What Does the recent ASSESSSMENT NOTICE mean?

By South Carolina law,  the county is required to reassess properties every 5 years. Those living in Lancaster Country should have received (or will be receiving soon) their new property assessment.  The assessment is based on general property values, not on a specific property.  Though, if you feel your property assessment (fair market value) isn't correct, you can file a written objection by 10/06/2021 (or whatever date you see on your assessment notice).   

 

WILL TAXES INCREASE DUE TO THE REASSESSENT?

According to the county's website, some property owner’s will notice a decrease in taxes, some will stay the same and some will increase. Reassessment was not created to raise taxes. It is intended to distribute the taxes collected more fairly among all property owners. Because there has been five years since the last reassessment, of which those values were based on sales from 2014and 2015, property values are likely to increase. Because of increase in values during reassessment, state law requires that local government reduce the millage rate to what is called a “rollback millage.”  (Millage rates are the tax rates used to calculate local property taxes. For more information on millage rates, click HERE.)  

 

DETERMINING YOUR TAX BILL

At the bottom of the Assessment Notice that you received is a general formula for determining your tax bill.  I would suggest ignoring that formula (as it doesn't calculate credits or fees) and using the county's Real Estate Estimate Calculator (see the paragraph below).

 

To calculate your estimated property tax bill based on the new assessment, click HERE to access the county auditor's page and click on Real Estate Calculator (left sidebar) to download their spreadsheet.  The only information you need to put in (at the top left of the calculator) is your Estimated Value of Property (which is the "Total Taxable Value" on your assessment notice).  The rest will auto-calculate for you.  Below is an image of the spreadsheet with my notes written in blue and items you can ignore crossed out in red.  Click on the image to enlarge.  Please note, if you are not able to input your information in the form, it may be due to issues with your version of EXCEL.  Interestingly, I am able to do it on one of my computers, but not the other. 

Note that if your SC home is not your primary residence (or if this is a rental property) you will need to look at the 6% County Tax Formula rather than the 4% County Tax Formula.  The 4% rate is only for primary residences.

 

For more information about SC Property taxes, be sure to check out my recent blog posting:

SC Real Estate Property Taxes

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE 5 YEAR ASSESSMENT

Click HERE for a link to information from the Lancaster County website.   Here are some highlights taken directly from the website:

• Limits in a Reassessment Year Section 12-37-3140(B) of the S.C. Code of Laws limits reassessment increases in value to 15% within a five (5) year period.  However, under section 12-37-3130(1) additions and improvements are exempt from the 15% cap and will be added at the current market value. Some common additions and improvements are: 

1. New construction. 
2. Reconstruction. 
3. Major additions to the boundaries of the property or a structure on the property. 
4. Remodeling. 
5. Renovation and rehabilitation including installation. 
Additions or improvements do not include minor construction or ongoing maintenance and repair of existing structures.

 

In other words, if you have made improvements to your property, you can be reassessed at the time the improvements are completed and the assessment isn't limited to the 15% cap.  

 

To calculate the percent of increase on your Assessment Notice, subtract the previous assessed value (See next paragraph to see how to find that information.) from the new assessed value, divide that difference by the previous assessed value and multiply by 100.
 

To look up your previous property taxes, click HERE.  Click on ACCEPT at the bottom of the page, then put your name or property address in the search box.  Then click on VIEW next to the latest entry (at the top of the list).  Click on VIEW AND PRINT THE BILL at the top of the page.  Note that this information doesn't show the new assessment amount.