The business owners of downtown Waycross are concerned and angry about the recent property assessments possibly killing the downtown economy just as it is being revitalized.
The Downtown Merchant’s Association, led by Melissa Ingle, tabled their Thursday, August 1 agenda to address the immediate concern.
“The taxes we paid last year was what we always pay, and then it went up $20 something thousand dollars,” said Heidi Woods of KD’s, a downtown cafe which has been in business for 29 years.
Robert Wallace of Coastal Candles and Coastal Insurance Group said the assessment on the Knight Avenue property which he has owned for 23 years increased 135 percent.
The meeting’s guest speaker was Jack Lott, Chairman of the Downtown Development Authority and owner of Lott’s Furniture on Mary Street. Lott has three properties whose assessments pushed the tax bill for each from in the $20,000s to more than a million dollars each.
All of Ware County was re-evaluated to bring the area in line with current fair market value as required by a state mandate. Lott and the other merchants are particularly concerned about the affect on downtown.
“The valuation of property is fair market value, which is what somebody’s willing to pay for it,” said Lott. “The property they said now is a million four, I maybe could get three hundred for it.
“It’s a different animal downtown than anywhere else. You’ve got buildings that are a 100 years old. They require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. There’s not as much market for the buildings downtown as there is say on US 1 or out on the Highway.
“This is a serious matter. Someone wants to buy a building, and they’re gonna look at it and say, ‘You’ve got $25,000 a year in taxes. I don’t want that property.’” Lott also talked about the need to increase rents due to the increased assessments.
“We’re going to have to go up on rent,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you own the building or lease it, you’re going to pay more money. We’re not going to be able to sell these buildings, were not going to be able to rent these buildings. It’s going to kill our local economy. You’ve already got people talking about closing because of it.”
The first course of action for any property owner who feels their assessment is out of line is to file an appeal and explain why the assessment is not accurate. All appeals, whether commercial or residential, must be made within 45 days of receiving the notice.
There are three levels of appeal available. The first is to appeal directly to the property assessors’ office. If you are not satisfied with the result, you can then appeal to the Board of Equalization.
If your dispute with the assessment is not satisfactorily resolved, the final step is an appeal through superior court.
In order for the Ware County tax bills to have the usual due date of November 15, they must be in the mail by September 15.
If the majority of appeals are not resolved prior to September 15, the tax bills cannot be mailed. The unresolved appeals will result in a later tax bill due date.
The community is invited to participate in a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, August 8 at the REA Train Depot, 210 Plant Avenue Suite D.
