Beaufort Co. presentation on property values mixes up 2 islands damaged by Matthew

Fripp Island residents concerned about Beaufort County's assessment of the island's property values can breathe a collective sigh of relief — for now.

Gary James, the Beaufort County assessor, presented his office's initial five-year report before the Bluffton Town Council on June 13. That presentation contained an error.

At the time, the assessor said Daufuskie and Fripp islands are the only two areas in Beaufort County that will see decreases in assessed value, both of which he attributed to Hurricane Matthew.

Fripp Island, he said, "had 14 homes that are now ocean homes, not oceanfront. Their value went to zero. They have to be reconstructed."

James corrected himself over the phone on June 27, saying that he confused Fripp and Harbor islands in his presentation.

Harbor Island, which had substantial damage from Hurricane Matthew, is where the 14 valueless homes are.

"The mistake was made that I may have represented the Harbor (Island) numbers as part of Fripp," James said.

Several Fripp Island residents expressed concern after The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette ran a story last week about the assessor's presentation. Jerry Floyd, a 25-year resident of Fripp Island, was forgiving once informed of the assessor's error.

"It was such a shock to read because we've been growing," he said. "Anybody can make a mistake and get bad information out there."

Charles Patty, the broker in charge and a sales agent at Fripp Island Real Estate Company, also expressed his initial surprise at the way the assessor's report had previously framed Fripp Island's values.

"Property values have been increasing recently, and buyer activity has increased markedly," Patty said. "As of this past Sunday, we had 18 single-family homes under contract ready for close."

James said he stands by the numbers of his report and that the inaccuracy was limited to the presentation.

However, he's continuing to collect information and said it's possible that, even though the 14 valueless homes are not on Fripp, some residents there could still see a decrease in their homes' assessed values.

"The numbers — as they are, from the numbers we have up to this date — show that there's a decline in those two districts," James said of Fripp and Daufuskie islands.

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 4:48 PM.