Tax appraisals in error; corrected bills going out soon
By KIP BURKE news editor

"I found the problem..." Wilkes County's tax appraisal consultant John Sisson told a crowd of upset property owners Tuesday night that their suddenly increased property assessments were in error and that corrected notices would be going out soon.

A packed meeting of concerned taxpayers found quick relief Tuesday night when tax appraisal consultant John Sisson told them that the recent property tax assessments were wrong, and that new, corrected assessments would be going out immediately.

 

"I found the problem," Sisson said. "It was in the soil productivity codes." Property is valued, in part, by the classification C1 through C5, and T1 through T5 for timberland, based on the soil quality and expected productivity of the soil.

Somehow, "inadvertently or intentionally, someone went in the computer and changed all the productivity codes," and that resulted in the inflated appraisals that went out from the county office, Sisson said.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am," he said, "but I could not have known that someone changed the productivity codes."

Having found the problem, Sisson said, he is working day and night to readjust the productivity codes for each property in accordance with the county's detailed soil plan, and the Tax Assessor's office will be sending out corrected notices. "You will be getting adjusted values in the mail just as soon as we can do them," he said.

Property owners will have an additional 21 days after the corrected appraisal goes out to file an appeal on the new appraisals, Sisson said.

The group Wilkes County Concerned Taxpayers, up in arms about recent property tax assessments that have shot up, had set the Tuesday night meeting to address the inexplicably inflated assessed property values, and Sisson was asked to come and explain the increases.

A large number of the taxpayers had filed appeals on the new assessments, and Sisson said that he was under the gun to find where the problem lay, because if five percent of property owners appeal a tax appraisal, it stops the tax digest and throws county and school funding into turmoil. "I would never have done this on purpose, I assure you."

Sisson went on to speak with property owners at length, addressing some of the ways land conservation and other uses affects the value, and other issues.

Although relieved that their tax assessments were, indeed, in error, the property owners spoke of their concern that Wilkes County has had a hard time managing to do property taxes correctly for years. Sisson was fairly candid in his answer. The office was too slow to adopt computer technology and did things manually far too long, he said, and combined with the turnover of qualified personnel, has allowed problems to accumulate without detection - at least until the property owners revolted.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
The Office Cat	2
Neighborhood vandalism is out of control	1
The Office Cat	1
Drug problem growing; little is being done	1
The Office Cat	1
Family escapes death in semi hit-and-run	1
Feed a family of four for $10 a week	1