Property owners in Horry County may have noticed a change to their property taxes this year, and many are unhappy. 7,700 people have filed appeals on their property tax assessments since they were sent out in October.
The Horry County Auditor's office held a public hearing Monday night for anyone with questions on their tax assessment.
Since your property taxes will be based on your assessment value, officials were expecting a big turnout at the meeting. What they got instead was a little disappointing. Only a handful of property owners showed up to voice a complaint on tax assessments.
Mitchell Todd was one of them. "We had some concerns we were interested in on some business taxes we had. Hopefully everything is resolved," Todd said.
After so many complaints, the county's assessor, treasurer and auditor were surprised by the empty public hearing.
Some people have questioned how, in this economy, their values are higher this year than last.
"I got about 8 or 9 notices in the mail saying next year my taxes will be raised by 15 percent," Howard Hudson said.
Last year's tax bills were based on 2003 property values, but this year's bills were based on 2008 values. So while home prices have tanked recently, they may not have fallen back to 2003 values.
While not much was settled at the meeting, those who did attend found out how they can appeal their assessments. They have 30 more days to do so via an appeal form that's attached to the assessment they got in the mail or in person at the auditor's office.
