During the citizens’ comments portion of the Spalding County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday and after listening to a presentation on the proposed blight tax, she told commissioners “the main problem we have is collecting taxes in the first place.”
Dorton said a lot of people in Spalding County owe taxes and many properties are being assessed higher than they should be.
She also asked why there are not more tax sales for properties with delinquent taxes in the county.
Spalding County Tax Commissioner Sylvia Hollums said “it takes at least three months to get a property on tax sales.”
Hollums also said there is a substantial amount of property in the county in bankruptcy.
“We can’t do anything with it until the bankruptcy is resolved,” she said.
She also said if the property is owned by a failed bank, “the FDIC says we can’t sell it,” unless the bank’s assets and debts are assumed by another bank.
Hollums said while there have not been as many tax sales over the summer, “we are having quite frequent tax sales, with one every month now.”
The next sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Spalding County Courthouse door.
There are 55 properties for sale for back taxes from the years 2009 and 2010, with another two for back taxes from 2007 to 2010.
These were listed in the Aug. 19 legals section of The Griffin Daily News.
There were also nine pages of foreclosures listed in the Aug. 19 legals section.
As for successfully appealing my property taxes, I am still waiting for an answer from the tax office.