Hamilton County commissioners have waived $772,764 in reappraisal costs owed by the county’s 10 cities.
That amount is half the county assessor’s expense in fiscal 2017 for conducting work associated with the 2017 reappraisal, which occurs every four yeas in Hamilton County. A state law, passed in 1989, requires a county’s cities to pay half the property reappraisal costs. The law also allows counties to waive the fee if they have agreements with their cities.
Until now, Hamilton County has never enforced the law, neither charging its cities nor formally waiving the fee.
Commissioners voted 9-0 in favor of the waiver, presented by Commissioner Tim Boyd as a means of the giving the body some “breathing space” on to determine a long-term solution before the 2021 reappraisal.
“I think sooner than later, I think we should put it to bed so we don’t have revisit this time and time again,” Commissioner Joe Graham said.