October 24, 2007
DID
YOU GET YOUR NEW PROPERTY TAX BILL?
Property owners opened their recent property tax bills and
most were shocked. Many expected some increase (do taxes
ever go down?), but most weren’t prepared for the jump they
saw. TWG warned citizens back in June that property taxes
would increase.
See: Will
your property taxes increase this year? Yes, if there is
no rollback or decrease of the millage rate!
http://www.taxdogs.com/061907proptax.htm
On top of the
“normal” property taxes for Schools, the County, and the
City of Monticello (if you live within the city limits),
this year the Curbside service has been added
to your tax bill. The new amount of Curbside
is $154. TWG has already had comments about amounts higher
than that (double in some instances) and on properties without
any garbage service. Some “lucky” people also had their
Water Tax of $50 added to their
bill because they live within 1000 feet of a JCWSA hydrant.
Check your bill carefully! Take your bill and discuss
any errors in the Tax Commissioner’s office.
Values
of real property increased from 2006 to 2007 by $174 million.
The taxable value of property in Jasper County increased
by $35 million or 8.66% from 2006 to 2007. With
both a value increase and a millage increase by the Schools,
property taxes jumped.
See:
Budgets for the Schools, County, and City
http://www.taxdogs.com/062707budgets.htm
The
Commissioners are not responsible for the majority of your
taxes; the School Board is. Rarely does
the public complain or even attend the budget hearings of
the School Board; yet they determine over
55% of the property tax bill. What are we
getting for our money? CRCT Test scores and AYP were not
met, and a recent article in the Monticello News said the
drop out rate was 59%.
See:
Schools underperform on CRCT - http://www.taxdogs.com/071107schoolcrct.htm
TWG has heard
comments about the high Administrative Costs of the School
System, including a salary for the Superintendent
that is higher than many school systems several times larger
than Jasper’s. With his large salary along
with his special annuity, all social security taxes being
paid by the School System (taxpayers), and his personal
use of a vehicle—any time, anywhere—taxpayer’s have a right
to question why the School Board can not find somewhere
to cut and give us some tax relief! Or at least the School
Board should use some of the money to honor their long standing
pledge made in 1998 to fund half the library costs.
See
School Budget here: http://www.taxdogs.com/2008SchoolBud.pdf
The School General Fund for FYE 6/30/07 was $15,857,089.
The budget for this school year FYE 6/30/08 is $17,038,315—a
little more than a 7% increase.
To comment on
this article or to let your feelings be known email us at
taxpayerwatchdogs@yahoo.com
or visit our website. You can also Speak Out on the message
board set up to do just that: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/speakoutjasper/
TWG
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Mission
Statement:
** To keep the taxpayers of Jasper County, Georgia informed
as to where and how
their tax dollars are being spent.
** To keep the taxpayers abreast of local policies and
laws being
discussed and enacted.
** We advocate more open government, less government spending,
and lower property taxes.
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