If

you haven't gotten a notice stating that your

home's value has increased, you're one of the

lucky few.

Fayette

County tax assessors have reevaluated all of the

approximately 34,600 properties in the county,

and have sent out about 33,000 reassessment

notices, according to chief assessor Ellen Mills.

Some

residents whose homes were assigned new tax

values last year or the year before may be

surprised at being hit with higher assessments

again so soon, many of the increases in double

digits, but Mills said the county assessors are

required by state law to keep their assessments

current.

And

with modern technology, the state can easily tell

if the assessors are doing their job.

"It

has to do with the fact that Fayette has so many

home sales every year," said Mills.

"There are about 3,000 sales each year, and

they can measure how close [the county's tax

records] are to those 3,000," she said.

The

state requires that counties maintain a tax

digest that is within a few percentage points of

40 percent of the fair market value of their

properties, she said. "You can be as low as

36 percent or as high as 44," she said.

If

state officials determine that the county has

fallen below 36 percent, fines will result, she

added. Since Fayette was slipping below that 36

percent level this year, a revaluation was

necessary, she said.

Assessors

use several yardsticks to determine fair market

value for each property in the county, Mills

said, but there's always the possibility that

some unknown factor could affect a home's value.

"They

could have accelerated depreciation, bad water,

termite damage... If they need for us to come out

and evaluate, we will," she said.

An

appeal process also is available to anyone who

wants to dispute the valuation, she added.

For

information, phone 770-460-5730, extension 5402.

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