Board of Assessors

Presently, the members of the Board of Assessors are the Chairman, Alex C. Habersham, Vice-Chairman Leigh Ann Junod, Herbert Dennard, Estelle Herndon and Maurice Atkinson.

Alex Habersham is chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Tax Assessors.  He was appointed as an assessor in 1982 and has twenty three years of appraisal experience.

Mr. Habersham is a Level IV appraiser, the highest state designation and has completed numerous Georgia State courses including: Certification for Assessors, Valuation of Personal Property, Income Approach to Valuation, Basic Mapping, Mass Appraisal, Assessment Administration, Valuation of Public Utilities, Legal Research and many more.  He is a member of the Georgia Association of Assessing Officials and the International Association of Assessing Officers, serving on several committees.

Alex Habersham is currently the president of Habersham Enterprises, Inc., a web hosting and Internet development company and founder of the Adopt-A-Role Model Program.

Prior to his position as an assessor, Mr. Habersham taught at Central High School and Ballard Hudson Senior High School in Macon, Georgia.  He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Savannah State College.  Alex Habersham is on the Board of Directors for many civic and nonprofit charitable organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Leigh Ann Junod, the current vice-chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Assessors, was appointed to the board in May 2002. Mrs. Junod is currently a Georgia Registered Real Estate Appraiser.  She has completed coursework in: Foundations of Real Estate Appraisal, Appraising the Single-Family Residence, Farm and Land Appraisal, Manufactured Housing Appraisal, Principles of Property Inspection, Real Estate Math, Methods of Residential Finance, Pricing Property to Sell and Standards of Professional Practice. Leigh Ann Junod is a member of the Georgia Chapter of Association of Master Appraisers and the National Association of Master Appraisers.

Mrs. Junod previously served as the Assistant Director of Admissions and the Director of the Macon Campus for Georgia College and State University in Macon, Georgia.  She earned a bachelor degree from the University of Georgia and a master degree from Georgia College and State University.  Leigh Ann Junod is a member of many civic and non-profit organizations.
 

Herbert Dennard was appointed an assessor in October 2000.  Mr. Dennard has completed mass appraisal courses in Certification for Assessors, Assessment Administration, Exempt Properties and Specialized Assessments.  He is a member of the Georgia Association of Assessing Officials and the International Association of Assessing Officers.

Prior to his current appointed position, Mr. Dennard spent 16 years as an elected official on the Macon Water Authority representing District 1 from 1981 to 1996. He served most of those years as the vice-chairman of the Authority and Chairman of the Finance Committee.   Mr. Dennard recently served from 1998-2000 as an appointed member of the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority.  During his tenure there, he served as chairman of the Properties Committee.  He also represented Bibb County on the Southwest Georgia Regional Eight Health Board.

Mr. Dennard recently retired from Norfolk Southern Railway after 37 years employment.  He is also the owner/publisher of the Georgia Informer newspaper since 1982. He served in the United States Marine Corp from 1963 to 1967, with one year as an infantryman in Viet-Nam.

Estelle H. Herndon is the paralegal/office manager for the law firm of Robert E. Herndon with over thirty-two years of experience.  Mrs. Herndon is a licensed arbitrator with a strong background in negotiation, including trial preparation and litigation and the management of legal pleadings and discovery.

Prior to her current appointed position, Mrs. Herndon served a two-year unexpired term on the Macon Water Authority.   She also served on the Urban Development Authority chairing the Pedestrian Plaza Committee, the Better Business Bureau, the Macon Telegraph and News Community Advisory Board and the Macon Area Planning Development Commission.

Mrs. Herndon is an active member of the community serving in several civic, religious and non-profit organizations and was a founding member of Focal Pointe Women.  In addition, she formally served as trustee and board member for the Cannonball House.

Mrs. Herndon is a long-time resident of Macon and a graduate of Macon State College with an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice.
 

Maurice Atkinson was appointed to the board in October 2005. He is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers and the Georgia Association of Assessing Officials. He has been in the insurance business for 23 years and is currently employed with GEICO as a sales representative. Mr. Atkinson is an active member of the community serving in several civic, religious and non-profit organizations.

The Board of Assessors employs a professional staff that must adhere to procedures established by the state.  Seven staff members, including all members of the management team have attained their Appraiser IV certification, the highest conferred by the Georgia Department of Revenue for mass appraisal work.  Additionally the staff must attain certification from the State Revenue Department.  The guidelines under which the department operates are established by the General Assembly and recorded in the Official Code of Georgia, Annotated, Volume 36, Title 48, Revenue and Taxation, along with Rules, Regulations and Appraisal Procedures as promulgated by the Georgia Department of Revenue.