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Web posted Thursday,
December 16, 2004
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Kubic
appeals for patience on property reassessments
HILTON HEAD: Administrator reflects on
first year in office.
By Lolita Huckaby
Carolina Morning News
Beaufort County Administrator Gary Kubic
said Wednesday there's a possibility the county
may bring in outside appraisers to help process
the backlog of 9,000-plus property tax
reassessment appeals.
"We're doing what we
can to process the appeals but it's just going to
take time and we ask people to be patient," Kubic
said during a meeting with the Hilton Head Island
League of Women Voters.
Kubic reflected on
the first year in his three-year contract as
county administrator, noting that his top priority
directive by the council upon being hired last
December was to evaluate the current county
operations and improve on them.
"It hasn't
necessarily been easy but it's been interesting,"
he told his audience. "I'm somewhat behind in
where I thought I'd be but we're dealing with a
community of extremes - extreme wealth and extreme
poverty.
"It's my responsibility to present
both extremes to the County Council," he
said.
Kubic, who came to Beaufort last
December from Mahoning County, Ohio, quipped that
he'd been lucky enough to start his administration
during a year of property tax reassessments, a
process that was last done in 1998.
Since
reassessment notices went out in August, 9,482
appeals have been appealed and the assessor's nine
staff appraisers have worked to schedule
interviews.
Kubic noted that in 1998, when
outside appraisers were brought in to handle
appeals, it still took 14 months to
resolve.
Even if a property owner is
appealing his or her reassessment, the deadline
for paying 2004 taxes is Jan. 15.
Property
owners who have filed an appeal can opt to pay
only 80 percent of the tax bill but if the appeal
goes against them, they are expected to pay the
difference plus interest.
If the appeal
goes in their favor, they will receive a refund,
also with interest, Kubic said.
The
administrator said the possibility of a 20 percent
reassessment cap still rests in the hands of Gov.
Mark Sanford. If Sanford takes no action by Jan.
15 when the Legislature goes back into session,
the cap automatically goes into effect, but
observers are predicting a court
challenge.
"We're trying to prepare for
that scenario but the possibility of further
refunds is out there," he said.
While one
of his major accomplishments in the past year was
reorganization of the county's human resources
department, which resulted in the firing of four
staff members, Kubic said he's still looking for
ways to make government more efficient through
further public-private partnerships.
He
listed the possible consolidation of fire
districts or administrative services within those
districts, which County Council members have
discussed before.
"I'm the county
administrator and it's my job to come up with
proposals that are best for the whole county, not
just north or south (of the Broad River)," he
said.
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