Lee County agricultural land values could rise 83% as new assessments near mailing

LEESBURG — Lee County property owners could see significant changes in assessed values this year as county officials move forward with a comprehensive revaluation of residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural properties.

During a work session Tuesday, Terry McCormick of McCormick Solutions provided the Lee County Board of Commissioners with an update on the county’s 2026 tax digest and ongoing reappraisal efforts.

McCormick said his firm is currently reviewing increase-and-decrease lists for all property classes and making adjustments in accordance with the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Appraisal Procedures Manual.

“We’re in the process of doing the edits following the guidelines for each area in the state’s appraisal procedures manual,” McCormick told commissioners.

The review comes as Lee County continues to recover from a tax digest error discovered earlier this year that resulted in approximately $1.5 million in excess ad valorem taxes being collected. County officials have since approved corrected PT-32 forms, lowered millage rates and begun issuing refund checks to affected taxpayers.

While discussing the current revaluation process, McCormick noted that commercial and agricultural property assessments present unique challenges because of the limited number of recent sales available for comparison.

“There are limited samples to draw from,” McCormick said, noting the county had approximately 10 commercial sales and 12 agricultural sales available for analysis, leading them to take the previous three years of sales records into account. 

Despite the limited data, preliminary figures indicate substantial increases in assessed values across several property categories.

According to McCormick, residential properties are projected to see an overall gross increase of approximately 6%.

Commercial and industrial properties are expected to increase by roughly 20%, while agricultural land values could rise by as much as 83%.

McCormick said much of the agricultural increase is tied to properties enrolled in Georgia’s Conservation Use Value Assessment program, which provides preferential tax treatment for qualifying agricultural land. Under Georgia’s CUVA program, agricultural, forest, and environmentally sensitive lands are taxed based on their productivity rather than fair market value. 

The reassessment notices are expected to be mailed by June 19, pending scheduling by the county’s printing vendor.

Once notices are mailed, property owners will have an opportunity to review their assessments and appeal values if they believe they are inaccurate.

The update comes as county officials continue efforts to restore confidence in the property tax process following the rollback rate calculation error that led to widespread scrutiny of the county’s tax digest procedures.

Earlier this year, Lee County leaders and the Tax Commissioner’s Office approved a joint resolution adopting corrected rollback rates after a review conducted under Board of Tax Assessors Chairman Philip Husain identified irregularities in data used during the 2025 tax digest process.

Refund checks began being mailed in June and are being administered by the Lee County Tax Commissioner’s Office on behalf of participating local governments.

County officials said the ongoing revaluation effort is intended to ensure property values accurately reflect current market conditions and comply with state assessment standards ahead of preparation of the 2026 tax digest.