DAYTON, Tenn. -- About 200 people turned out for Rhea County's property tax town hall meeting Thursday night where state and local officials explained the appraisal and appeal processes and took questions and heat from the public.
"I have a piece of property on the lake at Watts Bar that went up 105 percent," complained Jimmy Wilkey, a former county executive.
Mr. Wilkey was typical of the audience members as an owner of waterfront property where county officials say most huge increases in reappraisals occurred this year.
The property was unimproved yet climbed dramatically despite state contentions that market values arose from good sales numbers that accurately reflect worth.
"Now, folks that's not right. Sometimes we let intelligence get ahead of our common sense," he said of the process.
Mr. Wilkey and a couple of dozen others addressed a town hall panel made up of Lynn Tenpenny of the state Division of Property Assessment; Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City; Director of Property Assessment Kelsie Jones; property assessor Julene Morgan; County Executive Billy Ray Patton; and county commissioners John Mincy and Doyle Montgomery.
Property assessors in Southeast Tennessee say reappraisal and corresponding tax rate adjustments to balance counties' revenues are confusing to most people. By law, reappraisals cannot create new revenue for the county.
Thursday's meeting was called "to let people know how to appeal their objections to the county and state boards of equalization," Rep. Cobb said.
Ms. Morgan said reappraisals were based on 2008 land sales, which held values steady even though the actual number of sales decreased. Add to that the fact that properties in Rhea haven't been reappraised since 2004, and the result is increased values and a backlash of appeals, Ms. Purser said.
Mr. Tenpenny said appraisals were based on 2008 sales in the general area then applied as "mass appraisals" aimed at getting most values correct with the fewest errors possible at the high and low ends.
The panel advised most people who presented cases where similar tracts were appraised differently to file an appeal with the county to seek an adjustment.
But the county appeals deadline was today until county board of equalization chairwoman Helen Kincannon said during the meeting the board agreed to extend its hearings until Monday.
Ms. Morgan said any appeals filed at the county level that are not heard by the county board would be forwarded to the state Board of Equalization for consideration.
Mr. Jones said the decision then goes to an administrative judge who will return to Rhea County in the fall to hold hearings. If the landowner still is dissatisfied, an appeal can be filed with the state Assessment Appeals Commission, and eventually to the local Chancery Court, he said.
Mary Beth Booth, who lives on a 100-foot by 300-foot waterfront lot on Watts Bar, sat grim-faced at the end of the meeting. Ms. Booth said she didn't know if she'd file an appeal.
"The system is not working," she said. She got no adjustment when she appealed the last reappraisal in 2004, and she doesn't expect a different outcome this time.
"It takes too much time and it takes money to appeal," she said.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
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