Real property assessments, which are for land and structures such as houses or businesses, were mailed out this week by the Cherokee County Tax Assessor's office. Residents have 45 days to appeal the assessment.
The office sent out just over 94,000 real property assessments this year, about the same number it sent out last year.
More than 82,000 of those assessments went down in value, according to John Adams, chief appraiser for the county. Last year, about 78,000 property owners saw a decrease in their property's value.
The gross value of all real property in the county this year is just under $7.4 billion, according to Adams, dropping from just over $8 billion last year. He said foreclosures and bank sales are having a large influence on the digest.
"Most all of those are for less than it would have sold," he said of the bank sales. "There is an overabundance of foreclosures and bank sales. Those are just dragging down the whole market."
Adams said the entire digest is down about 8 percent from last year. He said some areas of the county saw a small increase, between 4 and 6 percent. Other areas dropped as much as 15 to 20 percent.
"It depends on how many bank sales and foreclosures and good sales there were in the area," he said.
During its meeting last week, the Cherokee County School Board heard an update from Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo about the impact the drop in the digest will have. Petruzielo said the drop in the digest would result in more than a $12 million drop for the school district, though that number likely will be greater since it assumes a 100 percent collection rate.
"A more realistic revenue projection for the school district is an overall local funding decrease of $15 million," he said in a statement to the board.
Buzz Ahrens, chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, said the county was expecting a drop in the digest.
"Our bracket was 7 to 10 percent," he said. "This is no surprise. It actually could have been a lot worse."
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