The newest land tax rolls for LincolnCounty are prepared and able to be viewed by the public in thechancery clerk’s office of the Lincoln County-Brookhaven GovernmentComplex.

    Georgia Smith, of Brookhaven, can attest to the occasionalsignificance that making a special trip to the clerk’s office tocheck the land rolls can produce.

    Land owned by her, across the street from her residence, has beencategorized in previous years as a tree farm. However, in 2010,half of it was incorrectly assessed as commercial property becauseof the addition of some new commercial buildings constructedadjacent to the 16-acre plot of pines.

    Smith approached the board of supervisors Monday to address thesituation, which is currently being mended.

    Lincoln County Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop said cases like thesituation Smith found herself in are sparse.

    “There are some objections,” Bishop said. “And the board looks intothe ones that have legitimate concerns.”

    Bishop’s opinion is that not many people concern themselves toomuch with the tax rolls.

    “We have some people come in, but not many,” Bishop said.

    Bishop explained the importance of checking the rolls lies in themillage rates of each assessment.

    “The assessor’s valuation of property is important because it’stied to the millage rate,” Bishop said. “The millage rateessentially tells you the dollar amount of taxation on yourproperty.”

    This means people like Smith can go see if the tax assessor’soffice fairly evaluated their property and determine what amounttheir land will be taxed.

    Millage rates for previous years are also available for people tocompare to the current numbers.

    “It gives you an idea of what the county has assessed the propertyfor, whether it’s commercial use, agriculture use, or residentialuse,” Bishop said.

    Lincoln County Tax Assessor/Collector Nancy Jordan presented thesupervisors with the property tax rolls on July 5. The boardapproved acceptance and now the general public can view the rollsuntil final approval by the board in August.