The Forsyth County Board of Tax Assessors on Thursday discussed requests from taxpayers for refunds, ending conservation use and combining properties with a covenant.
During its meeting, the board denied a request to refund property taxes beyond the three years allowed by state law for a lakefront homeowner who had a dock permit on a non-neighboring parcel.
The northeast Forsyth home had been appraised with the value of the dock, which wasn’t on that tax parcel, explained Tax Assessor Mary Kirkpatrick.
Assessors dropped the $240,000 value set in 2004 to $75,000, but the state law allows refunds only up to three years.
Based on the statute and the unique circumstance with the dock on a separate site, the board denied the request for refunds prior to 2009 in a 4-0 vote, with member Ken Leach absent.
Also during its meeting Thursday, the board:
• Approved a correction that drops the value of a 21-acre property on the Chattahoochee River from nearly $1.6 million to about $390,000.
The lowered value was based on the agricultural use and the inability to develop the site, as well as a flowage easement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
• Allowed the termination of a conservation use covenant for a 27.5-acre parcel on Matt Highway near John Burruss Road.
The early termination of the 10-year covenant without penalties is allowed by law because the property had been in at least three years of a renewal covenant and at least one owner was older than 65.
• Tabled a request to combine a property receiving a residential transitional covenant with a neighboring parcel in Cumming. The board would not approve the request without a field check of the site.
Board denies tax refund request

