Officials expect no delays in mailing of October property tax bills

Neither problems with new computer software, nor new property value assessments, nor the Beaufort County School District's 11th-hour tax increase will delay the October mailing of property tax bills, officials say.

The county has grappled with several tax-related problems in recent weeks, but county councilman and Finance Committee chairman Stu Rodman said the bills should be mailed on schedule.

Treasurer Joy Logan, whose officegenerates the tax bills, could not be reached for comment last week.

Among the recent problems the county has encountered:

• A new software package to service the auditor, assessor and treasurer offices was fraught with glitches that delayed mailing of vehicle tax notices to taxpayers and forwarding of payment information to the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles. Reassessment notices are scheduled to be mailed Sept. 17, one month later than intended but before property tax bills are mailed in October.

• The county is completing a state-mandated, five-year property value reassessment. The process requires the county to re-calibrate its millage rates during reassessment years so that it does not enjoy a windfall simply because of an increase in property values.

• Based upon the re-calibrated figures, the Beaufort County Board of Education late last month received a revenue projection from the county that was $2.4 million less than what it expected in May and June.

The board voted 8-3 on Wednesday to eliminatethe shortfall with a tax increase on commercial property and non-owner occupied homes.

Beaufort County Council must approve the school district rate increase before it takes effect. A public hearing and vote will be held Sept. 28.

A vote on the rate for county operations will take place Sept. 14. That rateis rolled back from last year to accommodate this year's property reassessment.

"Normally, we would've (adjusted the rate) in August," Rodman said. "But it's not needed until the end of September, because that's when the bills are generated."

The county was still owed about $17 million in real and personal property taxes as of June 30, 2008, according to county chief financial officer David Starkey.

The vast majority of that money will be collected in the next few months, particularly during the Oct. 5 county delinquent tax sale, Starkey said. Properties that have unpaid property taxes are sold at public auction.

The county expects to collect a total of $72.22 million in tax revenue this year.