Higher taxes may be on homeowners' doorsteps

Tim and Lauren Briles found out their home’s assessed value could increase $50,000, something they didn’t expect. (Patrick Collard/Staff) e-mail this story print this story More details HERE'S HELP TO UNDERSTAND REASSESSMENT The American Homeowners Association offers these tips during a reassessment: Look for errors Most property tax assessment errors are simple and easy to resolve. Research nearby homes If your home is overvalued, you're being overtaxed. Contact the assessor directly if you are confident your assessment is inaccurate. The office is at Greenville County Square, or call 467-7300. Know your rights.You are entitled to access any and all documents relevant to your property. All you need is proof of ownership. Property information Go to GreenvilleOnline.com, where you can look up your property value online and search for your home or property by your name, address, parcel number or subdivision. Values for 2005 are posted online, but are not final. WHY IT'S DONE: Every five years, all counties in South Carolina must update the property values on their tax rolls. The idea is to make sure property owners pay their share of taxes. Property values change on county tax rolls during a reassessment year or when an improvement, such as a porch addition, is made. HOW YOUR PROPERTY TAX BILL WORKS: Greenville County takes the value of your property and multiplies it by an assessment ratio, usually 4 percent for first homes and 6 percent for second homes. That number (the taxable value) is multiplied by the current tax rate for all local governments. The result is the amount you pay in property taxes. Related Related stories: • Assessments not infallible, but few appeal Online extra • Read Greenville County's notice of reassessment Related Web site • Get more information about your tax bill • Check your property value Click on the help icons for information on these links and any programs needed to open them.

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The reassessment may catch some off guard because it follows just four years after the last one in 2001. That reassessment was delayed in part by Y2K fears, and this year's reassessment puts the county back on schedule.

About 89 percent saw their tax bills go up in 2001, partly because of the lengthy span since the last time the county updated values. Not everyone is expected to see higher tax bills.

The new assessment notices should start landing in mailboxes in July, but what they will show remains to be seen, said County Administrator Joe Kernell.

Greenville resident Jean Miller said she doesn't mind paying taxes — it's the way they seem to keep increasing that bothers her.

"I think that they should do away with it completely or either cap it so it can't get any higher," Miller said. "By the time you get through paying taxes, you don't come back with half of your check."

Some homeowners could get an early peek at new values as the numbers begin showing up on the county's Web site. But the county cautioned that nothing will be official until the notices go out.

This much is nearly certain, according to area real estate agents: Greenville's downtown neighborhoods could see some of the biggest hikes in values — and largest tax bill increases.

Greenville County Council Chairman Butch Kirven said the council has no plans to raise taxes. Even though tax bills may be higher in some cases, he wants people to understand it's because values have gone up, not tax rates.

Stephen Leung, a Greenville County resident, said he knows taxes are needed to fund services from law enforcement and fire protection to better roads and schools. For Leung, as long as property taxes are used in the areas where they are collected, the system seems pretty fair.

"I think we all have to help out where we can," Leung said.

Reassessment is mandated every five years by state law, and this is Greenville County's year. Updating all property values is a way to make sure everyone is paying their fair share of the taxes needed to run local government.

For Tim and Lauren Briles, a quick check of the Web site told them their home's assessed value could increase by $50,000 to $60,000 — a jump they didn't expect.

The couple moved to their Jones Avenue home 18 months ago, and the two said higher taxes, which will probably come with the higher assessed value, is a small price to pay for how much they love their home and the area.

"We love being able to walk to Cleveland Park," said Lauren, 24. "We can walk to the suspension bridge. We can walk to downtown."

Tim, 26, said that location plays a large role in why that area's property values keep rising. "Since we've lived in Greenville, we've seen a lot of good things done with the money. I think that serves a great benefit to a lot of people."

He said that five-year increments can mean a big jump for taxpayers, but planning ahead and being aware that an increase could be coming can help new homeowners brace for the impact.

Coldwell Banker broker Sharon Wilson says her phone starts ringing during reassessment years with "help" calls. The most common requests are for comparable house costs in neighborhoods where she's sold homes.

Based on her sales experience, anything in the downtown market will see its value go up, Wilson said, because the cost per square foot has risen dramatically each year and demand is exceeding supply.

Resales in upper-end neighborhoods, such as Montebello and Kilgore Plantation, also have seen escalating sale prices, she said. Custom-built homes in newer subdivisions also have done well on resale, she said.

"We have had some really strong sales in the McDaniel Avenue area, so that may affect property values there," she said.

Greenville County Councilwoman Judy Gilstrap, who chairs the Finance Committee, said higher values shouldn't come as a surprise to most people if they're paying attention to sales prices of neighboring homes.

"People usually know if their property values have increased," she said.

Kirven said people should have plenty of time to look over their new values and appeal, if appropriate, when they receive notices this summer. Notices will precede actual bills, which are mailed in the fall.

"I believe this is in the normal window of expectations," Kirven said. "Those notices will go out. People have time to appeal. And the property tax (bill) based on this won't go out until next fall some time, probably the end of October."

After notices go out, taxpayers have 90 days to appeal if they think the county has made an error.

Tony Peters, a Greenville resident, said as long as assessments are realistic, they could be good for people by showing them an appreciation of their property that they might not have known.

"Some people don't realize how much property values in Greenville have gone up, especially downtown," Peters said.

The city and county should benefit from that increasing value just like everyone else, he said.

Increases in assessed values are market driven based on what a willing buyer would pay right now, said Ada Lou Steirer, a research associate at Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute.

Assessors may use records of recent home sales prices in a neighborhood to update values. Or they may do "windshield surveys," making an educated guess about a home's value based on its size, construction materials and amenities, such as whether it's located on a lake.

Either way, sometimes values can be wrong, and property owners can protest after receiving their notice. Steirer gave an example of a home in which a deck was removed and assessors didn't lower the value to reflect that change.

Homeowners might also appeal if they recently purchased their home for an amount lower than the assessed value.

Reassessment doesn't necessarily mean a tax increase for everyone. Some property values do go down.

"It's not across the board," Gilstrap said. "It's according to each area and what has happened in the last four years in that area."

Homes might go down in value if the owner has let them fall into disrepair, the architecture is out of fashion, local schools don't have top ratings or something undesirable like a landfill has located nearby, Steirer said.

Coldwell Banker's Wilson said it's difficult to say who in the growing Greenville market will be immune from escalating property values.

"They hit everybody pretty hard last time," she said about assessment increases.

But if your tax bill does go up this year because of reassessment, the jump may not be as dramatic as it was four years ago.

That time around, the county hadn't updated property values since 1993, leaving a longer span of time for values to creep up before taxpayers were hit with the increase on their bills. The average increase in residential values in 2001 was nearly 45 percent.

This time, with a window of four years, an increase might not bring such severe "sticker shock," said Kathy Williams, assistant director of the South Carolina Association of Counties. The state Legislature in 1995 began requiring counties to update property values every five years to avoid that kind of lag.

State law also prohibits counties from raking in more money just because residents' property values have risen. Counties, school districts, cities and other taxing entities must roll back their tax rate so, in the end, they collect about the same amount as the year before.

That means that while your home value might be going up, the tax rate will be going down. Whether your bottom line increases or decreases depends on the amount of change in values and rates.

"The idea is not to make money," Steirer said. "The idea is to make sure that properties are paying their fair share and that some properties are not overpaying their share."

However, your property tax bill doesn't include county taxes alone, and another taxing body could raise taxes this year. Depending on where you live, you may be paying taxes to a city or fire district or another special taxing district.

And everyone pays school taxes, which generally make up the bulk of the bill — about 60 to 70 percent, Williams said.