A $16 million substation owned by the Georgia Power Company sits on Black Smith Road near the intersection with Bobby Pines Road. The office of assessors accidentally had an override in place on the property for an entire tax year.
 
Chief Tax Assessor Christopher Williams provided details. “We had an override on it until the digest was done, but we recently [have] taken the override off.”
 
Williams described what an override was. “A value put in that can’t be changed until you take the override off.” He told how the previous appraisers had put an override on the property. “I guess we couldn’t see that it needed to be taken off. . . but we found it and took it off.”
 
He explained why the override was placed on the property. “They were trying to do it until the digest got finished. Once you start the digest, and if you make any changes, it’ll kind of throw everything off.”
 
When asked if the override was taken off as soon as the digest was done, he replied: “It wasn’t taken off as soon as it was done, but it should’ve been.”
 
He gave a timeline, stating that the override was put on 2022. “So for the 2023 year it wasn’t. . . taken off, and then we took it off just recently.”
 
Williams mentioned that the override prevented changes in prices, even if other changes were made that would usually alter the value.
 
When asked if the override resulted in a significant amount of lost taxes, Williams replied that with the $16 million cost of the substation, it would have been “a good bit.”
 
He stated that he would have needed to put the numbers into the system to come up with the exact amount. “We’re not exactly sure how much money will be lost.”