How Horry County’s property reassessment will affect your tax bill

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)– Property owners in Horry County should be on the lookout for reassessment notices in their mailboxes.

More than 250,000 notices have been mailed out as part of the county’s routine reassessment process, which occurs every five years to re-equalize property values.

Some homeowners are concerned that higher property values will lead to higher property taxes. However, county officials emphasized that this is a common misconception.

Horry County assessor Larry Roscoe said while property values in Horry County have indeed increased due to significant growth over the past five years, this does not necessarily translate to higher taxes.

“The most anyone would see could be a 15% increase,” Roscoe said. He added by law, when property values rise, the county must adjust the millage rate to prevent an increase in total tax revenue. “This helps ensure that changes in property values don’t unfairly burden taxpayers with higher bills.”

The millage rate, which is set annually by local authorities, is the rate at which property taxes are levied. It funds various public services such as police, fire departments, and public schools.

“The reassessment will bring up to the new market values, new assessed values, and the rollback is actually to equalize from prior to current year,” Horry County Finance Director Shannon Todd said.

Finalizing millage rates depends on municipalities setting their budgets first. Once they share these budget plans with the county, adjustments are made to the millage rates accordingly.

Roscoe said county council plans to finalize the new millage for unincorporated Horry County during the next council meeting. He shared a preliminary report on what the average increase could look like for property owners in unincorporated Horry County.

“About 75% of the homeowners in Horry County will see an increase, just on the real estate side of $200 or less, the vast majority of that being somewhere in that $40 to $60 range,” he said.

Horry County Administrator Barry Spivey said another thing to consider in the reassessment is that it combines all property types together.

“You may see a small increase on your real property, but you should see decreases on your personal property, which includes everything from your vehicle, camper, boats, business, personal property, those types of things,” Spivey said.

Spivey highlighted important exemptions and benefits:

“Anyone that is living in their residence as a primary residence, make sure that you have that exemption,” he said. “That is a huge exemption for our taxpayers, a direct benefit they receive and essentially removes the school district operating millage.”

How Reassessment Works

• Reassessment Process :
  • The county determines your property’s market value.
  • An assessment ratio is applied to calculate the assessed value.
  • This assessed value is then multiplied by the millage rate to determine the actual tax amount.
  For example, if your home is worth $125,000, multiplying this by the 4% assessment ratio gives an assessed value of $5,000. If the millage rate is 0.2162, your property tax would be $1,081.
• Adjusting the Millage Rate :
  • When property values rise, the county must adjust the millage rate to prevent an increase in total tax revenue.
  • This means that as property values go up, the millage rate is rolled back to balance the overall tax revenue.
• Millage Rate Explained :
  • The millage rate is set annually by local authorities and is used to fund various public services such as police, fire departments, and public schools.

Roscoe wants to remind property owners that the reassessment notices are not bills but notifications to review the new property values.

“Almost everybody in Horry County would have received an assessment notice. The state requires us to notify you if during a reassessment we are going to increase the value of your property by more than $1,000,” he said. “This is to bring the new value to your attention so you can review its reasonableness.”

If you believe your property assessment is too high, you can file an appeal within 90 days of receiving your reassessment notice.

Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here .

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