The assessed value of local properties in Greene County is likely to increase in 2023 after a scheduled reappraisal by the Greene County Property Assessor’s Office.

But that doesn’t automatically mean higher tax bills, according to the county official leading the effort.

Greene County properties are currently going through a reappraisal process, which will determine the values on which property taxes are based.

According to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, Tennessee law requires every county to undergo a countywide revaluation of all real property on a four-, five- or six-year reappraisal cycle. The assessor of property is responsible for the cyclical revaluation with some assistance and oversight from the Comptroller’s Division of Property Assessments.

Greene County is on a five-year reappraisal cycle, with its last reappraisal being in 2018. In 2023, residents will receive a notice of the updated value of their property.

That assessed property value is likely to increase.

According to Greene County Property Assessor Chuck Jeffers, reappraisals are based mainly on real estate transactions.

“Sales are what mainly determine property value. The sales dictate what the prices will be. We look at sales and deeds that are registered every day. We are looking at what houses are bringing and what land is bringing,” Jeffers said.

Values are expected rise quite a bit due to the hot housing market, mainly driven by out-of-state buyers, according to Jeffers.

“There have been more out-of-county sales than local sales,” he said.

Those sales used to be “non-qualified” and not used to determine property values in reassessments. However, the Division of Property Assessment’s oversight committee in the state Comptroller’s Office has instructed counties that those sales must be “qualified” and used to determine values this year due to the sheer volume of out-of-state buyers.

“We have usually disqualified out-of-state sales in years past, but there are so many out-of-state sales this year that we have to qualify them,” Jeffers said. Other non-qualifying sales would be family sales or a house full of furniture, he said.

Jeffers has seen home values skyrocket in recent years.

“There are houses that I think are worth about $150,000 that are selling for $280,000 or $300,000. There have just been so many out-of-state buyers, cash sales, and people buying above asking price. That concerns me since sales determine property value,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers said that trend has him worried about Greene County natives.

“I’m concerned that out-of-state sales are driving prices up so much that people who have lived here all their life will not be able to buy a house, and that bothers me,” Jeffers said. “I’ve just seen a 15-year-old doublewide trailer on half an acre on the south side of the county sell for $230,000.”

According to Jeffers, there are about 45,000 parcels of land in the county that must be appraised. The goal of the appraisal is to get to an appraisal ratio of “1.”

“Being at 1 means that if we say that a home is valued at $300,000, then it should sell for $300,000,” Jeffers said.

Currently, Greene County’s appraisal ratio is about .68, which means assessed values are roughly a third below the current market values, according to state Comptroller’s office data.

Jeffers said that both Knox County’s and Rutherford County’s property values went up 40% after their recent reappraisal.

According to Jeffers, while property values are what tax bills are based on, having higher property values does not necessarily mean Greene County residents will be facing higher property tax bills.

“There is what’s called a certified tax rate that the Comptroller’s office sends back to us. That makes it so the county does not take in any more money than it did the year prior due to values going up,” Jeffers said. “By law Greene County cannot generate any more money from taxes than they did the prior year.”

The certified tax rate is a part of Tennessee’s “truth in taxation” law.

“The tax rate will decrease the same amount as Assessor’s office increases values. If values go up about 30%, then the tax rate will go down about 30%,” Jeffers said. “It’s usually a washout on the tax side of it.”

The certified tax rate will get plugged in as the county’s tax rate at the beginning of the next fiscal year in the summer of 2023.

However, the Greene County Commission could override the certified tax rate in setting its next budget. Such an action would require public hearings and a vote of the commission to raise the tax rate above the certified tax rate received from the Comptroller’s office. That would result in a net tax increase for Greene County residents if that action were taken.

“The County Commission does have the ability to go above the certified tax rate, but that’s not fair to people. I would be going crazy if they were trying to do that,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers said the reappraisal process in Greene County is about halfway done.

Jeffers said he and his office have gotten most homes “stratified” into categories that include 01, 03, 05 and 09.

“01 is an average house with a carport or garage built maybe in the ‘70s or ‘80s. And 03 is a step nicer than that. Then 05 and 09 is like the homes you would find out at River Plantation,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers expects notifications of new property values to be mailed out to property owners sometime around Easter 2023. The Comptroller’s office will calculate the certified tax rate soon after that time and when all appeals have been settled.

“When you get that notice of assessment change rate in the mail, it’s sticker shock and you immediately think that your taxes will be going up, but that is not the case since the comptroller will be providing that certified rate,” Jeffers said.

One tip Jeffers would like to give homeowners is to make sure that they have enough homeowners insurance to be covered when the new property value takes affect. Jeffers said that when people’s homes are worth more, they need to make sure they adjust their insurance coverage accordingly.

Jeffers said the Assessor’s Office strives to treat everyone equitably in the reappraisal process.

“We’re not the bad guys. We’re not the tax man. We have always tried to help the local folks of the county. They are who we’re supposed to take care of and treat right. That’s the way we do it,” Jeffers said. “My job is to be fair and equitable to everyone. We don’t look at names or anything. We just look at the property and say ‘this is what it’s worth.’ We try to maintain a level that is fair for everybody.”

Jeffers said that there are “always avenues of appeal” if a property owner disagrees with their appraisal.

Property owners can contact the Property Assessor’s Office for an informal appeal. If the issue is not resolved there, then the property owner can go to before the County Board of Equalization that meets once per month. Property owners can then go before an administrative judge to further appeal the issue if it remains unresolved.

“We hope people feel free to contact us if they have questions about their appraisal. There may be something we may not know, such as a basement could leak or something. That could impact the value of a home,” Jeffers said.

The reappraisal process of the county’s 45,000 parcels is moving along well, according to Jeffers, and Greene County residents could see employees from the Property Assessors’s Office around town as the process continues.

“This one has been moving along pretty good. We are further along than we usually are at this point,” Jeffers said. “I’ve got a really good staff, and I’m proud of them. We have been running all over the place and you’ll probably see us around more and more as we get close to wrapping up. It is really important that we get it right.”

Property owners with questions about their reappraisal can contact the Property Assessor’s Office at 423-798-1738 or drop by the office located at 204 N. Cutler St. between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.