The exceptions came north of the Whale Branch and Coosaw rivers, where most properties received lower tax bills, and on Hilton Head Island, where 76 percent of properties got higher tax bills for 2004 than 2003.
The study was conducted by county staffers at the request of County Council officials, who had heard dozens of complaints, mostly from residents angry that their properties' taxable value had increased so much. Hilton Head Island Mayor Tom Peeples also requested the information.
The analysis plotted each of the county's nearly 107,000 taxable units of real property -- including land, buildings, condominiums and mobile homes -- on maps, and showed areas where both property valuations and tax bills changed.
Areas of high growth, especially along U.S. 278, by and large saw their property values and tax bills increase. Assessed values of hundreds of properties increased by 500 percent or greater, such as isolated pockets of Hilton Head, including off of Spanish Wells Road. Several large areas of southern Beaufort County along Buckwalter Parkway and Bluffton Parkway also had their property values increase by more than 200 percent.
The study also found hundreds of properties that decreased in value. Land in the far northern part of the county lost value, but one of the bigger losers of value was golf courses. State law requires that golf courses be taxed as commercial land, which led some members of County Council to sharply criticize the system.
"I find it personally repugnant that all of these golf courses -- or damn near all of them -- got a tax reduction," said Councilman Peter Lamb of Bluffton.
He noted that while their taxes went down, the land's appraised value also decreased.
"This is fantasy land. This is no reality," Lamb said. "This demonstrates that there is a major defect in how we go about this process."
Council members were quick to note that how the county appraises properties generally is not controlled by the county but is mandated under state law.
The council also voted 11-0 after an hour-long closed session to give County Administrator Gary Kubic a 3.8 percent raise, bringing his yearly salary to $135,000.
Council Chairman Weston Newton said Kubic had done everything the council wanted in his first year here.
"We asked him to be an ambassador to the county, to change the mind-set of county employees ... We want him to be accessible and open and treat all employees with respect, and ultimately to promote government to be more efficient and more effective. And we believe he is doing those kinds of things," Newton said.
Kubic said he was "pleased with the response" from the council.
"I am enthusiastic that I can make a difference and that I can help resolve some of the areas of concern here in the community," said Kubic, who has two years remaining on his contract. "The first year is a major learning process, and it worked out very well."
In open session, the council also approved extending a contract with Carolina Cleaning of Hilton Head for janitorial services in county-owned buildings, despite complaints from some of the company's workers that they weren't paid for work they did on county property.
The company has previously held the county's cleaning contract. Several council members said they wanted to delay authorizing the 18-month contract extension until questions about the company's payroll practices were answered, but they were voted down.
On a 6-3 vote with two abstentions, the council approved the contract for a majority of the cleaning service to Carolina Cleaning for $510,000 per year, as well as a contract with Father and Sun Cleaning of St. Helena Island for $45,000 per year. Councilmen Frank Brafman and Herbert Glaze abstained.
In other action, the council voted 11-0 to approve: