The Pierce County Board of Assessors determines your property value. This responsibility is managed by the Property Appraiser, under the supervision and approval of the Board of Assessors.

None, other than the Board of Commissioners retains budgetary control over this office.

No, the Tax Commissioner’s Office is an independent office separate from both the Board of Assessors and the Board of Commissioners.

The main duty of the Office of Tax Commissioner is to collect taxes as assessed by the Board of Assessors through application of the ad valorem process.

Your tax amount is calculated using a combination of your property value and the millage rate.

Here is an example calculation that illustrates the process:     Market value $100,000 x assessment ratio (40%) 0.40 = assessed value $40,000 — exemptions $10,000 = taxable assessed value $30,000 x mil rate 0.041 = your tax bill $1,230

The tax digest is the sum of all the assessed values, after exemptions, of properties to be taxed within a particular jurisdiction.

Yes. The tax rate is the product of two items — the assessed value and the mill rate; a change in either can impact your tax bill.

A change in your assessed value or the loss of an exemption could produce a tax increase for you. The millage rate alone does not constitute “taxes.”

The millage rate is calculated by dividing the total amount of money to be raised through property taxes by the total value of the tax digest.

Millage rates are set by the Board of Education, the Board of Commissioners, and the State of Georgia.

Yes. This is known as a homestead exemption. Applications for homestead exemptions in Pierce County are accepted year-round, at the Board of Assessors Office. However applications must be filed by April 1 in order to obtain the exemption for the current year. Applications filed after April 1 will result in the exemption being applied the next year. In addition, you must have been the owner of the property and live on the property on January 1 of the year you are making application. If you purchased your property after January 1, you would not be eligible to receive the exemption until the next year.

Yes. There are several special exemptions which are on file in the Board of Assessors Office.