Board of Assessors
Current Board Members
- James Staton, Chairman
- Tom Wills
- Stanley Strickland
The Board of Assessors meets on the 2nd Monday of each month. Meetings begin at 9 a.m. and last until all business is finished. The meetings are held at the Mauney Community Services Building on the Helen Hwy, just down the hall from the Assessors Office. Meetings are open to the public and are subject to the federal Open Records Act.
The Board of Assessors was developed to serve in the following capacities:
• To ensure that all taxable property within the county is filed and assessed for taxation at its fair market value.
• To ensure that taxpayers shall pay only their proportionate share of taxes as per OCGA 48-5-306.
• To maintain all maps for the county including, but not limited to, mapping, platting, cataloging, and indexing of all real and personal property in the county, OCGA 48-5-263.
• To provide for the training of new appraisers and the continuing education of existing appraisers as per OCGA 48-5-263, 267, and 268.
Some of the many duties of the Board of Assessors:
• Investigate and inquire into the property owned in the county for the purpose of ascertaining what real and personal property are subject to taxation in the county and to require the proper return of the property for taxation
• Investigations, as necessary, to determine the value of any property upon which for any reason all taxes due the state or the county have not been paid in full as required by law
• Interpret and apply regulations of White County along with guidelines of the Georgia Department of revenue and Georgia law
• Assessments and penalties against unreturned property
• Assist office staff and appraisers
• Determine the eligibility of exempt properties
• Approve or deny applications for Conservation Use Valuation to be applied to properties
• Approve or deny applications filed by property owners for various homestead exemptions, and to determine the property’s eligibility
• Review market data, construction data, and other pertinent information necessary to determine a uniform and equitable digest
• Approve assessments and yearly tax digests
• Review and consider property returns filed by property owners
• Meet with property owners to discuss their concerns and issues in regards to all aspects of property appraisal
• Establish, maintain and execute policies and procedures for property appraisal
Qualifications of board members
• Members must live in White County within 6 months after taking the oath of office as a member of the board
• Must be 21 years of age or older
• Must hold a high school diploma or its equivalent
• Must be able to attend required courses given by the Georgia Department of revenue and to obtain Assessors certification
• Must have experience in the fields of appraisal, property taxation, or some other career/profession with extensive knowledge or ability of the many topics and issues that may come before the board for consideration.
Restrictions on membership
A member of the Board of Assessors cannot be related to a member of the county governing authority in any of the following degrees:
• Mother or mother-in-law
• Father or father-in-law
• Sister or sister-in-law
• Brother or brother-in-law
• Grandmother or grandmother by marriage
• Grandfather or grandfather by marriage
• Son or son-in –law
• Daughter or daughter-in-law
• Husband or wife
No member of the county board of assessors shall be eligible to hold any state, county, or municipal office during his tenure on the board.
Training requirements for board members
• Education requirements are designated by the Georgia Department of Revenue and OCGA (State law). Failure to meet the requirements of the Department of revenue may affect the State approval of the county’s yearly tax digest.
• Members must successfully complete the Assessors’ Certification (40-hour course with exam) within 6 months of appointment to the board.
• Members must successfully complete an additional 40 hours of approved appraisal courses within two years of appointment to the board.
• Members must continue completion of 40 hours of continuing education during each two years of tenure as a board member.
• Some seminars and/or other important events that may be necessary to attend.
Term: 3 years, with the three positions staggered.
Compensation: $75 per meeting attended, and the same rate per day for days spent in training.