Delaying property tax reassessment until next year could protect expensive commercial properties, leaving 107,000 residents and owners of lower-value commercial properties to make up $5.75 million, according to new county figures requested by The Greenville News.

As a result, two-thirds of residential property owners could see higher bills on the county's portion of their taxes, said County Administrator Joe Kernell.

If reassessment is implemented this year, finance officials say it would be the first time in at least 25 years that commercial property owners pay a larger share of county tax revenues than residents.

The Greenville County Council will cast its first vote on the matter Tuesday, deciding between redistributing the county's tax burden before state property tax changes take effect or delaying it another year until voters can decide on a cap on reassessment.

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County Council Chairman Butch Kirven said it's important to shift the tax burden toward commercial properties because of their skyrocketing values, noting the county has been criticized in recent years for making residents pay too big a share.

Reassessment this year would correct that, he said.

It doesn't mean residential tax bills wouldn't go up. It means that, for two-thirds of residential owners, the county portion of the tax bill would remain the same or drop if reassessment happens this year, Kernell said.

Any increase in the total bill would be less if reassessment happens this year, Kernell said.

He said a delay until next year would mean all bets are off.

Property tax opponents have called reassessment a back-door tax increase and want it delayed until a cap is in effect.

The new estimates apply only to Greenville County's portion of the property tax, although about 60 other agencies, including the school board and fire districts, can levy property taxes in various parts of the county.

John Hansley, deputy county administrator for finance, said he can't yet estimate the effects on the total tax bill because the other agencies haven't provided figures.

The difference between reassessment this year or next year is that this fall voters can approve a 15 percent cap on the amount a property's value can increase each reassessment cycle.

If that happens, and reassessment is delayed, Kernell said the cap would primarily protect owners of high-value properties -- which appreciate faster -- from a larger tax bill, eliminating $5.75 million in county revenue.

Owners of moderate- and lower-priced properties would be charged more to make up the difference, because Kernell said state law allows the county to collect the same amount of revenue regardless of where the money comes from.

The reaction of local taxpayers depends on the land they own and how quickly it has increased in value.

Residential and commercial property owner Billy Lacher believes his reassessed values would fall below the 15 percent cap. He favors reassessment this year because he said it would make the tax burden more fair.

But downtown business owner Jeff Zaglin believes his commercial tax bill on four parcels -- including a vacant lot -- would quadruple if reassessment is implemented this year, and he favors some kind of cap to help take the edge off.

"It puts a huge strain on a business owner," Zaglin said.

Hansley said reassessment is a way to redistribute the tax burden based on updated property values.

"It trues up the tax base," he said.

Waiting to do so until property values are capped would eliminate about $3.75 million in tax revenues the county would have received from rapidly growing commercial properties and about $2 million from residential properties, Hansley said.

About half of that additional tax burden -- or $2.9 million -- would fall on about 107,000 residential property owners whose property values would increase by less than 15 percent, Hansley said.

He said those are mostly moderate- and low-value properties, and nearly two-thirds of the county's residential tax base.

The other $2.9 million would fall to owners of lower-value commercial properties, Kernell and Hansley said.

County figures show commercial properties have increased in value by an average 44 percent since the last reassessment cycle.

Residential properties have increased by an average 20 percent, the figures show.