Cullum v. Chatham County Board of Tax Assessors
Docket: A00A0776
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia; May 10, 2000; Georgia; State Appellate Court
Patricia Cullum appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Chatham County Board of Tax Assessors. The appeal follows the Board of Equalization's denial of Cullum's challenge to an increased appraised value of her property for 1998. Cullum contends that OCGA § 48-5-299 (c) prohibits the tax assessor from altering her property's value for two years because she had appealed the valuation in 1997. However, the statute specifies that only values established by appeals to the Board of Equalization or superior court are protected from change. Since Cullum's 1997 property value was not determined through such appeals—she accepted a reduced value following her appeal—the tax assessor was permitted to raise the appraised value for 1998. The Board notified Cullum of the increased value on July 2, 1998, and subsequent appeals to the Board of Equalization and superior court were unsuccessful. The superior court supported the Board's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Cullum's prior appeal did not invoke the protections of OCGA § 48-5-299 (c). The case emphasizes that the statute's clear language indicates its applicability only to reassessments affirmed by the Board of Equalization or superior court. The court affirmed the judgment, ruling that Cullum did not meet the statutory conditions that would prevent the tax assessor from changing her property's value.