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Editor Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor(@)pikecountytimes.com
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ZEBULON - The meeting was called to order at 8:36 a.m. Present were Board Members Parrish Swift, Lyn Smith, Brent Davis, and Brent Taylor along with County Attorney/Manager Rob Morton, Chief Appraiser Christy Cook, Deputy Chief Appraiser Heather Burke, and Appraiser Danyeal Smithey.
[Note from the Editor: I'm going to start this with a short note about arriving and finding everyone outside and having to wait on the county attorney/manager to arrive because the new Chief Appraiser had apparently not been advised that she needed a key and code to get into the building. This situation looked extremely unprofessional on the part of the Tax Assessor Office and made things appear that everyone is not playing on the same team. It left a bad taste in my mouth as an observer and local watchdog because this never should have happened. And that's probably all I should say about that because I am certain that CM Morton made sure that the situation was fixed after the meeting.]
Motion to approve the agenda with amendments. #5 going to add 3 executive session minutes and H. New Business to appoint a board secretary. Approved.
Motion to approve the 3 executive sessions and regular meeting. Approved.
Public Comment
David Paulson. Thanked the board for having the meetings and the two new people for taking charge of the office. Question about their salaries and pension. County can only fire for cause. [Note from the Editor: CM/Attorney Morton addresses this after the Executive Session because this is not correct.] Code and hours for Norman Appraisals. Employee hours question. Budget question about how the money is going to work.
Swift. Wondering if you're going to give them a chance because much of that was negative. We'll do a budget amendment when it's time. Morton. Going to monitor through the end of the year. The Board of Assessors will make a decision on what is needed in their department through the end of the year. Any transfer from elsewhere will have to go through the Board of Commissioners. Brent Davis. Study in 2021 of salaries based on experience, etc. We are getting a new one because that was 5 years ago. Brent Taylor has been working on this for the past 2 weeks. All of our wages are in order with other counties. Swift. Most of our county employees are underpaid. The reason that it hasn't been increased here is being of political warfare. Brent Taylor. There is an open position that can help pay for the new positions.
Swift. I can't wait to see where we are this time next year. Smith. CM can make transfers for the Board of Assessors within their budget. Taylor. Eventually Norman and Associates won't be needed. Smith. Thinks that Norman will also be needed for cities, etc. Wants to keep them here at some capacity for the future. Norman have do have a maintenance contract if needed. Davis. We are trying to get out from under the Consent Order from the Department of Revenue. Paulson. I appreciate them putting in their applications. Smith. More has been done in that office in 2 weeks than the last 4 years. Swift. Thinks that what they are doing will take care of the Consent Order.
Brandon Garner. Who builds the schedules? The Tax Assessors Office.
Invited Guest
Joe Norman. Tom has been visiting all of the parcels. Working on finishing up parcels. Get something to Christy by the end of the week. Still have to do the City. Tom will finish up the subdivisions. Finish the appeals. Changes will be on a spreadsheet. Thursday. Someone from the Audit department will be here on Thursday. Trying to save public utility money. Audit Department wants a 38. DOR wants a 36. Public utilities will pay on that ratio. Trying to get over a 38. They will decide on Thursday. They try to equal out the digest. Need to keep our ratio up.
Wrapping up the appeals. Can't satisfy everyone. Some will still go to the Board of Equalization. 50 - 65 to visit in the field. Coordinate with the Chief Appraiser to bring in extra staff.
Commercial appeals. It could take awhile with industrial to get corrected information. Some went from $18 to $36 a square foot. They are appealing because of the jump. Loss of income, expenses, etc will be evaluated. Tell me where we are wrong here. Maybe they have depreciation, etc. Meeting informally before the Board of Equalization (BOE). We need to have everything together before the BOE. These businesses have been saving money over the past couple of years. Smith. Good reason to retain Norman and Associates for commercial so it doesn't bog down the office.
Veronica Griffin. Not asking for an exception for a late filing. Had an issue with 457,965 to 596,693 in 2025. 702,981 in 2026. Discovered that county had been mailing to an incorrect address. This created a break in the notification process. Did not receive the 2025 assessment. No assessment notice arrived. Had requested that this be corrected in the past. Told to file an appeal and fill out info for the county per instructions. June 30, 2026. Obtained info, gathered info, etc. More than 2 weeks before the appeal deadline, correct the address, and file for homestead exemption. Told that current tax return was needed and returned with it. Told employee that she wanted to file an appeal. Was told that nothing else was needed and to be patient. Left believing that everything had been taken care of. August 28, 2026. Called to follow up on this. Found out that there was no appeal. Only homestead application was in the system. The address was still incorrect and there was no appeal in the system. Heard unfortunely a lot and making an exception for her. Not asking for an exception. Had been there on June 30. More than 2 weeks before the deadline. Followed the process that she was given. Asked the Board to recognize that made a good faith effort on this.
Homestead exemption is dated June 30, 2026. Signed several papers that day but wasn't given a copy of her appeal. Showed her notes on this to the Board. Her address was corrected on August 28. She asked that this be corrected even prior to June 30, 2026, and it wasn't corrected until she made the phone call to follow up on August 28, 2026. Swift. We are going to have Norman and Associates look this over. That is where we will start. Davis. When y'all pulled the permit to build your home, what address did you use?
Davis. Christy Cook and Heather Burke welcome and thank you for what y'all have done over the past 2 weeks.
Swift. Refunds on sending to the commissioners on houses burned down after January 1. Smith. The DOR said to stop that. We're not supposed to be doing that.
Chief Appraiser. This is a DOR statute that does not permit a proration after January 1 of the year.
Chief Appraiser Report
Only been here a week. Qpublic updating every night. Checks from the past couple of years that were sent back to citizens that were found in the office. Everything is on the retention schedule. DOR coming in on Thursday. Hoping to go up from 37.5 to 38.
Swift. Continuing education. What should we be taking? Chief Appraiser Christy Cook following up on this to make sure that everyone on the Board is up to date.
Old Business
None
New Business
a. Refund Smith
Value fell off when it should have been frozen. Motion to approve refund because this was an error on the previous staff per staff recommendation. $751.85 is the total. Approved.
b. Boyle
Late appeal. Emailed on August 21. Deadline is July 16. Recommend not accepting. Motion to not approve this appeal due to late submission per staff recommendation. Approved.
c. Non-disclosure.
She is compliant with the definition for non-disclosure. Smith. Motion to not approve the non-disclosure. Davis. 2nd for discussion. Discussion. Taylor. It falls under what the law says. We need to approve it. 1-3. The motion does not pass. Motion to approve the non-disclosure. 3-1.
d. Dunson and Walker
The house was put on the wrong parcel. The digest has already been set so this is a correction. Motion to approve the correction as recommended by staff. Approved 4-0.
e. Change from L1 to L4
They met the criteria after bringing in their income. Motion to change from L1 to L4 per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
f. Cooper
Demo permit in 2024. Co'ed in 2025. Went by and took picture. The mobile home has been gone for a while. This should have been removed in 2025 so this would be for the year 2026. Motion to amend per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
g. Sanchez
Parcel was split in 2 parcels. One should have gotten the homestead, but the other got it instead. She has requested that the homestead should be on hers instead of his. Smith. Doesn't understand why this hasn't been updated on Qpublic. This is fixed for 2026 but needs to be fixed for 2025. This was brought to the previous Chief Appraiser's attention but hasn't been fixed up until now. Swift. Can we make the change? Chief Appraiser. She would get a refund and Mr. Sanchez will pay the money back. Motion to approve the correction of the homestead exemption per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
h. Board Secretary Appointment
Motion to accept the resignation of Emily Morris on July 22, 2026 as Board of Assessors Secretary. Approved 4-0.
Motion to appoint Deputy Chief Appraiser Heather Burke as Board of Assessors Secretary. 2nd for discussion. Discussion. Taylor. Have been talking about an attorney. Burke can only do this on a Friday afternoon. When is the attorney available? Two of the members have a hardship during day meetings. Maybe build up comp time instead of being paid. Going to follow up on this. Approved 4-0.
Real Property
1. CUVA in Lieu of appeal Porter
Motion to approve per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
b. 13 Waivers
Motion to approve per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
c. Homestead Exemption 1 S5
Motion to approve per staff recommendation. Approved 4-0.
Personal Property
None.
Executive Session
a. Chief Appraiser Christy Cook request Executive Session for consultation with the county attorney, or other legal counsel, to discuss pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings, or other judicial actions brought or to be brought by or against the county or any officer or employee or in which the county or any officer or employee may be directly involved as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-2(1), germane to pending or potential litigation.
b. b. Chief Appraiser Christy Cook requests Executive Session for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the position of the executive head of an agency, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(b)(2), germane to personnel.
Executive Session 9:47 a.m.
10:38 a.m.
Public Comment.
Becky Watts. Checks were mentioned earlier in the meeting. What were those? There were checks that were submitted with a conserveration (CUVA) but the applications were denied or the applicant decided not to do the CUVA. The checks were supposed to be mailed back with the application after the process was completed, but they found a bag of checks in the office that were sitting in a bag. Chief Appraiser Christy Cook said that many of the checks were past the 90 day period so they could have been shredded, but she sent them back to taxpayers with a letter explaining why they were getting the old checks back.
[Note from the Editor: Setting up a process on how to deal with this in the future is priceless. I went by the office after the meeting and saw the tremendous amount of work that had been done to clean things up, shred documents according to the retention schedule, and just get the office looking nice. That is a job well done by everyone in the office!]
Morton. Clarify that county is not limited to just cause. There are some progressive processes, but the county is an at-will employer. [Note from the Editor: This is in reference to public comment at the beginning of the meeting.]
Motion to adjourn.10:40 a.m.
Here are links to some of the past meetings that Pike County Times has attended.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - August 11, 2026 - 8:30 a.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor8.11.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - July 21, 2026 - 5:30 p.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor7.14.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - July 14, 2026 - 8:30 a.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor7.14.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - May 7, 2026 - 8:30 a.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor5.7.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - February 13, 2026 - 8:30 a.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor2.13.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - February 2, 2026 - 8:30 a.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor2.2.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - January 13, 2026 - 9 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor1.13.26.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - November 14, 2025 - 9 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor11.14.25.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - October 14, 2025 - 9 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor8.14.25.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS SPECIAL CALLED MEETING - May 13, 2025 - 9 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor5.13.25.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS SPECIAL CALLED MEETING - December 9, 2024 - 9 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor11.19.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - November 19, 2024 - 4:30 p.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor11.19.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - August 20, 2024 - 11 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor8.5.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - August 5, 2024 - 11 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor8.5.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - July 16, 2024 - 4 p.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor7.16.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - June 18, 2024 - 11 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor6.18.24.html
Board of Assessors Leaves Sales Ratio at $91 Per Square Foot
By Editor Becky Watts
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor6.3.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - May 21, 2024 - 11 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor5.21.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - March 7, 2024 - 11 a.m.
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor3.7.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - February 6, 2024 - 4:30 p.m.
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor2.6.24.html
Click here to read: "BREAKING NEWS: Commission Votes to Appeal Fine and Request a State Review of the Board of Assessors" http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWSrequestforreview2.2.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - January 18, 2024 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor1.18.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - January 4, 2024 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor1.4.24.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - December 19, 2023 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor12.19.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - December 5, 2023 - 11:30 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor12.5.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - November 9, 2023 - 11:30 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor11.9.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - October 17, 2023 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor10.17.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - October 3, 2023 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor10.3.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - September 19, 2023 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor9.19.23.html
BOARD OF ASSESSORS REGULAR MEETING - September 7, 2023 - 11:00 AM
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/taxassessor9.7.23.html