WINNSBORO – There’s good news about property values in Fairfield County. Most properties in the county have increased in value since the last reassessment in 2020, according to Fairfield County Tax Assessor Guerry Hensley.
The bad news is, Hensley estimates that because of that increase in property values, most if not all properties in Fairfield will probably see a property tax increase.
Hensley spoke to county council Monday night, explaining what county residents can expect in the coming year in regard to tax increases.
“Mr. Killian asked me to talk about the reassessment process for 2025,” Hensley said. “The Tax Assessors office is required by state statute to do a reassessment of all properties in the county once every five years. Right now, we’re in the process of evaluating property sales and development. We’re updating all our cost tables and land values. We’ll update those based on prior year sales, so we go back three to four years to analyze sales and kind of update ourselves on that,” Hensley said. “The most weight is placed on the last three years.
“When properties were last reassessed in 2019-20, values were really low then,” he said. “Sales were almost non-existent back then. Sales are really good in Fairfield now, so I can tell you that most values are going to increase.”
Hensley said, on the bright side, there is a 15 percent cap in place for those who qualify, so if in 2024 a property was valued at $100,000 and in 2025 it’s valued at $250,000, that taxable value is only going to be $115,000 if the property owner otherwise qualifies for the cap.
“Right now, we’re out and about measuring all new construction, so you’re going to be seeing us out around the county. We hope to have the assessments finished by end of June. The evaluations will then be sent to the state for certification which should only take a week or so for them to complete. Then we’ll be sending notices out to property owners in Fairfield, and the appeal process will begin,” Hensley said. “Citizens have 90 days to appeal valuations, and all taxpayers have a right to appeal valuations that they feel are incorrect.”
Hensley estimates that, because of the increase in sales figures since the last assessment in 2020, valuations will probably go up for all properties, with a 15% cap in place.