Tax Assessors

The Board of Tax Assessors is charged with establishing the fair market value of the taxable real and personal properties in Banks County. 

The mission of the Banks County Board of Tax Assessors and Appraisal Staff is to appraise all taxable property at 100% Fair Market Value in a fair and impartial manner and to administer the property tax laws of the State of Georgia fairly and efficiently in order to promote public confidence and compliance, while providing excellent customer service to the citizens of Banks County.

Fair market value means "the amount a knowledgeable buyer would pay for the property and a willing seller would accept for the property at an arm's length, bona fide sale." The Board of Assessors does not create property values. Assessors and appraisers merely interpret what is happening in the market place. The appraised value is the estimate of what the property is worth.

Under the Georgia Revenue Codes, the Board of Tax Assessors is responsible for appraising and assessing all residential, commercial, and personal property in the county for the purpose of producing an acceptable annual property tax digest. Property is appraised at fair market value then assessed at 40 percent of that value.

The Board of Tax Assessors was established in 1913 by Georgia law (Ga. Code 48-5-290). It consists of three to five members appointed by the County Governing Authority. Banks County has a three-member board including Len Dalton, Chairman;  Roger Southerland, member; and Jerrold Parks, member.

In 1997 the Georgia General Assembly passed into law Sec. 48-5-269.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), which directed the Revenue Commissioner to provide local tax assessing officials with uniform procedures to be used in the appraisal of all real and personal property for property tax purposes. The official proposed rules for the Appraisal Procedure Manual were adopted on September 17, 1999. These rules became effective on October 10, 1999.