Congratulations to Marty Haynes and his staff for doing a great job on the just completed countywide reappraisal.
Doing a reappraisal correctly is not any easy task to perform. You just don't push a few keys on a computer. It takes four years of hard work performed by hard working, highly skilled and extremely intelligent people to complete this humongous project.
In addition to working on this project the assessor's staff has the dual responsibility of also maintaining the files for the current years also. This is usually done without hiring additional employees.
State law requires that the reappraisal is revenue neutral and the assessor calculates the new certified tax rate. The shift in tax money paid by the tax payer is dictated by the changes in market value of the properties during the time between reappraisals. This appraisal process is calculated by a very precise analysis of sales for residential properties. There is nothing arbitrary or biased about this process.
The local governing bodies have the power to change the certified tax rate. The assessor has no say in this matter.
I can probably appreciate their hard work and dedication more than most since I was heavily involved in seven of these during my 39 of employment in this wonderful office.
This office has always been a leader in the state of Tennessee for excellence in the assessing field and I am certain it will continue to do so. The taxpayers of this county are very fortunate to have Marty Haynes to lead the way. We elected the right man for this very important position. There won't be any train wrecks occurring under his watch.
Jim Gattis Retired CAE
Former Director of Commercial and Industrial Property