Property Tax Administration annual report FY 2004

STATE OF GEORGIA
2004 ANNUAL REPORT REGARDING
PROPERTY TAX ADMINISTRATION
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
REVENUE
January 20, 2005
BART L. GRAHAM Revenue Commissioner

Commissioner's Report to the General Assembly
Regarding Property Tax Administration Georgia Department of Revenue January 20, 2005
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Letter from Commissioner Graham .................................................................................................... 4
Highlights of Annual Report ................................................................................................................ 5
Reporting Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 7
Digest Review Procedures................................................................................................................... 8 Table 1 Additional State Tax & Penalties Assessed 2003 Review Year Counties.................. 9 Table 2 Additional State Tax Assessed 2003 Non-Review Year Counties.............................. 9 Figure 1 Average Level of Assessment ................................................................................. 10 Figure 2 Average Level of Uniformity .................................................................................... 10 Figure 3 Average Level of Assessment Bias ......................................................................... 11
Value and Revenue................................................................................................. ........ 12 Figure 4 Total Assessed Value............................................................................................. 12 Figure 5 Average Millage Rate ............................................................................................. 12 Figure 6 Percentage of 2003 Values To Total Value by Property Class .............................. 13 Figure 7 Comparison of Total Revenue................................................................................ 13 Figure 8 2003 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type .................................................. 14 Figure 9 2003 County Tax Revenue By Property Class ....................................................... 14 Figure 10 5 Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue........................................................ 15 Figure 11 2003 School Tax Revenue by Property Class...................................................... 15 Figure 12 5 Year Comparison of School Tax Revenue ........................................................ 16 Figure 13 2003 State Tax Revenue by Property Class ........................................................ 16
Public Utilities ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Table 3 2004 Public Utility Equalization Ratios .................................................................... 18 Figure 14 Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratio............................... 19
Preferential Agricultural Assessment............................................................................................... 20 Table 4 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact.................................................. 20 Table 5 Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2003......................................................... 21 Figure 15 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Revenue .................................................... 23 Figure 16 Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated............................................ 23
Conservation Use Valuation .............................................................................................................. 24 Table 6 Conservation Use Fiscal Impact ............................................................................... 24 Table 7 Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for 2003 ................................................. 25 Figure 17 Conservation Use Revenue Loss ......................................................................... 28 Figure 18 Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated .................................................... 28
Timber .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Table 8 2002 Timber Revenue Reported on 2003 Tax Digests ........................................... 29 Figure 19 State Wide Timber Values.................................................................................... 30 Figure 20 County and School Revenue from Timber ........................................................... 30
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Bart L. Graham Revenue Commissioner

Department of Revenue
1800 Century Center Boulevard
Suite 15300
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
Telephone 404-417-2100

January 20, 2005

Members of the General Assembly and Others:
This report has been developed by the Department of Revenue for the purpose of fulfilling the Commissioner's responsibility of continuing to provide the General Assembly with the effect of property tax administration and the continued enactment of laws created by legislation and administered by the Department of Revenue.
The information contained in this report is made pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. 48-5349.5, 48-5-7.1 and 48-5-7.4. It is hoped this report can be a tool for further understanding the state of Property Tax Administration in Georgia.
The staff of the Local Government Services Division and I are available to provide more information or clarification of information upon request. We look forward to working with you during the 2005 session and during the year.
Respectfully Submitted,

Bart L. Graham Revenue Commissioner

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HIGHLIGHTS OF ANNUAL REPORT
DIGEST REVIEW:
The Revenue Commissioner continues to insure uniformity and equalization between and within counties using the same procedures enacted in 1992, and in the manner prescribed in Article 5A of Chapter 5 of Title 48.
Although the statutory deadline for submitting annual property tax digests is August 1st, historically 5% of the counties actually meet this deadline. To increase compliance, the Department took steps to encourage local tax officials to complete their work more expediently so as to allow taxpayers to receive property tax bills timely and allow state property tax collections to be deposited in the state treasury more quickly. As a result of this initiative, 40% of the county tax digests for 2004 were submitted by the August 1st deadline. The Department will continue to assist counties in achieving even better compliance in meeting the statutory deadline for tax year 2005.
Of the 53 counties falling in the 2003 review year, 15 county ad valorem tax digests failed to meet the state standards for approval, compared to 6 counties in 2002. As a result of the 2003 reviews, a $5 per parcel penalty of $146,335 and additional state tax of $69,599 was assessed for these counties.
Of the other 106 non-review counties, 15 county ad valorem tax digests failed to have an acceptable overall average assessment ratio, compared to 22 in 2002. As a result, additional state tax in the amount of $174,976 was assessed these 15 counties.
The average level of assessment, as measured by the Median, has increased from 37.39% in tax year 1997 to 37.78% for tax year 2003. This increase is a result of the efforts of the county boards of tax assessors to assess property at an acceptable level.
The average level of uniformity, as measured by the Coefficient of Dispersion, has increased from 11.82% in 1997 to 12.53% for 2003, indicating that while the assessment level has increased, uniformity of assessments has not improved accordingly.
The average level of assessment bias, as measured by the Price Related Differential, has also shown continued improvement; a measure of 100.11% in 2003, compared to 101.98% in 1997.
Assessed values reached a high of 257.1 billion in 2003 or a 7.8% increase from the values reported in 2002; while the 2003 average millage rate of 25.88 increased 3.5% from 2002 despite the rollback provisions of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
PUBLIC UTILITIES:
In past years, the Department was hindered from providing public utility values and equalization ratios to the counties in a timely fashion, due to the public utility companies' delay in filing timely returns, lack of staff within the Local Government Services Division, and litigation issues. In 2004 additional staffing was provided for expediting the valuation process and negotiations with the major public utility companies were realized, which avoided numerous appeals. As a result of these efforts, the Department was able to provide the public utility values to the counties in July 2004. And even though this date was earlier than in past years, the Department is continuing to perfect the process by undergoing a full review of the procedures and methodologies, securing electronic financial data to enhance the process, and working with the utility companies to overcome appeals and litigation.
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The statewide average equalization ratio for public utility property increased from 37.55% in 2003 to 37.90% for tax year 2004.
Equalization ratios for 69 of the 159 counties were proposed at a ratio less than 40%. This was a decrease from the 90 counties whose proposed ratio was less than 40% in 2003, further indicating the county's efforts of valuing property at an acceptable level.

PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT:
Since the implementation of Preferential Agricultural Assessment in 1984, the number of parcels in this program has risen from approximately 10,000 to approximately 18,000; the amount of value eliminated from the digests has increased from 86.9 million to 182 million; and the total tax dollars lost by the state and local governments has increased from 1.6 million to approximately 4.8 million. While this is typically thought to be a tax loss, the actual affect is that of a shift of the tax burden from taxpayers within this property class to other property class taxpayers. Even so, we are beginning to see a slight decline in this program caused by the increase in fair market values at the local level and the advantages in Conservation Use Valuation.

CONSERVATION USE VALUATION:
Since the implementation of Conservation Use Valuation in 1992, the number of parcels in this program has risen from approximately 16,000 to more than 84,000; the amount of value eliminated from the digests has increased from 86.98 million to approximately 3.6 billion; and the total tax dollars lost by local government has increased from 8.9 million to more than 90 million. While this is typically thought to be a tax loss, the actual affect is that of a shift of the tax burden from taxpayers within this property class to other property class taxpayers.These dramatic increases are expected to continue to grow as property valuations increase.

TIMBER TAXATION:
From 1992 to 1998, values reported for timber sales and harvests increased steadily, however, since 1998, values have shown a downward trend and took a sharp down turn in 2002; an indication of the depressed timber market. County and School revenues also declined from 17.2 million in 2001 to 12.9 million in 2002, a 33% decrease.

SUMMARY:



The Department desires to provide the legislature with all information necessary for the

proper

evaluation of legislative impact and implementation of property tax policies and fully supports the

initiatives of the General Assembly in providing tax relief to the elderly, authorizing special

assessment programs and exemptions for certain categories of property, homeowner tax relief

grants, and increased homestead exemptions that provide financial assistance to the citizens of

Georgia during these hard economic times.

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Reporting Requirements
The Commissioner's responsibility for continuing to provide the General Assembly with the effect of property tax administration and the continued enactment of laws created by legislation and administered by the Department of Revenue, Local Government Services Division are as follows: O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-349.5 requires the examination of the digest of each county to ensure that all
property valuations are reasonably uniform and equalized among the counties and within the counties. This code section provides for a status report on this review process along with the Commissioner's observations regarding the progress of the counties in ad valorem tax administration. O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7.1 requires the submission of a report showing the fiscal impact of the law providing for the preferential assessment of tangible real property devoted to agricultural use. Qualified farm property is assessed at 75% of the value under this program and this report
analyzes the effect of this program on taxpayers and levying authorities.
O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7.4 requires a report showing the fiscal impact of the law providing for conservation use assessment of certain agricultural properties attendant with this code section. Qualified farm property is assessed at its current use value using a table of values established by the Commissioner following specific legal procedures. This report analyzes the adverse fiscal impact, if any, on other taxpayers and levying authorities.
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Digest Review Procedures

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The Commissioner, through the Local Government Services Division, has been given the statutory duty of

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reviewing county tax digests to determine if the digests meet the criteria mandated in statute case laws

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and regulation for level of assessment1, uniformity2, and equalization3.

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Article 5A of Chapter 5 of Title 48 establishes the procedure for the Commissioner to equalize county

property tax digests between and within counties and compel county boards of tax assessors to make adjustments in property valuations so as to insure uniformity and equity.

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E

As directed by the legislature, the Commissioner has adopted a three-year digest review cycle in which

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each county's tax digest is reviewed extensively to determine the level of assessment, uniformity and

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equalization in each property class. In any given year, one third of the county tax digests are subject to extensive statistical testing. Counties, which do not meet the criteria, set forth in the statute and

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regulations are allowed an opportunity during the three-year cycle to correct any deficiencies by the next

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review year. The other counties that are not being extensively reviewed are examined for level of

assessment to equalize the state levy and public utility assessments. The Commissioner approves any

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county's digest as being reasonably uniform and equalized if the digest meets certain standards:

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For those digests submitted by counties in their digest review year, the Commissioner completes his

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review on or before August 1 of the following tax year or within 30 days of the date the ratio study results

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are provided by the State Auditor. Based upon this review, the Commissioner will approve any digest

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when it is found to be reasonably uniform and equalized by having met the following state established standards:

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the average level of assessment for each class of property meets the state standards of 36% to

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44%;

E

S the average measure of overall equalization, the coefficient of dispersion4, meets the state

standard of 15% or less for residential properties and 20% or less for all other property classes;

and

the bias ratio, or statistical measure of price related differentiall5, meets the state standard of 95% to 110%.
The Commissioner conditionally approves the digest and assesses a penalty of $5.00 per taxable parcel of real property if a county's review year digest contains the same or similar deficiencies as the previous review year digest. If the overall average assessment level does not meet state standards, the county is assessed additional state tax in the amount equal to the difference between the state's one-quarter of a mill that would have been produced if the digest had been at the proper assessment level and the amount the digest actually produces for collection purposes.

1 The comparison of an individual property's actual sales price versus its assessed value is a measure of the level of assessment. The ratio required by state statute is 40%.
2 The measurement of quality of the results produced by a county's valuation program will determine if properties are valued in a uniform manner.
3 Equalization is the measure of equality of assessment. In order to possess good equalization, a county tax digest should value all properties at about the same level of assessment.
4 The coefficient of dispersion is the statistical representation of equalization.
5 The price-related differential is the statistical measure of assessment bias. This demonstrates whether lower or higher priced properties are more accurately assessed.

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For those counties submitting their digest during a non-review year, digests are evaluated by the Commissioner based on the overall average assessment ratio deviation from the proper assessment ratio of 36% to 44%.
If the Commissioner determines that a county's digest does not meet the acceptable ratio of 36% to 44%, the county is assessed additional state tax in the amount equal to the difference between the state's one-quarter of a mill that would have been produced if the digest had been at the proper assessment rate and the amount the digest actually produces for collection purposes.
In measuring the compliance of each county in meeting state standards for digest approval, the Commissioner utilizes the information provided by the State Auditor from the sales ratio studies developed for each county. Each county's ratio study measures the statistical standards of level of assessment, uniformity and equalization.

The review of the 53 counties falling within the 2003 review year resulted in 15 counties being deficient. 8 of these 15 counties were also subject to a $5 per parcel penalty and/or additional state tax for failure to have an acceptable digest. The Department is reviewing those counties who have appealed the $5 per parcel penalty. The Commissioner is authorized to issue Consent Orders for these counties in which the penalty may be deferred pending compliance with certain terms to ensure an acceptable digest for the 2006 tax year.

TABLE 1 Status of 2003 Review Year Counties with deficiencies

COUNTY Banks Brantley Charlton Dade Dodge Quitman Stephens Washington

$5 Per Parcel Penalty
$45,380 $34,010
$50,770 $16,175

Additional State Tax $61,436 $5,976 $6,474 $7,227
$1,235 $19,379 $14,643

Status Paid
Appeal Under Review Appeal Under Review
Paid Consent Order Developed
Appeal Under Review Paid Paid

The review of the 106 non-review counties resulted in 14 counties being assessed additional state tax.

TABLE 2 Status of 2003 Non-Review Year Assessed Additional State Tax

COUNTY
Baldwin Clinch Early Echols Jasper Johnson Lee Marion McIntosh Pike Randolph Sumter Taliaferro Wheeler TOTAL

Additional State Tax
$61,436 $3,360 $7,950 $2,504
$17,085 $2,660
$12,389 $4,989
$25,322 $9,038 $3,386
$20,085 $2,005 $2,767
$174,976

Status
Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid Paid

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Several graphs are being included to provide a visual indication of the various measurable statistical standards since 1997:
Figure 1 - This graph shows the steady increase in the average Median Ratio since tax year 2000.
Georgia law requires taxes to be assessed at 40% of the fair market value of the property; therefore, the median ratio for 2003 is a measure of the effectiveness of the county's valuation efforts.

Acceptable Range: 36% to 44%

Figure 1 - Average Level of Assessment

38.00% 37.80% 37.60% 37.40% 37.20% 37.00% 36.80% 36.60% 36.40% 36.20% 36.00%

37.39% 1997

36.95%

37.33%

36.68%

36.99%

37.42%

37.78%

1998

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

2002

2003

Figure 2 This graph shows the average level of uniformity, as measured by the Coefficient of
Dispersion, and indicates the equality of assessments between individual properties. Case law indicates that this is the most important measure of fairness within a taxing jurisdiction. The increase in the 2003 indicates that assessments are not quite as uniform as past years.

Acceptable Range: 15% or Less

Figure 2 - Average Level of Uniformity

0.13 0.13 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.11

11.82%
1997

12.12%

11.49%

12.52%

11.71%

12.02%

1998

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

2002

12.53%
2003

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Figure 3 - This chart shows the past seven years average assessment bias, as measured by the Price Related Differential. This standard has shown continued improvement through the years indicating that large and small properties are being assessed on a more equal basis.

Acceptable Range: 95% to 110%

Figure 3 - Average Level of Assessment Bias

102.50% 102.00% 101.50% 101.00% 100.50% 100.00%
99.50% 99.00%

101.98%
1997

100.84%
1998

101.06%

100.79%

100.98% 101.19%

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

2002

100.11%
2003

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Value and Revenue
Since the implementation of the new digest review procedures, counties have been performing either total or partial revaluations and updates to properties in order to conform to the state standards for acceptable digests. In doing these revaluations and updates, property values have increased significantly since 1997 as shown in Figure 4.

Billions

300
250
200
150 157.2
100
50
0 1997

Figure 4 - Total Assessed Value

171.8

187.0

201.3

220.1

238.4

1998

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

2002

257.1 2003

Figure 5 shows the average millage since 1997. And while the average millage rate had been declining, the graph shows that, since 2001, counties and schools have begun steadily increasing millage rates.

26.5

26

25.5

25 24.5

25.16

24

23.5

23

1997

Figure 5 - Average Millage Rate

24.76 1998

24.35

24.01

24.19

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

25.01

25.88

2002

2003

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Figure 6 below shows the percentage breakdown, by property class, of the values reported on the 2003 tax digests.
Figure 6 - PERCENTAGE OF 2003 VALUES TO TOTAL VALUE BY PROPERTY

51.0% 60.0%

50.0%

40.0%

25.6%

30.0% 20.0% 10.0%

8.3% 5.4%

4.8%

4.1% 0.6%

0.2%

0.0% Res Comm Motor Ind
Vehicle

Agr Utility Mobile Timber Home

CLASS

Property tax continues to be the primary revenue source for local governments. Currently, approximately 7.4 billion in revenue is collected from property taxes in Georgia. Because there is limited Department involvement in the collection of city taxes, this report does not focus on this tax type. Figures 7 and 8 show the total revenues and the revenue breakdown by tax type generated from the 1997 through 2003 tax digests. Figures 9 through 13 show the amount of tax revenue and a 5-year comparison for county and school tax purposes.

Billions

Figure 7 - Comparison of Total Revenue

8.0

6.0

4.0

5.0

2.0

0.0 1997

5.2 1998

6.0

6.5

6.9

1999

2000
Tax Year

2001

7.1 2002

7.4 2003

13

Figure 8 - 2003 Percentage of Total Revenue By Tax Type - In Billions

State - .8%

County - 37.1%

School - 62.1%

Figure 9 2003 County Tax Revenue By Property Class - Millions

Motor Vehicle 232.6

Mobile Homes 14.7

Public Utility 108.3
Industrial 215.9

Timber 6.9

Commercial 742.8

Agricultural 92.9

Residential 1,338.9

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Billions

Figure10 - 5 Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

2.1

1.0

0.5

0.0

1999

2.6

2.2

2.4

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

2.8 2003

Figure 11 - 2003 School Tax Revenue By Property Class - Billions

Timber 0.008 Public Utility 0.176
Industrial 0.363

Motor Vehicles .391

Mobile Homes 0.022

Commercial 1.213

Agricultural 0.136

Residential 2.309

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Billions

Figure12 - 5 Year Comparison of School Tax Revenue

5.0 4.0 3.0
3.4 2.0 1.0 0.0
1999

4.4

3.7

3.9

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

4.6 2003

Figure 13 - 2003 State Tax Revenue By Property Class Millions

Timber 0.14
Public Utility 2.61
Industrial 5.00

Motor Vehicles 5.38 Mobile Homes 0.35

Residential 34.23

Commercial 15.83

Agricultural 2.24

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Public Utilities

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O.C.G.A. 48-2-18 requires the Commissioner to annually propose assessments for public utility

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property and to insure that these properties are assessed at the same overall average assessment

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level as other property in the county. Each utility company is required to annually return their

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properties indicating location, description, type of property and valuation. The Commissioner's staff

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inspects these returns to insure the accuracy of each utility company's declarations.

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In determining each county's proposed assessments for 2004 public utilities and airlines, the

Commissioner utilized the equalization ratios using 2003 digest values certified by the county tax

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commissioners and ratio statistics developed by the State Auditor. This method insured that proposed

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public utility values were set at the same overall average assessment level as other properties.

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Once the State Board of Equalization approved these values, proposed equalization ratios and

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assessments were issued to the counties and utility companies. Each county board of tax assessors

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then determined the final assessment of utility properties by either accepting the State's proposed

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equalization ratio and assessments or substituting their own in issuing assessment notices to the

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utility companies.

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Table 3 on the following page shows each county's 2004 equalization ratio as proposed by the State Board of Equalization.

In past years, the Department has been engaged in numerous litigation issues as a result of public utility companies appealing their valuations. To lessen the number of appeals and bring about settlements, the Department has taken the following initiatives:

The Department met with the larger public utility companies and proposed that the 2004 values be based on the higher of the prior year value or an average of the previous three years' values. These agreements, in concurrence with the Attorney General's office and the State Board of Equalization, were non-binding for any pending appeals or valuations for future years and warded off many of the expected appeals;

Settlement with one of the major railroads was accomplished, thereby, avoiding litigation that could have held up revenues for the state, counties and schools, as well as saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in state budget funds;

Negotiations with one of the other major railroads were initiated; however, while the Department is amenable to working out a settlement, the railroad has not been forthcoming in making a good faith settlement offer. Litigation is pending, but the Department continues to support negotiations and settlements in order to avoid costly court costs and attorney fees;

The Department is reviewing the platform in the public utility valuation process. To this end, an outside, independent academic group is reviewing the current method. Once this review is completed, appropriate and necessary measures will be taken by the Department to improve the process.

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Table 3 2004 Public Utility Equalization Ratios

County
Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp

Proposed County Ratio

40.00 40.00 40.00 37.02 26.90 34.26 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.99 37.46 40.00 34.58 37.36 40.00 37.18 40.00 40.00 37.25 37.61 40.00 40.00 40.00 35.60 40.00 37.81 37.69 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 35.55 37.86 37.12 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.10 40.00

Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersha Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis

Proposed Ratio

County

35.72 40.00 40.00 37.05 36.21 40.00 40.00 37.48 35.53 34.03 40.00 40.00 36.22 36.61 36.55 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.01 37.31 37.69 40.00 36.10 37.69 40.00 37.93 37.69 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.14 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 31.53 37.53

Jefferson Jenkins Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph

Proposed Ratio

County

Proposed Ratio

36.73 40.00 34.48 40.00 37.03 36.51 40.00 35.69 40.00 40.00 37.86 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 33.73 40.00 26.43 37.76 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.96 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 35.57 40.00 40.00 40.00 35.75 40.00 35.14

Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth STATE AVG

40.00 40.00 37.70 36.03 40.00 37.44 34.86 40.00 34.27 40.00 33.94 40.00 40.00 36.15 35.43 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.81 40.00 40.00 36.10 36.68 40.00 37.99 40.00 35.04 37.77 36.24 35.11 40.00 40.00 37.79 36.78 37.13 37.97 37.90

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Figure 14 below shows the trend of the statewide proposed public utility equalization ratios. This graph indicates that the average proposed public utility ratio has improved as a result of the counties' efforts in maintaining values at an acceptable assessment level. Furthermore, this type property, appraised by the Department, is more closely being assessed at the same level as those types of property appraised at the local county level.

Figure 14 - 5 Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratio

38.00 37.50 37.00 36.50 36.00

37.27 1999

37.30 2000

37.28

36.69

2001

2002

Tax Year

37.55

37.90

2003

2004

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PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT

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E

In the 1983 legislative session, O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.1 was passed establishing preferential assessment of

F

tangible real property devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes.

E

By statute, all real property is assessed at 40% of fair market value, however, the new legislation provided

R

for a 30% level of assessment or 75% of the value at which other taxable real property is assessed.

E

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In making application for preferential assessment, qualifying taxpayers must have signed a covenant (contract) agreeing to continuously maintain the property in agricultural pursuits for a period of 10 years. Transfers of ownership were allowed, provided the property was transferred to another qualifying entity

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that agreed to continue the property in agricultural pursuits for the remainder of the covenant period.

A

Otherwise, the covenant was breached and a penalty imposed. Penalties ranged from 15 times the tax

L

savings if the breach occurred during the first year of the covenant, to a minimum of 3 times the tax

savings if a breach occurred during the tenth year of the covenant.

A

Fiscal Impact

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The Table 4 below shows for each tax year, since the beginning of this program, the statewide number of

I

parcels, the total value eliminated, the total tax dollar loss, and the percentage change of each category.

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Table 4 - Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact

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T

PERCENT TOTAL VALUE PERCENT TOTAL TAX

PERCENT

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YEAR PARCELS CHANGE ELIMINATED CHANGE DOLLAR LOSS CHANGE

R

1984 10,001

86,969,884

1,588,974

A

1985 11,839

+ 18.4

105,327,904

+ 21.1

1,992,707

+ 25.4

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1986 12,642

+ 6.8

115,411,332

+ 9.6

2,227,704

+ 11.8

1987 13,446

+ 6.4

119,970,016

+ 3.9

2,370,396

+ 6.4

1988 15,306

+ 13.8

134,584,711

+ 12.2

2,864,733

+ 20.9

A

1989 16,978

+ 10.9

148,115,075

+ 10.1

3,782,095

+ 32.0

S

1990 19,947

+ 17.5

176,780,216

+ 19.4

4,010,259

+ 6.0

S

1991 23,086

+ 15.7

204,261,412

+ 15.5

4,657,783

+ 16.1

E

1992 23,243

+ .7

180,985,796

- 11.4

4,232,187

- 9.1

S

1993 18,388

- 20.9

145,151,076

- 9.8

3,542,375

- 16.3

S

1994 17,836

- 3.0

137,170,751

- 5.5

3,362,403

- 5.1

M

1995 22,226

+ 24.6

165,278,063

+ 20.5

4,249,807

+ 26.4

E

1996 23,501

+ 5.7

174,157,485

+ .4

4,410,076

+ 3.8

N

1997 23,915

+ 1.8

181,350,311

+ 4.1

4,654,542

+ 5.5

T

1998 23,340

- 2.4

189,169,970

+ 4.3

4,701,626

+ 1.01

1999 22,634

-3.02

191,204,332

+1.08

4,760,183

+1.25

2000 22,449

-.82

191,352,938

+.08

4,824,066

+1.34

2001 20,582

-8.32

195,076,035

+1.95

5,011,186

+. 88

2002 18,302

-12.46

182,041,147

-6.68

4,768,802

-4.84

2003 16,435

-10.42

177,696,254

-2.39

4,803,802

.73

The Department will continue to monitor this program and provide data each year. Table 5 on the following page illustrates a county-by-county breakdown of the preferential agricultural

20

assessment local impact analysis for 2003.

TABLE 5 PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT FOR 2003

COUNTY
APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY BRANTLEY BROOKS
BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON CHATHAM CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAY CLAYTON CLINCH COBB COFFEE COLQUITT COLUMBIA COOK COWETA CRAWFORD CRISP DADE DAWSON DECATUR DEKALB DODGE DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL EVANS FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY

PARCEL COUNT
473 162
96 317
29 25
3 41 44 453
9 31 120 564
15 33 246
8 338
22 66 64 13 42
0 10 32
0 0 73 0 175 0 87 48 18 8 7 96 431 63 7 289 1 102 208 25 1 475 159 3 51 171 153 0 0 29 16 1 13 2 150 9 84 329

VALUE ELIMINATED
2,668,641 1,993,631
680,269 3,987,116
348,329 303,483
22,954 546,851 429,090 3,478,149
47,650 455,299 567,550 5,645,028
129,770 419,949 3,352,028
51,683 4,060,242
449,755 753,375 759,785 199,749 588,173
0 122,263 495,023
0 0 1,111,404 0 1,204,686 0 1,382,586 552,972 182,413 292,922 70,297 1,132,482 2,908,225 516,503 179,011 3,263,573 45,190 1,137,747 2,834,180 960,670 22,699 3,867,690 694,331 44,620 624,567 1,711,974 1,798,467 0 0 252,140 303,230 19,232 562,070 71,042 1,201,263 318,792 932,881 5,430,660

STATE TAX LOSS
667 498 170 997
87 76
6 137 107 870
12 114 142 1411
32 105 838
13 1015
112 188 190
50 147
0 31 124
0 0 278 0 301 0 346 138 46 73 18 283 727 129 45 816 11 284 709 240 6 967 174 11 156 428 450 0 0 63 76 5 141 18 300 80 233 1358

COUNTY TAX LOSS
25,672 28,190
8,619 52,478
4,361 2,547
155 4,199 5,754 50,433
580 3,993 10,744 68,252
1,058 3,927 17,935
943 52,775
6,584 11,275
4,771 660
10,901 0
845 4,039
0 0 13,854 0 15,673 0 10,486 6,532 1,404 2,655 313 14,722 344,5+6 3,409 1,636 29,013 395 12,003 41,011 10,239 175 44,962 10,026 442 6,527 17,684 13,073 0 0 2,068 1,456 138 6,925 305 18,608 1,880 5,168 50,614

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
40,510 126,168
9,184 74,918
6,496 4,173
434 10,500
6,981 41,738
855 5,464 9,761 83,490
2,205 3,977 42,738
879 63,137
6,557 10,924 13,752
3,116 8,601
0 1,492 5,272
0 0 11,114 0 20,480 0 21,607 4,861 3,134 4,145 1,308 16,987 52,828 7,226 2,515 44,058 1,038 11,036 42,348 18,253 472 61,883 11,564 758 10,556 18,318 19,783 0 0 4,461 5,300 244 10,148 1,094 17,070 5,260 24,676 70,056

SPECIAL TAX LOSS
1,067 0 0 0 0 0
49 0 0 0
122 0
407 2,857
0 9 9,446 0 0 243 0 0 0 3,629 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5,723 0 0 1,655 0 0 176 0 4,423 0 0 0 257 0 0 7,484 0 0 0 96 0 2,467 0 0 0 680 515 0 2,289 0 0 112 0 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS
67,916 54,856 17,973 128,393 10,944
6,796 644
14,836 12,842 93,041
1,569 9,571 21,054 156,010
3,295 8,018 70,957 1,835 116,927 13,496 22,387 18,713 3,826 23,278
0 2,368 9,435
0 0 25,246 0 42,177 0 32,439 13,186 4,584 6,873 1,815 31,922 92,434 10,764 4,196 73,887 1,701 23,323 84,068 36,216 653 107,812 21,764 1,307 17,239 38,897 33,306 0 0 7,272 7,347 387 19,503 1,417 35,978 7,332 30,077 122,028

21

COUNTY
GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMERY MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS

PARCEL

VALUE

STATE

COUNT ELIMINATED TAX LOSS

COUNTY TAX LOSS

SCHOOL TAX LOSS

29

1,094,745

0

0

54

1,027,470

0

0

342

4,408,010

49

858,883

80

978,620

17

341,071

37

662,797

4

79,830

24

860,380

468

4,657,258

31

493,724

33

981,084

79

1,167,859

67

1,254,567

279

1,651,580

22

231,960

10

106,919

17

242,249

163

1,170,702

137

1,340,557

63

1,804,538

38

528,700

13

257,911

88

968,609

0

0

1

2,078

149

3,035,865

147

1,968,723

181

1,462,445

55

1,189,432

21

93,345

82

768,899

66

1,278,869

112

1,921,598

12

248,746

118

890,202

12

287,326

8

85,917

17

146,368

0

0

1

9,219

154

2,503,262

5

214,742

14

134,455

27

322,558

269

2,553,193

0

0

20

190,233

66

878,838

12

268,108

24

115,447

2

44,881

110

857,250

8

63,614

38

468,535

123

1,431,525

567

8,570,534

206

2,772,917

30

464,973

2

14,370

105

1,240,607

572

5,111,770

34

492,802

201

1,558,181

334

3,512,801

92

1,119,525

478

3,302,149

75

808,877

46

3,454,627

274 0
257 0
1102 215 245 85 166 20 215
1,164 123 245 292 314 413 58 27 61 293 335 451 132 64 242 0 1 759 492 366 297 23 192 320 480 62 223 72 21 37 0 2 626 54 34 81 638 0 48 220 67 29 11 214 16 11 358
2,143 693 116 4 310
1,278 123 390 878 280 826 202 864

8,569 0
9,264 0
109,010 8,955 7,731 1,675 5,256 897 8,010
60,032 4,319
17,135 9,510
15,920 30,507
3,556 1,153 2,178 17,244 8,978 25,174 7,727 2,298 17,086
0 15 35,920 19,757 11,656 9,278 1,201 6,666 13,821 31,905 2,264 9,111 2,727 411 2,121
0 78 18,589 1,525 2,017 1,919 15,891
0 1,764 10,265 2,145 1,491
389 9,834
436 6,391 15,690 86,134 34,911 6,291
153 15,185 58,683
8,156 29,829 43,390
9,494 34,547 11,648 17,930

12,042 0
12,843 0
56,334 10,994 16,206
4,567 8,895 1,753 11,761 77,730 9,134 19,318 14,890 17,413 22,875 2,726 1,554 3,924 20,089 17,474 28,945 8,459 3,095 15,207
0 28 51,670 32,917 21,571 18,198 1,418 12,538 18,236 20,736 3,060 12,328 4,454 1,332 3,421
0 151 33,797 3,765 2,319 4,803 40,519
0 2,573 10,230 3,923 1,686
336 13,845
1,321 10,214 27,586 110,988 38,380
9,911 243
11,513 76,114
6,837 23,373 45,912 13,434 47,881 11,834 42,392

SPECIAL TOTAL TAX

TAX LOSS

LOSS

0 0 616 0 0 0 0 0 0 240 0 4,424 1,110 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,114 286 0 0 0 0 1,969 0 0 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 659 0 0 0 0 134 0 0 0 2,121 1,437 0 0 4,008 0 0 1,159 0 0 0 12,865

20,885 0
22,980 0
166,446 20,164 24,182 6,327 14,317 2,910 19,986
143,350 14,686 36,698 24,692 33,647 53,795 6,340 2,734 6,163 37,626 26,787 54,570 18,432 5,743 32,535 0 44 88,349 55,135 33,593 27,773 2,712 19,396 32,377 53,121 5,386 21,662 7,253 1,764 5,579 0 231 53,009 5,344 4,370 6,803 57,048 0 4,385 21,374 6,135 3,206 736 23,893 1,907 16,722 43,634
199,265 76,105 16,655 400 27,008
140,083 15,116 53,592 91,339 23,208 83,254 23,684 74,051

22

COUNTY
TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH STATE TOTAL

PARCEL COUNT
2 221
0 102
53 49 37
2 13 30 19 354 242 158 207 143 376
8 30 821 142 47 136 16,472

VALUE ELIMINATED
22,450 1,459,563
0 107,070 558,371 600,047 317,723
37,810 211,479 391,430 385,199 1,588,583 1,953,618 2,113,528 1,595,660 1,428,821 2,098,812 110,384 390,083 5,322,176 1,955,300 898,643 2,686,118 178,359,051

STATE TAX LOSS
6 365
0 254 140 150
79 9
53 98 96 397 488 528 399 357 525 28 98 1,331 489 225 672 44,596

COUNTY TAX LOSS
212 8,289
0 14,166
6,047 10,567
4,352 197
3,263 900
3,884 26,847 22,466 17,861 20,493 20,785 39,796
910 2,191 82,493 15,739 12,078 30,648 2,077,538

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
269 18,838
0 9,316 10,765 8,101 5,544
359 3,310 6,478 6,895 24,242 34,208 44,708 28,722 26,283 24,136 1,567 6,305 67,113 32,626 12,694 35,618 2,610,912

SPECIAL TAX LOSS
37 1328
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 648 0 0 886 79,817

TOTAL TAX LOSS
524 28,820
0 23,736 16,952 18,818
9,975 565
6,626 7,476 10,875 51,486 57,162 63,097 49,614 47,425 64,457 2,505 8,594 151,585 48,854 24,994 67,824 4,812,863

Figures 15 and 16 below illustrates the amount of revenue loss and the amount of value removed as a result of the Preferential Agricultural Assessment program.

Figure 15 - Preferential Agricultural Assessment Revenue

Millions

6.0

5.0

4.2

4.0 3.0 4.7

2.0

3.4 3.5

4.4

4.7

4.2

4.6

4.8 4.8

4.8

5.0

4.8

1.0

0.0

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Tax Year

, Figure 16 - Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated

Millions

220.0 200.0 180.0 160.0 140.0 120.0

204.2 181.0

145.1

165.3

181.3

191.2

195.1

178.4

174.1

189.2

191.4

182.0

137.1

100.0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Tax Year

23

Conservation Use Valuation

C

O

In 1991 the Legislature embraced the "current use" valuation concept. This bill provided for the assessment for ad valorem tax purposes of certain qualifying properties based on current use value

N

rather than fair market value. The bill also provided for the Commissioner to develop a table of current

S

use values to be used in all counties, which results from a legislative formula taking into account the

E

amount of income the land is capable of producing when growing certain crops and timber, and

R

factors founded in market data using only farmer to farmer land sales. The data is grouped into nine agricultural districts in Georgia.

V

A

Unlike the Preferential Agricultural Assessment Program in which assessments are based on 30% of fair

T

market value rather than 40% of fair market value statewide, the valuation of property in Conservation Use

I

Covenants is most significant in the Urban Areas of North Georgia and other parts of the State where strong residential and commercial development is occurring. As a result, agricultural landowners' interest is greatest in these transitional areas.

O N

Several reports, graphs, and charts are being included in this report to show the fiscal impact of

U

conservation use valuation.

S

Table 6 below represents the 10 counties, ranked by total tax loss, most affected by Conservation Use

E

Assessment Covenants. Shown in this table is a listing, by county, of the number of applications (parcel

count), assessed value eliminated from the digest, the amount of tax loss for each of the tax types, and

V

the total tax loss. The total amount of tax loss in these 10 counties accounts for approximately 30% of the

A

total amount of tax loss statewide.

L

U

TABLE 6 CONSERVATION USE FISCAL IMPACT

A

T

REAL

TOTAL

STATE COUNTY SCHOOL SPECIAL

TOTAL

I

COUNTY PARCEL

VALUE

TAX

TAX

TAX

TAX

TAX

O

Morgan

COUNT ELIMINATED LOSS

LOSS

LOSS

1,211 193,048,521 48,262 1,832,03 2,992,252

LOSS

LOSS

0 4,872,545

N

Cherokee 1,722 174,434,240 43,609 893,976 3,420,656 396,591 4,754,832

Gwinnett

1,144 147,810,630 36,953 1,297,77 2,987,743 399,832 4,722,305

Hall

1,831 166,665,188 41,666 1,085,42 2,405,542 272,080 3,804,709

Jackson

1,471 96,386,178 24,097 845,274 1,740,295 213,112 2,822,778

Henry

1,187 74,490,960 18,623 835,744 1,635,821 223,473 2,713,661

Forsyth

786 109,050,500 27,263 523,442 1,905,985 185,386 2,642,076

Jasper

1,158 65,473,299 16,368 1,142,63 1,289,169

0 2,448,167

Newton

946 72,608,453 18,152 706,490 1,322,218 173,610 2,220,470

Walton

813 79,146,952 19,787 798,222 1,390,057

0 2,208,066

Table 7 on the following pages provides a listing of each county and the number of parcels receiving Conservation Use Assessment, the amount of value eliminated from the taxable digest in each county and the tax dollar loss in each appropriate taxing district (State, County, School, Special) and the total tax dollar loss. Special districts include Hospital Authorities, Fire Districts, Industrial Authorities, etc.

24

TABLE 7 -
COUNTY
APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY BRANTLEY BROOKS BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON CHATHAM CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA
CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAY CLAYTON CLINCH COBB COFFEE COLQUITT COLUMBIA COOK COWETA CRAWFORD CRISP DADE DAWSON DECATUR DEKALB DODGE DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL

CONSERVATION USE VALUATION ASSESSMENT FOR 2003

PARCEL COUNT
40 602 157
3 412 934 1,292 765 175
56 161 322 128 152 194 1,659 773 1,001
42 208 647 1,656 314 388
54 37 690

VALUE ELIMINATED
246,061 12,600,643
1,358,654 7,161
3,930,858 52,604,804 71,382,555 23,981,400
2,064,057 189,643
3,064,578 5,705,833
674,555 4,806,068 3,033,995 32,051,360 24,156,484 49,842,629
638,821 7,680,618 17,014,894 45,349,345 20,099,077 9,733,837 16,652,563 1,061,478 26,175,645

STATE TAX LOSS 62 3,150 340 2 983 13,151 17,846 5,995 516 47 766 1,426 169 1,202 758 8,013 6,039 12,461 160 1,920 4,254 11,337 5,025 2,433 4,163 265 6,544

COUNTY TAX LOSS
2,367 178,173
17,214 94
49,215 441,301 482,975 185,371
27,679 2,750
37,308 50,144 12,791 58,054 24,727 299,680 129,258 909,130
8,298 112,444 254,651 386,702
66,448 180,397 172,637
7,335 214,207

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
3,735 165,396
18,342 135
73,311 723,316 1,349,130 445,412
33,582 2,276
55,012 68,470 11,602 71,082 51,548 303,495 307,995 847,325
9,934 111,983 246,716 810,762 313,546 142,348 295,883
12,950 276,260

SPECIAL TAX LOSS
98 0 0 0 0 0
153,253 0 0 0
7778 0
556 2,488
0 11,413 68,090
0 0 4,101 0 0 0 60,057 26,395 0 0

1,722 205 220 116 0 603
1,163 1,339 3,334
692 1,895
290 37
156 573 776
14 967 837
70 235
29 17 971 928 865

174,434,240 12,549,134 7,444,130 5,178,569 0 79,028,116 46,538,101 11,504,223 48,828,685 26,096,163 75,603,872 6,850,158 232,020 3,442,422 42,576,175 29,502,004 456,236 17,294,766 23,122,820 3,129,480 13,338,829 450,489 101,270 23,609,522 32,092,834 19,615,923

43,609 3,137 1,861 1,295 0
19,757 11,635
2,876 12,207
6,524 18,901
1,713 58
861 10,644
7,376 114
4,324 5,781
782 3,335
113 25
5,902 8,023 4,904

893,976 171,923
92,791 35,639
0 556,204 352944 135812 375980 236561 298420
89095 2749
22807 389061 262273
3983 182459 334587
33354 103083 5235
1462 233947 335536 202632

3,420,656 241,571 74,441 97,958 0
1,277,421 727,297 101,122 838,877 369,261
1,406,988 102,752 4,215 48,159 598,024 398,277 10,484 167,759 345,501 59,460 277,448 7,208 1,687 400,913 542,433 209,890

396,591 0 0
20,153 0
268,097 0
33,169 0 0
187,158 0
337 0 0 0
2,587 0 0
23,116 0 0 0
50,855 0
28,399

TOTAL TAX LOSS 6,262 346,719 35,896 231 123,509 1,177,768 2,003,204 636,778 61,777 5,073 100,864 120,040 25,118 132,826 77,033 622,601 511,382 1,768,916 18,392 230,448 505,621 1,208,801 385,019 385,235 499,078 20,550 497,011
4,754,832 416,631 169,093 155,045 0
2,121,479 1,091,876
272,979 1,227,064
612,346 1,911,467
193,560 7,359
71,827 997,729 667,926
17,168 354,542 685,869 116,712 383,866
12,556 3,174
691,617 885,992 445,825

25

COUNTY
EVANS FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMERY MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON

PARCEL COUNT
29 929 330 1,211 786 1,439 380 1,177
10 79 1,402 759 626 1,144 1,059 1,831 520 807 467 968 713 1,187 394 442 1,471 1,158 21 1,096
3 706 528 470
7 1,516
288 58
597 147 705 1,009 616 1,311
6 415
60 1,582
309 1,175
592 556 1,211 246
80 946

VALUE ELIMINATED
638,283 34,021,150 24,656,428 32,429,060 109,050,500 75,351,843 35,150,540 52,463,646
134,307 2,900,927 57,449,946 41,658,731 37,444,112 147,810,630 87,145,768 166,665,188 13,897,264 32,426,471 11,193,635 56,150,264 31,530,747 74,490,960 39,045,492 8,058,039 96,386,178 65,473,299
450,497 35,634,838
-6,616 8,675,683 21,261,666 17,459,046
88,661 19,103,879 11,389,795
2,577,053 18,845,099
1,995,026 28,141,551 103,927,312 26,999,150 27,178,057
39,797 17,965,566
2,596,938 54,534,600 11,370,724 48,473,653 33,269,552 12,289,001 193,048,521
8,982,892 3,829,875 72609453

STATE TAX LOSS
160 8,505 6,164 8,107 27,263 18,838 8,788 13,116
34 725 14,362 10,415 9,361 36,953 21,786 41,666 3,474 8,107 2,798 14,038 7,883 18,623 9,761 2,015 24,097 16,368 113 8,909
-2 2,169 5,315 4,365
22 4,776 2,847
644 4,711
499 7,035 25,982 6,750 6,795
10 4,491
649 13,634
2,843 12,118
8,317 3,072 48,262 2,246
957 18152

COUNTY TAX LOSS
4,923 203,072 226,945 265,918 523,442 541,794 433,125 225,227
2,080 17,107 318,272 388,259 293,075 1,297,777 783,818 1,085,421 343,680 338,092 88,430 275,698 250,038 835,744 363,514 103,868 845,274 1,142,630
3,777 452,206
-122 132,989 229,201 156,957
1,306 127,939 158,887
37,664 167,891
35,193 238,103 759,628 319,695 272,961
317 140,175
33,423 487,091 123,566 804,808 302,753 125,535 1,832,031
42,992 45,262 706490

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
7,021 474,595 559,553 572,410 1,905,985 956,215 623,880 807,940
1,909 47,886 961,622 537,398 411,885 2,987,743 1,089,322 2,405,542 177,607 414,559 185,367 751,852 423,174 1,635,821 533,752 134,489 1,740,295 1,289,169
5,744 494,612
-91 101,939 309,102 282,837
1,521 249,019 182,692
41,233 226,141
31,322 399,694 1,377,037 459,526 454,417
587 274,873
39,458 920,386 162,147 528,113 409,215 170,684 2,992,252 139,235
89,504 1322218

SPECIAL TAX LOSS
0 0 0 86,887 185,386 0 132,521 0 0 4,113 0 0 2,970 399,832 52,287 272,080 0 0 0 0 0 223,473 0 7,655 213,112 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10308 20861 0 0 0 0 27178 0 0 1948 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 173610

TOTAL TAX LOSS
12,104 686,172 792,662 933,322 2,642,076 1,516,847 1,199,314 1,046,283
4,023 69,811 1,294,256 936,072 717,291 4,722,305 1,947,213 3,804,709 524,761 760,758 276,595 1,041,588 681,095 2,713,661 907,027 248,027 2,822,778 2,448,167
9,634 955,727
-215 237,097 543,618 444,159
2,849 381,734 344,426
89,849 419,604
67,014 644,832 2,162,647 785,971 761,351
914 419,539
75,478 1,421,111
288,556 1,345,039
720,285 229,291 4,872,545 184,473 135,723 2220470

26

COUNTY
OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH
TOTAL

PARCEL COUNT
1,428 696
1,058 202 411 417 929 699 331 335 146 468 534 100 159 38 36 94 647 317 155 38
1,164 52
490 739
15 885 791 807
3 242 188 783 953 611 829 464 558 813
22 120 574 662
64 0
784 275
6 984 437 1,434

VALUE ELIMINATED
83,801,138 20,968,044 76,046,556
6,149,439 32,861,081
7,982,097 52,545,756 25,204,556
6,285,952 19,502,190
3,212,916 32,887,272
6,845,641 3,231,555 10,147,638
524,345 1,023,550 3,519,929 39,633,264 9,584,148 5,218,208
469,427 20,384,468
1,044,376 12,657,370 17,998,603
281,684 24,691,761
6,231,090 59,838,280
25,435 9,899,634 2,288,118 19,985,412 14,288,577 8,970,500 42,614,004 5,314,275 17,226,003 79,146,952
82,382 1,365,249 9,141,735 6,912,330
976,135 0
55,836,512 10,345,830
49,253 21,823,489
7,972,510 73,781,501

STATE TAX LOSS 20,950 5,242 19,012 1,537 8,215 1,996 13,136 6,301 1,571 4,876 803 8,222 1,711 808 2,537 131 256 880 9,908 2,396 1,305 117 5,096 261 3,164 4,500 70 6,173 15,575 14,960 6 2,475 572 4,996 3,572 2,243 10,654 1,329 4,307 19,787 21 341 2,285 1,728 244 0 13,959 2,586 12 5,456 1,993 18,445

COUNTY TAX LOSS
713,495 155,642 539,931
92,241 195,523
49,649 589,038 233,784
73,420 156,018
41,511 285,452
78,527 22,165 138,414
5,747 10,286 44,316 536,238 101,784 63,871
5,388 337,363
19,973 156,344 152,687
2,947 355,562 323,836 564,275
155 63,992 31,857 216,442 251,622 122,879 221,593 82,000 39,620 798,222 107,650 15,700 77,257 88,775 14,199
0 460,093
58,102 763
175,900 107,151 841,847

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
1365,959 283,069
1333,096 106,078 489,301 126,676 717,775 340,917 73,168 285,337 46,925 246,194 110,557 67,106 221,219 10,104 13,255 48,719 751,050 161,972 48,245 6,990 282,835 15,666 165,432 215,983 4,084 361,240 764,170 715,905 227 51,973 20,959 385,319 192,896 156,535 404,833 83,168 285,090
1,390,057 1,257
23,905 193,375 124,422
17,956 0
792,879 167,209
621 364,147 112,620 978,343

SPECIAL TAX LOSS
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,714 0 0 0 0 5,984 0 0 0 2,693 121,121 0 0 596 0 0 4,177 0 0 0 224,584 98,733 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 24,348

TOTAL TAX LOSS 2,100,404 443,953 1,892,039 199,856 693,039 178,321 1,319,949 581,002 152,873 446,231 89,239 539,868 190,795 96,063 362,170 15,982 23,797 96,608 1,418,317 266,152 113,601 13,091 625,294 35,900 329,117 373,170 7,101 722,975 1,328,168 1,393,873 411 118,440 53,388 606,757 448,090 281,657 637,080 166,497 329,017 2,208,066 108,928 39,946 272,917 214,925 32,399 0 1,266,931 227,897 1,405 545,503 221,764 1,862,983

93,477 4,290,380,463

1,072,595 38,421,050 66,911,734

3,645,894 110,051,273

27

Figures 17 and 18 below illustrate the amount of revenue loss and the ever increasing amount of value removed annually from digests affected by the Conservation Use Valuation program since 1997.

Millions

Figure 17 - Conservation Use Revenue Loss

120.00 100.00
80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00
0.00

31.90 1997

37.90 1998

57.69 50.53

72.00

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

90.1 2002

110.1 2003

Billions

Figure 18 - Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated

5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00
1.19 0.00
1997

1.47 1998

2.28 1.98

3.56 2.83

1999

2000 Tax Year

2001

2002

4.29 2003

28

Timber Impact Report T

I

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7.4(s), Table 8 below and on the following page is the report

M

required regarding timber revenue. This report shows the 2002 total assessed value (100%) of timber

B

and the revenue for county and school purposes as reported on each county's 2003 digest.

E

TABLE 8 2002 TIMBER REVENUE REPORTED ON 2003 TAX DIGESTS

R

COUNTY
APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY BRANTLEY BROOKS BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON CHATHAM CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAY CLAYTON CLINCH COBB COFFEE COLQUITT COLUMBIA COOK COWETA CRAWFORD CRISP DADE DAWSON DECATUR DEKALB DODGE DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL EVANS FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER

ASSESSED VALUE
6,994,454 5,672,220 1,634,813 1,612,319 2,611,308
780,616 360,477 2,400,917 1,374,648 3,500,166 200,976 833,893 9,010,905 5,201,489 3,150,241 6,183,782 8,438,534 1,953,018 1,551,235 9,065,491 943,117 931,672 252,228 11,456,388 1,736,725 226,773 1,562,068 1,175,563
75,244 751,779 133,590 22,455,302
69,628 8,695,491 4,369,116 4,657,911 2,039,267 1,153,099 7,576,510 1,125,306
117,525 214,548 3,736,145
0 2,862,816 1,230,894 2,072,068
216,807 2,048,827 12,673,748 6,938,301 2,793,152 8,790,709
642,429 39,980 62,227
3,641,190 43,831
573,842 428,900 891,359

COUNTY TAX
67,846 95,974 20,713 21,686 32,694
6,398 1,995 18,535 18,613 50,752 2,648 8,339 157,614 59,890 25,674 57,881 46,412 24,512 20,275 154,113 15,912 5,805
950 173,106
18,005 1,646
12,920 6,172 1,007
14,622 786
300,452 492
67,651 49,764 35,866 18,486
4,532 91,373 16,024
664 1,961 34,522
0 30,203 18,771 22,084
1,675 23,132 175,278 58,754 22,376 90,808
4,253 239 609
28,583 153
4,114 5,493 3,827

SCHOOL TAX
107,015 86,507 20,435 27,151 48,701 9,563 6,813 43,697 22,585 38,502 3,407 10,215
137,867 81,351 53,523 58,622
107,591 33,201 23,191
135,529 14,618 16,863 3,846
176,394 30,480 2,767 16,389 23,181 1,411 8,157 2,393
314,374 1,386
139,415 38,885 80,023 26,816 20,687
113,648 20,441 1,644 2,820 43,676 0 27,769 19,387 36,365 4,232 32,781
200,245 111,949
46,386 79,820
7,067 518
1,350 64,416
766 7,282 8,050 13,353

TOTAL TAX
174,861 182,481
41,148 48,837 81,395 15,961
8,808 62,232 41,198 89,254
6,055 18,554 295,481 141,241 79,197 116,503 154,003 68,824 43,466 289,642 30,530 22,668
4,796 349,500
48,485 4,413
29,309 29,353
2,418 22,779
3,179 614,826
1,878 207,066
88,649 115,889
45,302 25,219 205,021 36,465
2,308 4,781 78,198
0 57,972 38,158 58,449
5,907 55,913 375,523 170,703 68,762 170,628 11,320
757 1,959 92,999
919 11,396 13,543 17,180

COUNTY
GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMER MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE

ASSESSED VALUE
2,103,070 14,213,6833
2,211,501 2,454,107 6,132,883
109,009 186,190 263,279 9,014,899 2,634,253 2,988,590 180,198 2,687,650
24,808 3,647,334 5,318,899 1,636,294 4,760,753 3,538,086 2,907,122 4,039,964 2,774,913 6,608,674 1,032,349 2,127,548 6,059,604 2,713,611 11,558,255 3,474,282 6,789,059 4,134,923
364,564 2,452,172 2,626,632 5,049,849 3,773,142 5,999,090 4,610,753
420,646 2,641,693 2,795,223 2,680,581 4,532,761
579,007 41,775
1,774,441 641,829
3,998,035 931,637 84,146 764,471
3,455,207 1,244,845 2,278,545
504,043 4,348,612
952,026 5,763
5,731,651 614,332 278,985

COUNTY TAX
33,502 84,571 10,682 22,872 52,620
937 1,518 1,927 326,880 27,870 23,610
896 25,533
278 36,254 68,561 14,429 70,269 27,031 36,891 60,680 42,040 61,262
8,843 20,701 40,799 37,855 129,372 30,952 119,759 33,591
2,728 30,113 26,618 39,136 29,431 70,489 36,623
6,343 43,860 25,437 19,991 50,994
2,771 453
17,265 5,443
21,509 6,615 1,262 4,648
21,802 12,710 21,498
5,887 35,589 12,298
56 66,258
4,214 3,259

SCHOOL TAX
29,885 244,617
33,482 31,658 67,462
2,213 1,899 4,152 122,873 33,745 49,491 2,287 40,782
514 42,893 88,772 26,710 80,171 45,111 37,444 55,954 32,605 81,207 14,587 36,509 79,060 42,189 202,177 41,691 106,588 58,482
4,830 41,736 44,338 69,435 54,711 91,150 76,870
7,016 25,743 33,487 37,260 72,524
7,402 976
32,313 10,462 47,976 17,207
1,346 11,436 54,834 15,212 29,680
5,867 50,618 13,904
48 92,566 12,194
6,383

TOTAL TAX
63,387 329,188
44,164 54,530 120,082
3,150 3,417 6,079 449,753 61,615 73,101 3,183 66,315
792 79,147 157,333 41,139 150,440 72,142 74,335 116,634 74,645 142,469 23,430 57,210 119,859 80,044 331,549 72,643 226,347 92,073
7,558 71,849 70,956 108,571 84,142 161,639 113,493 13,359 69,603 58,924 57,251 123,518 10,173
1,429 49,578 15,905 69,485 23,822
2,608 16,084 76,636 27,922 51,178 11,754 86,207 26,202
104 158,824
16,408 9,642

29

COUNTY
SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP

ASSESSED VALUE
1,288,223 7,296,109
358,653 858,704 485,783 6,505,602 2,570,279 2,454,615 4,243,539 3,689,513 2,273,365 7,195,365 1,737,176 4,492,987 1,686,426 3,463,235
0 2,200,910 1,926,347

COUNTY TAX
14,673 73,326
4,887 10,227
4,809 68,634 29,507 40,624 64,502 41,562 19,187 63,571 22,931 23,822 18,989 22,442
0 28,260 17,010

SCHOOL TAX
20,238 79,892
5,335 15,929
7,238 61,127 38,271 34,561 56,821 48,222 27,280 89,942 21,941 55,305 23,175 45,022
0 20,160 34,250

TOTAL TAX
34,911 153,218
10,222 26,156 12,047 129,761 67,778 75,185 121,323 89,784 46,467 153,513 44,872 79,127 42,164 67,464
0 48,420 51,260

COUNTY
TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH STATE TOTAL

ASSESSED VALUE
2,965,215 2,533,342
25,158 3,894,160
401,045 1,126,576 14,189,930 4,655,445 9,082,512 14,119,482 2,169,116 2,889,359
346,856 755,445 5,258,596 6,980,968 8,907,555 5,125,750 518,592,164

COUNTY TAX
46,287 34,656
133 52,299
922 11,360 239,793 53,538 76,093 167,217 32,591 42,245
2,359 5,034 81,508 51,101 92,995 58,485 5,962,60

SCHOOL TAX
4,030 44,207
209 60,944
6,637 20,166 221,191 68,821 159,934 218,852 38,274 33,228
5,156 13,769 66,311 118,327 131,119 67,967 7,524,101

TOTAL TAX
86,317 78,863
342 113,243
7,559 31,526 460,984 122,359 236,027 386,069 70,865 75,473
7,515 18,803 147,819 169,428 224,114 126,452 13,486,710

Figures 19 and 20 below show the amount of timber value reported and the amount of tax levied for county and school tax purposes for the years 1997 through 2003.

Millions

Figure 19 - State Wide Timber Values

800.0 600.0 400.0 200.0
0.0

593.1 1997

755.0

711.8

701.1

676.0

507.7

1998

1999

2000
Tax Year

2001

2002

518.6 2003

Millions

Figure 20 - County & School Revenue from Timber

30.0
20.0
10.0 15.9
0.0 1996

15.1 1997

19.3

18.0

17.9

1998

1999 Tax Year

2000

17.2 2001

12.9 2002

30