can’t do anything about that. Motion to approve sending to the commissioners for consideration. Discussion. The Department of Revenue says that this is on the first of the year. This board does not have the ability to grant relief on this, but the commissioners can do what they want to. Approved 5-0.

C. Board Consideration. Murdoch.

House burned in January. Same as above. Motion to send to the commissioners for consideration. Approved 5-0.

D. Board Consideration. Talley.

Correction on this. Refund of $118. The square footage was not correct because the attic wasn’t correct. 2356 and 2056 square footage. The real estate agent measured the rooms, and it isn’t finished. Perimeter has been measured. Exterior of houses are normally measured with industry standard. It has been measured properly for square footage, but the refund for the past 3 years needs to be passed along to the commissioners for consideration of refund based on updated living area. Approved 5-0.

E. Board Consideration. Goolsby.

Requesting to come out of CUVA. They meet the requirements to come out of CUVA. Term and age. Motion to allow them to come out of CUVA without penalty. Approved 5-0.

F. Board Consideration. Vogel.

Has been inspected. She is selling eggs and has chickens. She provided receipts. She has less than 10 acres. Legislators changed from 10 acres to less than 10 acres. She’s over 10 acres overall. Motion to approve. Approved 4-1 with Smith opposed.

G. Motion to transfer data from the Tax Assessor to Tax Commissioner office. Approved 5-0.

Real Property

a. CUVA