Population: 221,315
2013 total value of residential property: $10.5 billion (+3.2%)
Median 2013 county residential appraisal: $120,100
Typical residential property undervalued by: 12%
2013 residential property appeals: 1,878
How the county stacks up: Cherokee has had some of the most accurate property assessments in metro Atlanta in recent years, according to a series of Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigations. One reason: the county's longtime practice of notifying all owners of their property's tax value every year.
County officials say the practice has allowed them to keep assessments closer to market value because homeowners had a chance to appeal flawed values every year. Other counties began notifying every owner of their property’s taxable value annually only after a change in state law required it.
While Cherokee’s typical assessment was about right in each of the previous two years, this year it’s about 12 percent below market value, the AJC found. The reason, according to Chief Appraiser John Adams: “The (real estate) recovery has been really cranking up.” That means property values have risen faster than Cherokee assessments.
“We thought it would take six to eight months or a year before it started going back up,” Adams said. “One day, all of a sudden, it’s moving straight up.”
With values rising fast, Adams said he may be forced to raise assessments in some areas in 2014.
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