Property Tax Administration annual report FY 2005

Commissioner's Report to the General Assembly Regarding Property Tax Administration Georgia Department of Revenue
January 20, 2006
Department of Revenue January 20, 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Letter from Commissioner Graham ......................................................................................4

Highlights of Annual Report...................................................................................................5

Reporting Requirements .........................................................................................................8

Digest Review Procedures .......................................................................................................9 Table 1 Deficient 2004 Review Year Counties........................................................10 Table 2 Additional State Tax Assessed 2004 Non-Review Year Counties .............10 Figure 1 Average Level of Assessment ....................................................................11 Figure 2 Average Level of Uniformity .....................................................................11 Figure 3 Average Level of Assessment Bias ............................................................12

Value and Revenue............................................................................... .......13 Figure 4 Total Assessed Value .................................................................................13 Figure 5 Average Millage Rate.................................................................................13 Figure 6 Percentage of 2004 Values To Total Value by Property Class ..................14 Figure 7 Comparison of Total Revenue....................................................................14 Figure 8 2004 Percentage of Total Revenue by Tax Type ......................................15 Figure 9 2004 County Tax Revenue By Property Class ...........................................15 Figure 10 5 Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue ...........................................16 Figure 11 2004 School Tax Revenue by Property Class ..........................................16 Figure 12 5 Year Comparison of School Tax Revenue ............................................17 Figure 13 2004 State Tax Revenue by Property Class .............................................17

Public Utilities ........................................................................................................................18 Table 3 2005 Public Utility Equalization Ratios ......................................................19 Figure 14 Trend of Average Proposed Public Utility Equalization Ratios ..............20

Preferential Agricultural Assessment ..................................................................................21 Table 4 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact.....................................21 Table 5 Preferential Agricultural Assessment for 2004............................................22 Figure 15 Preferential Agricultural Assessment Revenue........................................25 Figure 16 Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated ..............................25

Conservation Use Valuation .................................................................................................26 Table 6 Conservation Use Fiscal Impact ...................................................................26 Table 7 Conservation Use Valuation Assessment for 2004 .....................................27 Figure 17 Conservation Use Revenue Loss ..............................................................30 Figure 18 Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated.........................................30

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Timber.....................................................................................................................................31 Table 8 2003 Timber Revenue Reported on 2004 Tax Digests................................31 Figure 19 State Wide Timber Values........................................................................34 Figure 20 County and School Revenue from Timber...............................................34
Department of Revenue January 20, 2006 3

Bart L. Graham Revenue Commissioner

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

January 20, 2006

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. 48-5-349.5, 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 2006 session and during the year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bart L. Graham Revenue Commissioner

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
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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.
The statutory deadline for submitting annual property tax digests is August 1st, however, historically 5% of the counties actually met this deadline prior to 2004. 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 and approximately 45% for tax year 2005 were submitted by the deadline. The Department will continue to encourage counties to achieve even better compliance in future years.
Of the 53 counties falling in the 2004 review year and extensively reviewed, 7 county ad valorem tax digests failed to meet the state standards for approval, compared to 15 counties in 2003. As a result of the 2004 reviews, a $5 per parcel penalty of $1,393,130 and additional state tax of $19,361 was assessed these counties.
Of the other 106 non-review counties examined for 2004, 11 county ad valorem tax digests failed to have an acceptable overall average assessment ratio, compared to 15 in 2003. As a result, additional state tax in the amount of $88,617 was assessed these counties.
The average level of assessment, as measured by the Median, has increased from 36.95% in tax year 1998 to 37.97% for tax year 2004. 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 improved from 12.53% in 2003 to 10.63% for 2004, indicating the presence of uniformity in assessments.
The average level of assessment bias, as measured by the Price Related Differential, has remained stable; a measure of 100.92% in 2004, compared to 100.11% in 2003, indicating assessments are fair between large and small properties.
Assessed values reached a high of $271.4 billion in 2004 or a 5.6% increase from the values reported in 2003; while the 2004 average millage rate of 25.97 increased less than 1% from the 2003 average millage rate. This is an indication that counties and schools are offsetting inflationary growth with a reduction in millage rates in accordance with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
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PUBLIC UTILITIES:
In 2005, the Department received a favorable ruling from the federal district court in a suit brought by one of the nation's largest railroads appealing its 2002 proposed assessment. The ruling affirmed the Department's valuation methodologies and clarified the exemption of certain intangible assets.
The statewide average equalization ratio for public utility property decreased slightly from 37.90% in 2004 to 37.78% for tax year 2005.
Equalization ratios for 77 of the 159 counties were proposed at a ratio less than 40% for tax year 2005, a slight increase from the 69 counties whose proposed ratio was less than 40% in 2004.
PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT: Since the implementation of Preferential Agricultural Assessment in 1984, the program
had continued to grow through tax year 2001. However, since 2002 the number of taxpayers participating in this special assessment program has steadily declined. This decline is a result of the increase in fair market values at the local level and the advantages of Conservation Use Valuation. The decline is further indicated by the fact that the amount of assessed value eliminated from the digests and tax shifts decreased more than 10%, while the number of parcels decreased approximately 18% for tax year 2004. While the reports show tax losses, the actual affect is that of a shift of the tax burden from taxpayers within this property class to other property class taxpayers.
CONSERVATION USE VALUATION:
Since the implementation of Conservation Use Valuation in 1992, the number of parcels in this program has risen steadily. The number of parcels enrolled in the program has increased to more than 100,000, representing the elimination of approximately 5.1 billion in value and total tax shift of approximately $127.3 million.These dramatic increases are expected to continue to grow as property valuations increase.
TIMBER TAXATION:
The amount of timber sales and harvests have shown a downward trend, an indication of the depressed timber market, although County and School revenues increased approximately 5% as a result of the increase in millage rates.
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SUMMARY: The Department desires to provide the legislature with all information necessary for
the proper evaluation of legislative impacts and implementation of property tax policies. It 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 return value to the citizens of Georgia.
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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
The Commissioner, through the Local Government Services Division, has been given the statutory duty of reviewing county tax digests to determine if the digests meet the criteria mandated in statute case laws and regulation for level of assessment1, uniformity2, and equalization3.
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.
As directed by the legislature, the Commissioner has adopted a three-year digest review cycle in which each county's tax digest is reviewed extensively to determine the level of assessment, uniformity and 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 regulations are allowed an opportunity during the three-year cycle to correct any deficiencies by the next 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 county's digest as being reasonably uniform and equalized if the digest meets certain standards:
For those digests submitted by counties in their digest review year, the Commissioner completes his review on or before August 1 of the following tax year or within 30 days of the date the ratio study results are provided by the State Auditor. Based upon this review, the Commissioner will approve any digest when it is found to be reasonably uniform and equalized by having met the following state established standards:
the average level of assessment for each class of property meets the state standards of 36% to 44%;
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 differential5, meets the state standard of 95% to 110%.
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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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. 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 2004 review year indicated that 7 counties were deficient. Four of these counties were subject to additional state tax and 1 (Fulton County) was assessed the $5 per parcel penalty for failure to correct prior digest deficiencies. Fulton County has paid the penalty.

Table 1

COUNTY $5 Per Parcel Penalty

Clinch

Emanuel

*Fulton

$1,393,130

Johnson

Randolph

Union

Wheeler

TOTAL

$1,393,130

* Paid December 2005

Additional State Tax $6,134
$2,934 $5,187
$5,106 $19,361

The review of the 106 non-review counties resulted in 11 counties being assessed additional state tax.

Table 2 COUNTY Banks Brantley Early Echols Lee Marion

Additional State Tax $12,250 $6,809 $14,380 $3,935 $16,724 $3,737

COUNTY Quitman Stephens Taliaferro Terrell Webster
TOTAL

Additional State Tax $2,022
$19,100 $3,258 $4,380 $2,022 $88,617

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Several graphs are included to provide a visual indication of the various measurable statistical standards:

Figure 1 - This graph shows the steady increase in the average Median Ratio since tax year 1998. Georgia law requires taxes to be assessed at 40% of the fair market value of the property; therefore, the median ratio is a measure of the effectiveness of the county's valuation efforts.

Acceptable Range: 36% to 44%

Figure 1 - Average Level of Assessment

38.50%

38.00%

37.50%

37.00% 36.50%

36.95%

36.00%

1998

37.33%

36.99%

37.78% 37.42%

37.97%

1999

36.68%

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

2003

2004

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 decrease in the 2004 indicates that assessments are more uniform than in past years.

Acceptable Range: 15% or Less

Figure 2 - Average Level of Uniformity

0.16

0.11 0.06

12.12%

11.49%

12.52%

11.71%

12.53%

12.02%

10.63%

0.01 1998

1999

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

2003

2004

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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 remained relatively stable during these 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
110.00%

105.00%

100.00%
100.84%

95.00%

1998

101.06%
1999

100.98%

100.11%

100.79%

101.19%

100.92%

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

2003

2004

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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 or 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 1998 as shown in Figure 4.

Billions

300

250

200

150

171.8

100

50

0 1998

Figure 4 - Total Assessed Value

187.0

201.3

220.1

238.4

257.1

1999

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

2003

271.4 2004

Figure 5 shows the average millage since 1998. And while the average millage rate had been declining, since 2001 counties and schools have begun steadily increasing millage rates.

26.5

26

25.5 25

24.76

24.5

24

23.5

23

1998

Figure 5 - Average Millage Rate

24.35 1999

24.01

25.01 24.19

2000

2001 Tax Year

2002

25.88 2003

25.97 2004

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Figure 6 below shows the percentage breakdown, by property class, of the values reported on the 2004 tax digests.
Figure 6 - PERCENTAGE OF 2004 VALUES TO TOTAL VALUE BY PROPERTY CLASS

60.0% 52.3%

50.0%

40.0% 30.0%

25.2%

20.0% 10.0%

7.8%

5.5% 4.7%

3.9% 0.5%

0.2%

0.0% Res Comm Motor Ind
Vehicle

Agr Utility Mobile Timber Home

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 1998 through 2004 tax digests. Figures 9 through 13 show the amount of tax revenue and a 5-year comparison for county and school tax purposes.

Billions

$10.00 $8.00 $6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $0.00

$5.2 1998

Figure 7 - Comparison of Total Revenue (State, County and School)

$6.0 $6.5

$6.9

$7.4 $7.1

1999

2000

2001
Tax Year

2002

2003

$8.4 2004

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Figure 8 - 2004 Percentage of Total Revenue By Tax Type

State - 1%

County - 33%

School - 66%

Figure 9

2004 County Tax Revenue By Property Class - Millions

Public Utility $116.7
Industrial $221.1

Motor Vehicle $229.4

Mobile Homes $14.2
Timber $6.8

Commercial $762.1

Agricultural $96.3

Residential $1,445.3

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Billions

Figure 10 - 5 Year Comparison of County Tax Revenue

$4.0
$3.0
$2.0 $2.2
$1.0
$0.0 2000

$2.4

$2.6

2001

2002 Tax Year

$2.8 2003

$2.9 2004

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

Public Utility $.187

Timber $.008

Industrial $.369

Motor Vehicles

$.385

Mobile Homes

$.021

Commercial $1.243

Agricultural $.140

Residential $2.462

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Billions

Figure 12 - 5 Year Comparison of School Tax Revenue

$6.0

$5.0

$4.0

$3.0

$3.7

$2.0

$1.0

$0.0

2000

$4.4

$4.6

$3.9

2001

2002 Tax Year

2003

$4.8 2004

Figure 13 - 2004 State Tax Revenue By Property Class Millions

Timber $.14
Public Utility $2.82

Motor Vehicles

$5.32

Mobile Homes

$.34

Industrial $5.06

Residential $37.21

Commercial $16.35

Agricultural $2.30

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Public Utilities
O.C.G.A. 48-2-18 requires the Commissioner to annually propose assessments for public utility property and to insure that these properties are assessed at the same overall average assessment level as other property in the county. Each utility company is required to annually return their properties indicating location, description, type of property and valuation. The Commissioner's staff inspects these returns to insure the accuracy of each utility company's declarations.
In determining each county's proposed assessments for 2005 public utilities and airlines, the Commissioner utilized the equalization ratios using 2004 digest values certified by the county tax commissioners and ratio statistics developed by the State Auditor. This method insured that proposed public utility values were set at the same overall average assessment level as other properties.
Once the State Board of Equalization approved these values, proposed equalization ratios and assessments were issued to the counties and utility companies. Each county board of tax assessors then determined the final assessment of utility properties by either accepting the State's proposed equalization ratio and assessments or substituting their own in issuing assessment notices to the utility companies.
Table 3 on the following page shows each county's 2005 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. In 2005, the Department received a favorable ruling from the federal district court in a suit brought by one of the nation's largest railroads appealing its 2002 proposed assessment. The ruling affirmed the Department's valuation methodologies and clarified that certain identifiable intangible assets were not taxable in Georgia. The Department applied the federal court's ruling concerning the intangible assets issue and appraised the property of public utility companies for tax year 2005 using the following method:
The Department solicited information from the public utility companies concerning any identifiable and quantifiable intangible assets captured by the Department's valuation methodology;
Due to the limited time afforded to the public utilities to respond to the request for information, the Department proposed that the 2005 values be developed by using a blending of the 2005 indicated values and prior years' values.
This proposal was in concurrence with the Attorney General's Office and approved by the State Board of Equalization.
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Table 3
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 Ratio 36.68 36.98 36.16 36.21 40.00 35.58 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.60 36.07 40.00 34.09 36.28 40.00 40.00 36.96 36.43 36.94 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.68 40.00 40.00 37.10 37.12 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.78 33.01 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.18 36.10 40.00

County
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 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.13 36.15 40.00 37.51 37.83 32.54 31.17 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.35 36.90 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.47 40.00 40.00 36.59 37.37 37.37 40.00 40.00 37.55 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.27 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.25 40.00 40.00 36.19

County
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 40.00 40.00 35.12 36.86 36.72 37.20 37.45 34.63 40.00 40.00 37.05 37.62 40.00 35.87 40.00 35.66 37.08 40.00 37.19 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.16 40.00 37.27 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.49 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 37.58 40.00 35.55 40.00 32.85

County
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 AG

Proposed Ratio 37.89 40.00 36.39 36.50 40.00 36.76 35.00 40.00 40.00 37.91 30.63 37.68 40.00 36.44 35.65 40.00 40.00 40.00 36.50 37.10 40.00 40.00 37.10 35.97 40.00 36.56 37.63 40.00 36.10 35.04 36.92 33.40 31.62 36.60 40.00 40.00 36.17 36.55 40.00 37.78

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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 Ratios

38.00 37.50 37.00 36.50 36.00

37.40 2000

37.30 2001

37.55

36.69

2002

2003

Tax Year

37.90 2004

37.78 2005

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PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT

In the 1983 legislative session, O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.1 was passed establishing preferential assessment of tangible real property devoted to bona fide agricultural purposes. By statute, all real property is assessed at 40% of fair market value, however, the new legislation provided for a 30% level of assessment or 75% of the value at which other taxable real property is assessed.

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 that agreed to continue the property in agricultural pursuits for the remainder of the covenant period. Otherwise, the covenant was breached and a penalty imposed. Penalties ranged from 15 times the tax 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.

Fiscal Impact

The Table 4 below shows for each tax year, the statewide number of parcels, the total value eliminated, the total tax dollar loss, and the percentage change of each category.

Table 4 - Preferential Agricultural Assessment Fiscal Impact

YEAR 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

PARCELS 10,001 11,839 12,642 13,446 15,306 16,978 19,947 23,086 23,243 18,388 17,836 22,226 23,501 23,915 23,340 22,634 22,449 20,582 18,302 16,435 13,549

PERCENT CHANGE
+ 18.4 + 6.8 + 6.4 + 13.8 + 10.9 + 17.5 + 15.7 + .7 - 20.9 - 3.0 + 24.6 + 5.7 + 1.8 - 2.4 -3.02 -.82 -8.32 -12.46 -10.42 -17.56

TOTAL VALUE ELIMINATED
86,969,884 105,327,904 115,411,332 119,970,016 134,584,711 148,115,075 176,780,216 204,261,412 180,985,796 145,151,076 137,170,751 165,278,063 174,157,485 181,350,311 189,169,970 191,204,332 191,352,938 195,076,035 182,041,147 177,696,254 158,588,308

PERCENT CHANGE
+ 21.1 + 9.6 + 3.9 + 12.2 + 10.1 + 19.4 + 15.5 - 11.4 - 9.8 - 5.5 + 20.5 + .4 + 4.1 + 4.3 +1.08 +.08 +1.95 -6.68 -2.39 -10.75

TOTAL TAX $ LOSS 1,588,974 1,992,707 2,227,704 2,370,396 2,864,733 3,782,095 4,010,259 4,657,783 4,232,187 3,542,375 3,362,403 4,249,807 4,410,076 4,654,542 4,701,626 4,760,183 4,824,066 5,011,186 4,768,802 4,803,802 4,304,327

PERCENT CHANGE
+ 25.4 + 11.8 + 6.4 + 20.9 + 32.0 + 6.0 + 16.1 - 9.1 - 16.3 - 5.1 + 26.4 + 3.8 + 5.5 + 1.01 +1.25 +1.34 +. 88 -4.84
.73 -10.40

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Table 5 on this and the following pages illustrates a county-by-county breakdown of the preferential agricultural assessment local impact analysis for 2004.

TABLE 5 PREFERENTIAL AGRICULTURAL ASSESSMENT FOR 2004

COUNTY NAME
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

COUNTY PARCEL COUNT
487 119 115 322
5 16 4 39 42 456 18 27 110 253 15 15 197
6 355 22
56 46 11 24 0 10 15 0 0 38 0 189 0 65 38 18 19
3 85 144 34
4 244
1 92

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 2,723,812 1,543,357 889,628 4,092,261 230,150 209,212 49,725 544,486 399,283 3,499,735 53,020 286,484 549,212 5,381,932 135,280 252,380 2,715,854 126,425 3,977,687 445,038 589,699 579,734 160,654 366,303 0 116,146 252,142 0 0 419,404 0 1,219,980 0 1,272,766 478,631 183,733 448,993 31,366 1,042,772 1,894,322 205,376 182,000 2,771,494 45,190 1,067,923

STATE TAX LOSS 681 386 222 1,023 58 52 12 136 100 875 13 72 137 1,345 34 63 679 32 994 111 147 145 40 92 0 29 63 0 0 105 0 305 0 318 120 46 112 8 261 474 51 46 693 11 267

COUNTY TAX LOSS 26,203 21,984 12,010 53,254 2,255 2,079 336 4,121 5,227 50,746 672 2,512 10,023 63,114 1,032 2,178 14,937 2,275 65,158 5,563 8,550 3,577 530 7,318 0 686 1,998 0 0 6,973 0 15,799 0 9,079 5,648 1,415 4,070 139 13,556 21,457 1,160 1,481 24,140 434 11,267

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 41,347 20,408 12,010 68,545 3,353 2,877 870 10,449 6,896 48,996 978 3,438 9,446 70,503 2,148 2,597 34,627 2,149 71,399 6,488 8,217 10,493 2,503 5,730 0 1,847 2,685 0 0 4,194 0 20,740 0 19,410 4,207 3,157 6,353 583 15,642 32,868 2,670 2,556 36,667 1,038 10,359

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
1,090 0 0 0 0 0
107 0 0 0
136 0
534 54
0 0 7,831 0 0 44 0 0 0 2,288 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5,795 0 0 1,388 309 0 78 0 2,662 0 0 0 266 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS 69,321 42,778 24,242 122,822 5,666 5,008 1,325 14,706 12,223 100,617 1,799 6,022 20,140 135,016 3,214 4,838 58,074 4,456 137,551 12,206 16,914 14,215 3,073 15,428 0 2,562 4,746 0 0 11,272 0 42,639 0 28,807 11,363 4,927 10,535 808 29,459 57,461 3,881 4,083 61,500 1,749 21,893

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
22

COUNTY DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL 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

COUNTY PARCEL COUNT
169 24 1 479 153 2 21 115 161 0 0 27 15 1 11 1
135 2
83 300
15 0 49 0 223 43 70 16 26 4 26 452 18 26 77 66 277 22 9 13 161 105 38 37 13 97 0 1

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 2,401,672 851,020 22,699 3,786,485 759,567 20,040 328,577 1,886,943 1,904,966 0 0 203,735 314,110 22,924 507,330 10,920 1,013,964 17,928 1,152,654 5,134,821 598,259 0 958,948 0 2,856,481 884,954 842,826 355,581 487,377 63,080 1,310,440 4,418,978 241,154 1,814,614 1,083,556 1,259,061 2,988,733 216,003 81,194 505,753 1,249,920 1,002,966 1,042,263 514,725 257,911 987,619 0 12,401

STATE TAX LOSS 600 213 6 947 190 5 82 472 476 0 0 51 79 6 127 3 253 4 288 1,284 150 0 240 0 714 221 211 89 122 16 328 1,105 60 454 271 315 747 54 20 126 312 251 261 129 64 247 0 3

COUNTY TAX LOSS 39,556 11,198 173 45,353 12,632 203 3,032 20,379 13,708 0 0 1,671 1,467 154 5,909 47 16,588 106 8,726 51,348 4,683 0 8,640 0 70,555 8,550 6,658 1,731 2,383 709 12,161 56,961 2,106 22,959 9,611 17,174 44,536 3,311 956 4,056 18,411 6,713 14,540 6,835 2,512 17,422 0 90

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 35,886 16,169 465 60,584 13,008 338 5,471 20,568 20,955 0 0 3,604 5,490 291 8,932 168 15,422 296 19,422 66,239 6,581 0 11,968 0 40,848 10,642 13,957 4,722 6,541 1,385 17,861 73,753 4,461 26,929 13,815 17,425 34,968 2,862 1,180 7,324 21,449 13,053 16,718 8,236 3,095 15,506 0 177

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
0 6,617
0 0 0 67 0 2,445 0 0 0 539 520 0 2,255 0 0 29 0 0 0 0 574 0 0 0 0 0 0 189 0 4,198 558 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,058 286 0 0 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS 76,042 34,197 644 106,884 25,830 613 8,585 43,864 35,139 0 0 5,865 7,556 451 17,223 218 32,263 435 28,436 118,871 11,414 0 21,422 0 112,117 19,413 20,826 6,542 9,046 2,299 30,350 136,017 7,185 50,342 23,697 34,914 80,251 6,227 2,156 11,506 40,172 20,017 31,519 17,258 5,957 33,175 0 270

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
23

COUNTY NAME
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 TIFT

COUNTY PARCEL COUNT
101 113 173
31 14 49 59 110 6 109 11 29 16 0 1 78
5 15 17 234
0 6 56 9 22 1 116 11 38 133 570 153 28 0 84 257 30 178 277 61 459 79 44 2

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 1,622,296 1,598,286 1,391,283 639,558 176,490 917,618 963,124 1,899,255 108,830 817,527 287,889 209,735 131,360 0 5,500 1,471,596 295,786 137,220 304,408 2,252,761 0 72,055 783,836 192,542 108,088 23,860 879,180 74,105 601,992 1,524,483 8,329,814 2,192,399 431,240 0 978,223 4,661,497 413,370 1,309,280 3,100,884 700,540 3,033,765 952,007 3,448,065 22,450

STATE TAX LOSS 406 400 348 160 44 229 241 475 27 204 72 52 33 0 1 368 74 34 76 563 0 18 196 48 27 6 220 19 150 381 2,082 548 108 0 245 1,165 103 327 775 175 758 238 862 6

COUNTY TAX LOSS 18,721 15,658 11,434 4,989 1,613 7,914 13,298 31,095 990 8,374 3,080 1,216 0 0 47 10,626 2,100 2,196 1,799 15,058 0 4,938 9,155 1,463 1,396 213 10,132 555 8,843 16,708 83,715 27,440 5,804 0 11,954 48,946 6,841 25,277 47,605 5,871 31,739 13,709 17,068 240

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 28,877 25,125 20,521 9,785 2,250 14,964 13,715 20,493 1,339 11,318 4,446 3,251 3,070 0 94 22,515 5,185 2,367 4,831 35,751 0 1,101 9,712 2,226 1,579 197 15,614 1,539 12,931 30,246 107,871 30,165 8,150 0 10,056 69,410 5,736 19,639 40,529 8,406 43,990 13,928 48,600 269

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
0 1,550
0 0 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 588 0 0 0 0 149 0 0 0 1,611 1,324 0 0 2,416 0 0 1,023 0 0 0 12,586 49

TOTAL TAX LOSS 48,004 42,733 32,303 14,934 4,001 23,107 27,254 52,063 2,356 19,896 7,598 4,519 3,103 0 142 33,509 7,359 4,597 6,706 51,372 0 6,057 19,651 3,737 3,002 416 25,966 2,262 21,924 47,335 193,668 59,764 15,386 0 22,255 121,937 12,680 45,243 89,932 14,452 76,487 27,875 79,116 564

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
24

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

COUNTY PARCEL COUNT
228 0 83
45 44 38 2
3 22 14 359 145 199 147 395
7 19 389 129 41 112 13,549

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 1,476,298 0 848,757 674,054 904,948 311,312 37,810 187,781 288,359 249,193 1,663,072 1,244,606 1,549,593 1,434,648 2,201,397 94,691 226,248 3,472,431 1,759,930 831,310 2,258,932
158,588,308

STATE TAX LOSS 369 0 212 169 226 78 9 47 72 62 416 311 387 359 550 24 57 868 440 208 565 39,647

COUNTY TAX LOSS 8,137 0 11,722 7,118 14,659 5,037 195 2,124 773 2,508 27,973 14,935 19,901 21,405 41,668 776 167 53,823 14,117 11,173 25,774
1,875,274

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 19,055 0 9,472 12,470 12,217 5,744 357 2,351 5,061 4,695 25,378 25,178 27,893 29,634 27,517 1,411 3,646 43,787 27,649 13,218 33,884
2,322,615

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
1,343 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
396 0 0
745 66,791

TOTAL TAX LOSS 28,904 0 21,406 19,757 27,102 10,859 561 4,522 5,906 7,265 53,767 40,424 48,181 51,398 69,735 2,211 3,870 98,874 42,206 24,599 60,968
4,304,327

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 for the last 10 years.

Millions

Figure 15 - Preferential Agricultural Assessment Revenue

$6.0

$5.0

$4.4

$4.7

$4.8

$4.8

$4.3

$4.0 $4.2
$3.0

$4.6

$4.8

$5.0

$4.8

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Tax Year

Millions

Figure 16 - Preferential Agricultural Assessed Value Eliminated

$250.0 $165.3
$200.0

$181.3

$191.2

$195.1

$178.4

$150.0 $100.0

$174.1

$189.2

$191.4

$182.0

$158.6

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Tax Year

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
25

Conservation Use Valuation

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 rather than fair market value. The bill also provided for the Commissioner to annually develop a table of current use values to be used in all counties. The Commissioner must use a legislative formula taking into account the amount of income the land is capable of producing when growing certain crops and timber and factors found in market data using only farmer to farmer land sales. The data is grouped into nine agricultural districts in Georgia.

Unlike the Preferential Agricultural Assessment Program in which assessments are based on 30% of fair market value rather than 40% of fair market value statewide, the valuation of property in Conservation Use 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.

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

Table 6 below represents the 10 counties, ranked by total tax loss, most affected by Conservation Use Assessment Covenants. The 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 the total tax loss. The total amount of tax loss in these 10 counties accounts for approximately 30% of the total amount of tax loss statewide.

TABLE 6 CONSERVATION USE FISCAL IMPACT

COUNTY
Morgan Gwinnett Cherokee Hall Jasper Jackson Oconee Gilmer Henry Newton

REAL PARCEL COUNT
1,365 1,182 1,684 1,911 1,218 1,559 1,514 1,327 1,242
955

TOTAL VALUE ELIMINATED $206,968,628 $148,547,490 $172,499,440 $170,333,172 $114,955,598 $99,281,671 $108,401,681 $139,594,967 $74,670,534 $96,500,122

STATE TAX LOSS $51,742 $37,137 $43,125 $42,583 $28,739 $24,820 $27,100 $34,899 $18,668 $24,125

COUNTY TAX LOSS
$2,214,56 $1,301,27 $851,285 $1,106,58 $1,454,33 $866,641 $922,840 $599,281 $837,743 $938,946

SCHOOL TAX LOSS
$3,196,010 $3,002,616 $3,375,814 $2,583,632 $1,705,941 $1,799,071 $1,853,669 $2,149,762 $1,639,765 $1,753,847

SPECIAL TAX LOSS 0 0 0 0 0 $125,357 0 0 $224,012 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS
$5,462,316 $4,341,029 $4,270,224 $3,732,800 $3,189,017 $2,815,889 $2,803,609 $2,783,942 $2,720,188 $2,716,918

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, 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.

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
26

TABLE 7 COUNTY NAME 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

PARCEL COUNT
45 732 135
3 519 1,003 1,287 829 187
61 153 374 141 613 229 1,891 1,037 1,034
45 226 714 1,751 349 454 70
39 756 1,684 200 303 111
0 589 1,419 1,379 3,424 747 1,940 313 570 164 590 891
11 1,003
908 72 248

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 289,000
14,485,170 1,187,059
5,451 19,339,927 54,409,432 101,234,973 25,148,224
2,063,074 51,982
2,797,048 6,313,036
706,209 36,570,150 7,779,586 48,153,240 29,240,404 50,668,045
601,444 8,735,320 17,919,728 48,349,407 22,574,664 11,788,372 23,698,603 1,083,621 27,957,175 172,499,440 12,895,993 9,963,988 5,829,410
0 68,799,579 74,589,074 11,191,333 51,154,213 27,966,209 76,715,476 7,326,766 18,023,334
3,566,381 84,613,811 31,806,627
426,362 17,303,403 23,808,134
3,244,960 13,744,391

STATE TAX LOSS 72 3,621 297 1 4,835 13,602 25,309 6,287 516 13 699 1,578 177 9,143 1,945 12,038 7,310 12,667 150 2,184 4,480 12,087 5,644 2,947 5,925 271 6,989 43,125 3,224 2,491 1,457 0 17,200 18,647 2,798 12,789 6,992 19,179 1,832 4,506 892 21,153 7,952 107 4,326 5,952 811 3,436

COUNTY TAX LOSS 2,780 206,327 16,025 71 189,531 540,775 684,956 191,503 27,006 754 35,450 55,453 12,905 410,663 59,366 15,899 160,825 911,873 9,846 108,995 259,835 297,772 74,542 235,496 245,683 6,404 222,236 851,285 172,806 165,651 45,359 0 486,413 532,044 131,922 393,887 253,514 301,258 95,268 204,150 20,232 688,587 277,036 4,097 182,551 392,120 42,697 104,883

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 4,387 191,537 16,025 91 281,783 748,130
1,771,612 468,012 35,629 728 51,608 75,756 12,147 479,069 123,509 495,497 372,815 861,357 10,796 127,343 249,693 863,937 351,668 184,406 417,095 17,230 295,148
3,375,814 251,472 99,640 110,269 0
1,300,491 1,137,483
98,372 878,829 395,722 1,426,141 109,901 312,723 46,363 1,188,486 420,802
9,798 167,843 355,741
61,654 281,788

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
116 0 0 0 0 0
217,655 0 0 0
7,093 0
723 19,212
0 0 84,356 0 0 899 0 0 0 73,642 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32,250 85,653 0 189,997 0 25,568 0 0 0 2,503 0 0 25,103 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS 7,355 401,485 32,347 163 476,149 1,302,507 2,699,532 665,802 63,151 1,495 94,850 132,787 25,952 918,087 184,820 523,434 625,306 1,785,897 20,792 239,421 514,008 1,173,796 431,854 496,491 668,703 23,905 524,373 4,270,224 427,502 267,782 157,085 0 1,804,104 1,688,174 265,342 1,371,158 656,228 1,936,575 207,001 546,947 67,487 1,898,226 705,790 16,505 354,720 753,813 130,265 390,107

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
27

COUNTY NAME EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL 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

PARCEL COUNT
33 17 1,038 995 1,200 35 987 352 1,349 757 1,682 448 1,327 28 87 1,541 883 752 1,182 1,148 1,911 732 837 489 1,080 855 1,242 436 522 1,559 1,218 45 1,157 2 708 582 529
8 1,577
293 73 664 164 747 1,057 803 1,446 6

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 494,789 56,901
24,842,524 35,056,598 43,917,233
867,329 45,923,560 25,855,492 35,356,088 101,357,880 118,111,754 39,264,250 139,594,967
367,520 8,147,867 75,497,771 45,704,176 43,124,740 148,547,490 90,986,188 170,333,172 18,016,314 40,490,927 11,803,069 61,312,908 35,848,139 74,670,534 41,125,536 9,335,498 99,281,671 114,955,598
642,671 36,190,576
14,120 8,281,024 22,827,271 28,365,528
125,298 19,350,862 10,917,183
2,538,114 19,864,984 2,111,814 27,627,390 108,211,491 34,156,138 40,897,544
12,853

STATE TAX LOSS 124 14 6,211 8,764 10,979 217 11,481 6,464 8,839 25,339 29,528 9,816 34,899 92 2,037 18,874 11,426 10,781 37,137 22,747 42,583 4,504 10,123 2,951 15,328 8,962 18,668 10,281 2,334 24,820 28,739 161 9,048 4 2,070 5,707 7,091 31 4,838 2,729 635 4,966 528 6,907 27,053 8,539 10,224 3

COUNTY TAX LOSS 5,923 946 251,580 323,640 474,306 6,568 274,118 222,872 289,920 473,443 793,767 457,311 599,281 6,013 48,048 571,518 457,042 337,537 1,301,276 817,771 1,106,585 445,003 391,640 93,244 298,533 175,297 837,743 381,645 120,335 866,641 1,454,337 5,700 493,639 210 126,948 268,905 227,463 1,846 129,515 152,295 33,704 193,445 37,252 244,779 787,649 394,717 400,997 106

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 7,917 974 418,671 583,727 478,698 9,541 640,634 586,325 623,776
1,771,533 1,498,838
681,734 2,149,762
5,590 134,293 1,263,756 589,584 474,372 3,002,616 1,135,508 2,583,632 257,633 486,280 195,459 814,235 481,082 1,639,765 560,541 155,809 1,799,071 1,705,941
8,194 500,878
165 109,724 331,863 410,790
2,150 251,832 175,112
40,610 238,380 33,155 390,900 1,542,014 607,979 642,909
190

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
0 0 83,272 57,200 0 0 0 0 92,670 0 0 166,142 0 0 14,218 0 0 0 0 54,501 0 0 0 0 0 0 224,012 0 8,869 125,357 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10,152 21,990 0 0 0 0 39,671 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS 13,964 1,934 759,734 973,331 963,983 16,326 926,233 815,661 1,015,205 2,270,315 2,322,133 1,315,003 2,783,942 11,695 198,596 1,854,148 1,058,052 822,690 4,341,029 2,030,527 3,732,800 707,140 888,043 291,654 1,128,096 665,341 2,720,188 952,467 287,347 2,815,889 3,189,017 14,055 1,003,565 379 238,742 606,475 645,344 4,027 386,185 330,136 85,101 458,781 70,935 642,586 2,356,716 1,011,235 1,093,801 299

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
28

COUNTY NAME 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 TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION

PARCEL COUNT
504 110 1,582 375 1,216 632 596 1,365 278
81 955 1,514 876 1,122 219 431 493 1,109 714 362 344 147 486 552 99 160
44 46 223 745 325 187 637 1,143 91 645 800 14 910 809 857 3 256 240 852 998 651 838

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 21,193,712 10,843,563 72,140,555 13,807,901 48,125,133 34,710,265 13,129,150
206,968,628 10,623,477 3,757,609 96,500,122 108,401,681 25,372,176 89,887,604 6,461,012 33,277,128 9,214,717 54,997,887 25,240,994 6,651,543 17,555,251 3,213,430 33,812,128 6,643,892 3,442,520 11,985,836 612,589 1,101,208 6,785,584 47,729,739 9,410,360 5,951,505 26,509,711 18,170,329 1,851,499 15,997,826 19,065,209 261,173 24,623,716 63,955,037 60,865,159 24,718 10,097,147 2,884,915 41,291,588 35,318,472 9,378,670 42,790,047

STATE TAX LOSS 5,298 2,711 18,035 3,452 12,031 8,678 3,282 51,742 2,656 939 24,125 27,100 6,343 22,472 1,615 8,319 2,304 13,749 6,310 1,663 4,389 803 8,453 1,661 861 2,996 153 275 1,696 11,932 2,353 1,488 6,627 4,543 463 3,999 4,766 65 6,156 15,989 15,216 6 2,524 721 10,323 8,830 2,345 10,698

COUNTY TAX LOSS 165,346 99,078 619,976 191,500 787,905 315,863 134,110 2,214,564 61,770 0 938,946 922,840 183,059 638,202 103,376 196,668 61,554 657,225 217,268 77,690 133,385 41,518 302,657 76,559 25,781 176,072 6,714 11,067 84,928 642,442 99,938 72,727 278,317 300,719 35,702 245,599 159,821 2,732 354,582 317,000 651,866 148 64,965 39,818 436,039 572,124 151,747 220,369

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 324,264 138,255
1,176,396 196,625 524,214 426,936 182,362
3,196,010 164,664 87,815
1,753,847 1,853,669
388,194 1,575,730
111,452 528,108 146,238 725,972 385,682
82,413 202,974
46,932 278,950 117,996
71,487 257,456
12,154 14,261 93,363 902,092 159,035 61,181 394,730 252,113 27,772 209,092 228,783
3,787 360,245 900,924 728,191
219 52,768 32,196 763,894 476,799 173,036 403,553

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
0 5,801
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,989 0 0 0 0 6,478 0 0 0 4,987 145,153 0 0 16,078 0 0 5,279 0 0 0 225,795 132,077 22 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTAL TAX LOSS 494,908 245,845 1,814,407 391,577 1,324,150 751,477 319,754 5,462,316 229,090 88,754 2,716,918 2,803,609 577,596 2,236,404 216,443 733,095 210,096 1,396,946 609,260 166,755 340,748 89,253 590,060 196,216 104,607 436,524 19,021 25,603 184,974 1,701,619 261,326 135,396 695,752 557,375 63,937 463,969 393,370 6,584 720,983 1,459,708 1,527,350 395 120,257 72,735 1,210,256 1,057,753 327,128 634,620

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
29

COUNTY NAME UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH

PARCEL COUNT
608 610 839 16 163 684
77 0
849 308 645 1,047 474 1,543

ASSESSED VALUE
ELIMINATED 24,816,303 18,217,161 81,096,776 81,965 1,683,083 7,384,148 975,607 0 57,548,144 11,006,554 10,783,111 22,652,936 8,389,790 76,045,875

STATE TAX LOSS 6,204 4,554 20,274 20 421 1,846 244 0 14,387 2,752 2,696 5,663 2,097 19,011

COUNTY TAX LOSS 280,672 48,804 802,144 1,379 20,197 94,835 14,556 0 471,319 60,954 167,138 181,958 112,759 867,683

SCHOOL TAX LOSS 310,700 319,711
1,497,938 1,251
34,049 132,915
20,152 0
857,410 177,371 135,975 355,878 133,398 1,140,688

SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX LOSS
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,678 0 0 25,095

TOTAL TAX LOSS 597,576 373,069 2,320,356 2,650 54,667 229,596 34,952 0 1,343,116 241,077 307,487 543,499 248,254 2,052,477

TOTAL

103,325 5,074,318,140 1,268,576 44,928,458 78,872,747 2,236,256 127,306,037

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.

Figure 17 - Conservation Use Revenue Loss

Millions

$150 $120
$90 $60 $30
$0

$31.9 1997

$37.9 1998

$57.7 $50.5

$72.0

1999

2000

2001

Tax Year

90.1 2002

$127.3 110.1

2003

2004

Billions

Figure 18 - Conservation Use Assessed Value Eliminated

$6.00 $4.00 $2.00 $0.00

$1.19 1997

$1.47 1998

$1.98 1999

$2.28

$3.56 $2.83

2000

2001

Tax Year

2002

$5.07 $4.29

2003

2004

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
30

Table 8 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

2003 TIMBER REVENUE REPORTED ON 2004 TAX DIGESTS

Acres

Assessed Value State County School

7,872

5,400,508 1,350 51,953 81,980

17,719

4,813,491 1,203 68,563 63,649

104,130

3,664,216 916 49,467 49,467

34,578

973,589 243 12,666 16,308

7,470

2,707,078 677 26,529 39,442

2,772

550,402 138

5,368

7,568

120

53,851

13

364

942

26,116

3,365,963 841 25,379 64,449

0

1,808,313 452 23,671 31,230

7,927

2,318,237 580 33,614 32,455

0

361,925

90

4,587

6,261

8,999

2,268,178 567 19,892 27,218

11,897

7,754,110 1,939 141,513 126,004

23,301

3,050,328 763 34,234 39,959

5,044

2,114,050 529 16,132 33,563

13,687

4,853,564 1,213 41,886 45,866

217

9,383,390 2,346 51,580 119,638

5,552

1,677,393 419 30,188 28,516

791

1,642,259 411 26,884 29,479

16,260

9,704,925 2,426 121,312 141,478

10,643

1,475,067 369 21,406 20,554

0

767,911 192

4,738 13,186

83

76,203

19

252

1,187

22,947

10,273,114 2,568 205,226 160,702

4,205

2,706,080 677 28,054 42,967

0

280,186

70

1,656

4,455

1,561

276,060

69

2,187

2,940

5,266

1,260,155 315

6,219 23,250

60

55,511

14

743

1,082

2,049

2,728,256 682 45,357 27,283

204

306,296

77

2,383

5,794

68,903

21,844,237 5,461 282,883 371,352

76

43,803

11

300

832

13,296

5,834,450 1,459 41,617 88,975

11,418

3,768,443 942 44,279 33,125

23,779

5,904,877 1,476 40,921 101,446

2,574

2,038,335 510 18,478 28,842

2,502

1,859,381 465

7,270 34,566

17,100

2,837,326 709 36,885 42,560

162,999

842,807 211

9,546 14,624

510

207,320

52

1,171

2,695

2,624

775,851 194

6,314 10,587

56,565

6,216,122 1,554 54,142 82,239

0

0

0

0

4,940

2,317,299 579 24,448 22,478

0

2,057,706 514 33,890 30,746

23,066

1,935,569 484 25,468 36,776

0

283,994

71

2,167

5,533

6,584

3,958,812 990 47,387 63,341

44,000

10,431,102 2,608 173,469 178,633

Total 135,283 133,415 99,850 29,217 66,648 13,074 1,319 90,669 55,353 66,649 10,938 47,677 269,456 74,956 50,224 88,965 173,564 59,123 56,774 265,216 42,329 18,116 1,458 368,496 71,698 6,181 5,196 29,784 1,839 73,322 8,254 659,696 1,143 132,051 78,346 143,843 47,830 42,301 80,154 24,381 3,918 17,095 137,935 0 47,505 65,150 62,728 7,771 111,718 354,710

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
31

Table 8 EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL 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

2003 TIMBER REVENUE REPORTED ON 2004 TAX DIGESTS

18,948

6,506,931 1,627 65,896 97,812

11,954

2,459,305

615 22,694 40,950

258,306

9,486,013 2,372 102,449 103,398

61,602

1,243,874

311

8,894 13,683

120

41,795

10

249

583

290

83,912

21

726

1,593

10,113

4,222,406 1,056 34,624 72,676

0

48,890

12

205

758

1

346,462

87

2,322

4,397

12

148,135

37

1,716

2,565

3,212

275,253

69

1,182

4,239

8,967

1,397,429

349 22,862 21,255

18,079

11,219,257 2,805 66,160 177,365

5,377

1,011,394

253

7,656 17,042

312

3,524,873

881 35,249 45,471

20,166

5,065,708 1,266 39,649 55,723

0

153,991

38

1,274

2,906

0

312,822

78

2,810

3,904

2,579

201,858

50

1,312

3,054

33,344

11,791,873 2,948 260,600 168,624

7,865

2,197,273

549 21,182 26,424

12,799

2,704,781

676 21,368 43,033

2,362

328,886

82

1,601

4,223

10,563

4,494,156 1,124 21,976 60,312

10

16,413

4

184

310

6,756

3,313,119

828 30,746 45,158

8,619

3,257,248

814 41,986 54,363

5,503

805,483

201

7,155 12,401

12,597

9,371,380 2,343 118,548 125,858

10,880

4,672,402 1,168 41,444 59,573

17,088

5,867,963 1,467 80,039 81,213

21,920

7,302,438 1,826 108,806 76,822

10,245

3,229,647

807 49,510 42,793

9,453

3,873,935

968 45,635 49,393

1,520

1,630,059

408 13,071 23,607

6,059

1,869,887

467 27,543 32,087

16,220

6,369,396 1,592 42,630 82,891

5,222

2,009,612

502 28,034 29,642

63,927

6,022,207 1,506 79,969 96,355

4,342

2,392,442

598 23,298 28,709

17,709

5,364,222 1,341 94,625 72,417

0

6,814,911 1,704 60,380 95,174

2,051

216,421

54

1,575

3,084

25,675

2,803,830

701 32,356 49,908

4,504

874,238

219

8,559 13,743

12,470

3,873,352

968 31,831 50,354

10,196

2,761,990

690 21,544 42,258

13,912

5,889,793 1,472 53,815 75,095

92,436

5,803,684 1,451 49,738 94,641

481

230,390

58

3,181

3,126

12,414

4,775,740 1,194 78,188 52,056

165,335 64,259
208,219 22,888 842 2,340
108,356 975
6,806 4,318 5,490 44,466 246,330 24,951 81,601 96,638 4,218 6,792 4,416 432,172 48,155 65,077 5,906 83,412
498 76,732 97,163 19,757 246,749 102,185 162,719 187,454 93,110 95,996 37,086 60,097 127,113 58,178 177,830 52,605 168,383 157,258
4,713 82,965 22,521 83,153 64,492 130,382 145,830
6,365 131,438

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
32

Table 8 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 TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER

2003 TIMBER REVENUE REPORTED ON 2004 TAX DIGESTS

16,616

4,612,107 1,153 41,970 56,729

6,242

2,697,970

674 27,465 37,502

11,996

2,125,882

531 22,747 32,828

0

656,580

164

3,808 10,177

832

677,246

169

8,005 15,827

3,740

2,044,278

511 19,891 35,182

2,170

790,162

198

6,701 12,248

29,564

5,948,434 1,487 42,882 91,011

101

1,601,297

400 10,408 26,276

2,742

274,523

69

4,392

4,736

16,249

1,143,236

286

6,757 18,143

0

3,771,620

943 25,194 59,856

2,741

1,478,835

370 17,672 17,539

5,527

1,856,282

464 15,977 28,364

7,408

873,077

218 10,198 10,817

1,268

3,585,473

896 27,242 41,455

6,639

1,846,233

462 23,853 24,260

0

2,305

1

21

19

21,047

5,781,668 1,445 66,611 102,682

3,742

1,870,986

468 14,012 37,786

1,339

402,219

101

5,792

8,640

10,650

2,704,513

676 29,641 42,326

9,837

7,833,468 1,958 78,726 101,443

2,582

903,970

226 11,314 12,438

791

294,034

74

3,958

5,557

92

749,655

187

7,961 12,669

19,907

7,476,182 1,869 91,359 76,855

53,909

2,704,200

676 28,394 40,266

6,529

2,316,191

579 38,333 30,284

13,139

5,418,948 1,355 104,423 81,284

7,379

3,593,874

898 55,173 44,097

22,197

2,098,715

525 17,587 25,185

12,544

7,108,449 1,777 74,369 103,073

7,141

2,556,661

639 36,816 37,404

24,499

2,703,674

676 13,383 38,108

5,386

1,742,129

436 18,658 20,843

635,273

3,724,294

931 20,409 48,197

0

0

0

0

6,337

1,899,694

475 26,216 21,201

8,130

5,030,636 1,258 53,124 93,067

4,452

1,904,634

476 30,853 25,713

19

5,555,749 1,389 89,892 102,504

0

37,810

9

195

357

11,498

1,868,469

467 21,132 23,393

783

218,044

55

584

3,827

4,927

1,840,624

460 18,524 33,168

38,121

10,201,674 2,550 171,592 155,678

24,331

5,498,771 1,375 65,985 93,369

0

13,607,586 3,402 174,762 244,937

9,000

2,823,225

706 42,123 49,847

13,121

6,645,451 1,661 125,712 83,068

99,852 65,641 56,106 14,149 24,001 55,584 19,147 135,380 37,084
9,197 25,186 85,993 35,581 44,805 21,233 69,593 48,575
41 170,738
52,266 14,533 72,643 182,127 23,978
9,589 20,817 170,083 69,336 69,196 187,062 100,168 43,297 179,219 74,859 52,167 39,937 69,537
0 47,892 147,449 57,042 193,785
561 44,992
4,466 52,152 329,820 160,729 423,101 92,676 210,441

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
33

Table 8 WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH Total

2003 TIMBER REVENUE REPORTED ON 2004 TAX DIGESTS

479

85,175

21

698

1,235

617

695,865

174

3,854 11,214

11,871

4,045,204 1,011 62,701 51,010

18,948

8,441,764 2,110 67,661 132,620

30,392

9,490,276 2,373 127,549 150,895

18,574

4,112,538 1,028 46,924 61,688

2,835,004 514,480,081 128,617 6,035,867 7,534,140

1,954 15,242 114,722 202,391 280,817 109,640 13,698,624

Timber Impact Report

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 2004.

Millions

800.0 700.0 600.0 500.0 400.0 300.0 200.0

593.1 1997

Figure 19 - State Wide Timber Values

755.0

711.8

701.1

676.0

507.7

518.6

1998

1999

2000

2001

Tax Year

2002

2003

514.5 2004

Millions

Figure 20 - County & School Revenue from Timber

$30.0 $20.0 $10.0
$0.0

$15.9 1997

$15.1 1998

$19.3 1999

$18.0

$17.9

2000

2001

Tax Year

$17.2 2002

$12.9 2003

$13.7 2004

Department of Revenue January 20, 2006
34