For the first time in eight years, most Hamilton County, Tenn., property owners are getting higher assessments for the property taxes they pay on their homes and commercial properties.
But while most properties are showing some gains since the last countywide property reassessment in 2013, those increases won't necessarily mean higher property taxes next year. In fact, those whose property rises less than the countywide average may end up getting a tax cut next year. But those in hot areas of the county like North Chattanooga and parts of Ooltewah and East Brainerd are likely to see higher property bills based upon greater appreciation in their properties over the past four years.
Under Tennessee law, local governments must adjust their property tax rates, or millage, to offset any increase in the overall value of existing property. The reappraisals every four years are designed to equalize tax assessments with the real, changing value of property, but cities and counties must roll back their rates to keep the reappraisals revenue neutral.
Hamilton County Assessor Marty Haynes said his office has mailed out nearly half of the property reappraisals to the 146,000 homeowners in Hamilton County, and other property owners should get their new assessments within the next three weeks.
Unlike the last reappraisal four years ago, Haynes said, most properties have increased in value since 2013 and are being appraised at higher values for the property taxes that will be due early next year.
By the numbers
*146,000: Number of residential properties in Hamilton County* 8,700: Number of commercial properties in Hamilton County* 45,000: Exempt properties owned by churches, nonprofits, governments and other exempt land
Property assessments mailed out
The Hamilton County Assessor’s Office mailed out property assessments.* Nearly 70,000 property owners in Brainerd, downtown, East Lake, East Ridge, Hixson, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Valley, Middle Valley, Ridgeside, Red Bank, St. Elmo and Stuart Heights have received their property assessments so far.* Property owners in Collegedale, East Brainerd, Concord, Apison and East Hamilton areas should get their property assessments this week.* In the week of March 24, Harrison, Hixson county, Lakesite, Sale Creek, Soddy-Daisy, Signal Mountain and Walden will receive property appraisals.
"The last reappraisal in 2013 was really unprecedented because we didn't see an increase in average property values in the previous four years coming out of the 2009-2010 recession," he said. "The market has improved in recent years and we're seeing gains more typical of the increases we saw in previous reappraisals. The public sets the market based upon what they are willing to pay, and we just try to accurately reflect those values in our assessments."
Henry Glascock, a local appraiser and president of Henry B. Glascock Commercial Real Estate Co., said property values in Riverview and North Chattanooga neighborhoods have risen 30-40 percent in the past four years.
"Those are the areas that are seeing the biggest increases, but overall it's a much better economy, sales prices are going up and that's reflected in the tax assessments going out all over the county," he said. "It's hard to argue with the facts."
Last year, the median price of homes sold through the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors rose to $160,400, up 22 percent from the median price of $131,500 four years earlier at the time of the last reappraisal.
"Demand for housing has outstripped the growth in inventory on the market ,so we've seen a definite increase in prices in many neighborhoods," said Mark Hite, a Keller Williams Realtor and president of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors.
Glascock said many commercial and industrial properties didn't increase in value by that amount, but some commercial properties in redeveloping areas of the Southside or hot developing parts of Collegedale or Hixson likely had bigger gains in property values. Appraisers like Glascock are getting lots of calls from property owners inquiring about whether they should challenge their assessments.
"Our local appraisers in Hamilton County are probably as competent as in any county I have worked in, but they are not perfect and there are some times that the assessments can be challenged," Glascock said.
Haynes said his office is getting calls and questions from fewer than 5 percent of those who have received their property assessments. Those who want to challenge their appraisals should call 423-209-7990, Haynes said.
If property owners are still dissatisfied with their assessments after the staff review, they may appeal to a county board of equalization for a hearing by May 20. The county appeals board will meet in June.
"We do a field review of every property and in this reappraisal cycle we have incorporated GIS satellite images to help us review every property," Haynes said. "We look at prices for comparable properties in an area, the square footage and age of a structure and the quality of its construction and other amenities. The purpose of a reappraisal is not to increase revenue for Hamilton County and the municipalities located therein, but to update and equalize the value of all properties located in the county."
Hamilton County and its 10 municipalities will readjust property tax rates this summer to roll back the rates enough to keep the same amount of money coming into local governments as part of the revenue-neutral requirements of reappraisals in Tennessee.
The current county property rate was set in 2009, when the previous $3.15 per assessed $100 of property value was rolled back to its current rate of $2.76 per $100 of assessed property. From 2005 to 2009, the average property in Hamilton County increased 12.4 percent in value in the years leading up to the Great Recession, which hit in the 2009-2010 period and cut the values of many properties in subsequent years.
From 2001 to 2005, property values in Hamilton County rose an average 7.5 percent, which rolled back the property tax rate in 2005 from $3.06 per $100 assessed value to $2.89 per $100 of assessed property.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.