The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the 2012 mid-year budget adjustments at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 19 and later heard an update on the property tax digest, including assessment appeals and the potential 2012 millage rate.

Commissioners voted to approve a $1.429 billion reconciliation budget. This customary process adjusts the current year’s spending plan to address changes that have taken place since the 2012 budget was adopted in January.

The operating portion of the budget went up 1.6 percent from $898.4 million to $913.1 million. This small increase is primarily attributable to payments made to the cities as part of the service delivery strategy settlement. The capital budget increased by $86.1 million to $516.2 million, or a 20 percent increase, primarily due to programmed but unspent project funds being carried forward from 2011.

In a briefing to commissioners, Chief Appraiser Steve Pruitt reviewed this year’s property tax digest, covering information about the appeals process and sharing estimated revenue figures. According to Pruitt, about 80,000 residential properties decreased in value by an average of 22 percent. In addition, more than 25,800 property owners appealed their assessments thus far this year. Based on the value reduction by the Tax Assessor’s office and the level of appeals, County officials project a preliminary tax digest that is 5.03 percent lower than last year’s final number, or an approximately $1.6 billion loss in the property tax digest.

About 300 commercial properties (out of 14,000) rose in value and added $250 million to the digest, while growth in new properties – a fairly even split between residential and commercial – added another $160 million. The net loss in property value will create a loss of about $14.8 million in revenue for the County’s general fund this year.

Financial Services Director Maria Woods said, “The loss in property value equates to the revenue produced by .78 mills. However, despite having a large number of appeals for the second year in a row, we’re right about where we expected to be from a tax digest perspective.”

The County plans to adopt the 2012 millage rate on July 17. Property tax bills will be mailed in August with payment due in October.

Property Tax Digest and Millage Rate Briefing