Vendor error has thousands of Douglas Co. residents seeing high property tax bills

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A technical error by a vendor working for the Douglas County Appraisal Department led to thousands of homeowners receiving incorrect tax assessments.

The error occurred on Friday, according to county officials.

The Douglas County appraiser said a software glitch from a newer vendor for the department had led to assessments being sent out without calculating the homestead exemptions.

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Homestead exemptions are a way for homeowners to save $2,000 when paying property taxes in Georgia, which is normally deducted from the 40% assessed value of a homestead and typically used for paying county and school taxes.

While 54,000 assessments were sent out, the software glitch led to 15,000 incorrect assessments received by paper mail, meaning that exemptions was not included when calculating their tax bills.

Officials said Tuesday that while the mailed-in copies were incorrect, the system had already been adjusted and online versions of tax assessments were corrected.

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Error notices are now being sent out to those impacted, according to the Appraisal Department.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this technical error has caused,” Douglas County Chief Appraiser Steve Balfour said. “We are working diligently to notify the impacted property owners and remain committed to not only making this right, but making our team available to address any questions, issues, or concerns in an expeditious manner.”

The Douglas County Tax Commissioner’s website lists two multi-thousand dollar amounts saved by filing a homestead exemption on their site, but it was not immediately clear if they are both included.

Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the commissioner’s office for clarification.

The department said that if a property owner wants to check their correct assessment, including their Homestead Exemption, they can call the Douglas County Appraisal Department at 770-920-7728.

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