In terms of local economic news, the numbers on the 2014 Fayette County real property tax digest could hardly be better. After years of falling property values and a break-even year last year, the numbers for the value of all the county’s real property is showing a 4.04 percent increase this year, according to figures provided by the Fayette County Tax Assessor’s Office.
While the property numbers are the best Fayette County has seen in years, Chief Appraiser Joel Benton noted that the numbers do not reflect the motor vehicle and personal property portions of the tax digest. The total tax digest is expected to show an increase over last year, though that increase might be less than 4 percent.
The property tax digest is the total value of all real property in the county.
A breakdown of the increase showed a 4.94 percent increase in residential property over last year, a .88 percent increase in agricultural property, a .37 increase in commercial, a 1.65 percent increase in industrial and a 4.2 percent increase in agricultural property in conservation.
The total value of real property countywide was placed at $3.958 billion.
A breakdown of taxable areas showed the unincorporated portions of the county with an an overall increase of 4.74 percent. Residential properties saw a 5.48 percent increase in value while conservation property increased 3.23 percent and industrial increased by 2.85 percent. The unincorporated areas saw a 3.12 percent decrease in commercial and a .28 percent decrease in agricultural.
Fayetteville had an overall increase of 5.34 percent. Residential showed a 9.12 percent increase while conservation property increased 77.94 percent and agricultural property increased 941 percent, due largely to the 1,200 acres annexed into the city’s west side in September 2013. Commercial property showed a .46 percent decrease and industrial property saw a 1.94 percent increase.
Tyrone’s property digest saw a 4.21 percent increase over last year. Increases were seen in residential at 5.35 percent, agricultural at 12.3 percent and conservation property at .54 percent. The town saw decreases in commercial values at .02 percent and industrial at .98 percent.
Peachtree City experienced an overall property digest increase of 2.76 percent. Increases in values came in residential at 3.01 percent, commercial at 2.54 percent and industrial at 1.35 percent. Agricultural properties saw a decrease of 67.19 percent due to annexations and reclassifications. There were no changes in the value of conservation properties.
Brooks saw an overall property digest increase totaling 4.97 percent. Residential had a 5.48 percent increase while agricultural increased 5.84 and conservation property increased 3.87 percent. Commercial property values decreased 10.72 percent and there was no change in the industrial category.
While riding the wave of significant and sustained economic growth for the better part of four decades, Fayette saw the digest essentially flat in 2009 due the Great Recession, followed by a decrease of more than 6 percent in 2010, another decrease of approximately 4 percent in 2011 and an unprecedented 10.39 percent drop in 2012. The tax digest finally broke into positive ground last year by registering a $107 million increase in fair market value.
