The Pickens Tax Commissioner said Monday all property tax bills have been mailed and should be received by the middle of this week.
Commissioner Sharon Troglin said if anyone has not received their bill by the end of the week, they should call her office at 706-253-8882. She said there can be problems or delays with recent purchases of property, but all land owners who have held their holdings any length of time should see the unpleasant bill show up this week.
The county mailed between 22,000 and 23,000 bills to property owners.
With the loss of the state homeowner relief grant for all Georgia counties, and higher millage rates imposed here by the county and school board, property owners in Pickens will see a considerably higher tax bill than in previous years.
The loss of the state funds will cause bills to rise by more than $200 for homeowners across the state.
Property tax bills have a due date of December 4th, which is much earlier than in the past two years. For those years, tax bills weren’t due until after January 1 of the year that followed
Troglin said Pickens tax bills should be due by November 15th, based on a resolution signed during the term of Commissioner Bill Quinton, but the county hasn’t made that deadline in many years.
She said generally the delay involves the county’s late setting of the millage rate, which causes bills to be mailed late. But she noted the county keeps working to move up the due date until the prescribed November deadline is reached.
For the second year, taxpayers can pay online at www.pickenscountyga.gov. Go to tax information and then scroll the page to the section on paying to find the link.
This will also allow filers to use a credit card to pay the bill, something not available when paying by mail or at the tax office. Troglin said last year, they had just put the online system in place and only advertised it as “coming soon” at the time bills came due. Still, more than 300 people paid online.
She expects that number to increase this year.
Troglin said Monday she had already had a few calls about why bills were so much higher. Roy Dobbs, in the related Tax Assessor’s office, also noted phone lines have been busy since bills went out.
Troglin said a note was included in bills to property owners with homesteaded property indicating the state homestead tax relief grant was not available, and this had caused bills to rise $200 to $300.
Previous stories on the tax increase in Pickens County are available at www.pickensprogress.com.
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