Archived story
As originally published
Habersham County’s Board of Assessors was told Feb. 25, 2025, that Jessica Romer had applied for tax-exempt treatment for parcel 039-036A and that the county attorney had recommended denying the request. The meeting minutes, however, do not record the board approving or rejecting the application.
The unanswered question matters because an exemption determination can decide whether a parcel is subject to property-tax assessment. For Romer and county taxpayers, the consequential action is a formal decision by the assessors—not the attorney’s recommendation by itself—on whether the parcel receives the requested treatment.
The matter reached the board after Romer submitted the application and staff referred it to the county attorney for review. The attorney returned a recommendation to deny it, placing the request before assessors at their Feb. 25 meeting; the minutes stop short of documenting what, if anything, the board did next.
Romer is the applicant seeking an exemption for parcel 039-036A. County staff handled the referral to the attorney, whose stated position was that the request should be denied. The Board of Assessors is the body discussed in the minutes, but those minutes do not attribute a position or final action to individual board members.
The application, staff referral and attorney recommendation are completed steps documented in the Feb. 25 minutes. A denial recommendation is not a recorded board denial, and no board approval is recorded either. The minutes also do not identify the parcel’s street address or explain the grounds Romer offered for tax-exempt status.
The next public indication of a resolution would be later Board of Assessors minutes or another official determination stating whether the request was approved or denied. Until such an action is recorded, it remains undecided whether parcel 039-036A will receive tax-exempt treatment.