A hot real estate market has driven home sales in Catoosa County upward, and the county assessor has adjusted property values 30% higher on average this year as a result.
Assessed property value is a key factor in determining property owners’ tax bills, and many Catoosa County residents are expressing concern about the new higher values. Ashley O’Donald, the county’s chief appraiser, said keeping assessed property values within a percentage range compared to property sales is required by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
“Since I came on board as chief appraiser last April, we’ve been trying to catch up with what’s been really a historic real estate market over the past few years,” O’Donald said in a phone call.
The fiscal year 2025 property value assessments bring Catoosa County into the state-required range compared to the values of property sales, O’Donald said, and a printed copy of that new value was mailed to property owners beginning late last month.
The values of all Catoosa County properties were reassessed, he said, and average commercial and industrial property values have been increased by the tax assessor’s office about 50% or 60%. Agricultural property values went up by an average of about 30%, O’Donald said, but agricultural land value increases were less.
(READ MORE: Catoosa County raises base rate for home value appraisals)
In a follow-up phone call, O’Donald said his office had seen about 100 appeals filed. The deadline to appeal is Aug. 9, he said, and property owners can file an appeal online or at the tax assessor’s office.
TAXING AUTHORITIES
The county commission heard testimony from county department heads recently and will make decisions about the county’s 2025 fiscal year budget and millage rate in the upcoming weeks, county spokesperson John Pless said by phone.
The fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Property taxes are calculated by multiplying each taxing authority’s millage rate by 40% of a property’s fair market value. Taxing authorities — the county commission, school boards and cities — can roll back their millage rate to account for the increase in assessed property values.
“Property values are increasing significantly, and it’s due to one thing: demand,” Pless said of the county’s hot housing market. “It is through the roof.”
The school system’s portion of property taxes makes up over 60% of property tax bills for municipalities and nearly two-thirds of a property owner’s tax bill in unincorporated areas, Pless said.
County Commissioner Chuck Harris said many of the department heads are requesting more employees and salary increases for staff in the upcoming budget, but Harris said the county needs to live within its means due to what he called a struggling economy.
“We have to do what we have to do,” Harris said about the commission’s upcoming decision on setting the property tax rate. “But I don’t see myself voting for a tax increase.”
Harris said the county has rolled back the millage rate for several years in a row but had a property tax increase in 2022.
If the county or any other taxing authority doesn’t choose a full millage rate rollback that would make the county’s projected property tax revenue neutral, he said, a series of public meetings would be required.
In an email, Marissa Brower, spokesperson for Catoosa County Public Schools, said it was too early to tell if the school system would roll back its millage rate.
Some taxpayers were shocked by the new property value assessments mailed to them, Harris said, because the notice calculates a tax rate based on the new property assessment value without the likely millage rate rollback. Taxpayers shouldn’t worry about the projected tax rate on the recent notice, he said, but can call the county’s tax assessor’s office at 706-965-3772 if they have questions.
TAXPAYER FEEDBACK
Tonya Rogers, a resident of Ringgold, said in a phone call the new property value assessment has her worried. Her house’s assessed value has gone up nearly 31% since last year.
“That’s just more money that I have to come up with,” she said, if the county commission, school board and city don’t roll back the millage rate. “Everybody is griping and complaining.”
Rogers said she doesn’t think her property is worth that much, especially because the foundation needs attention. She said she paid about $160,000 for her house in 2011, and it was appraised at nearly $326,000 this year.
(READ MORE: Catoosa County commission race focuses on taxes and growth)
The county has good schools, she said, but she thinks the school system needs to rework its budget to avoid the need to raise property taxes. She also has been encouraging her friends and neighbors to attend public meetings of the decision-makers rather than complain online.
In an email, Brandon Maddox said his property value has almost doubled between this year and last year.
He said he is concerned about having to likely pay more in taxes, but he is also concerned about young people trying to buy their first home.
“I’ve had friends of mine in their 20s who can’t get approved for loans for a house,” Maddox said. “If this keeps up, homeowners and buyers will eventually both suffer, since owners like me will have paid years of increased property taxes only to learn that a segment of young, first-time homebuyers won’t be able to afford or get a loan for a mortgage on their first home.”
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.
