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Some Lowcountry, South Carolina homeowners may be in for a shock when their property taxes are calculated. And unless homeowners in Beaufort County apply for an exemption by January 16, 2024 (next Tuesday) they could see the amount owed on their bills increase significantly.
If they are unable to pay the tax on time, a penalty would drive their bill even higher. Also, since notices are not sent out in accordance with the county code, they may not realize they need to apply until it is too late.
The “legal residence special assessment” is part of state law. It reduces the property tax calculation for qualified homeowners – i.e. those who occupy the property being assessed – from 6 percent to 4 percent. While a two percent discount might seem slim, the assessment often translates into thousands of dollars.
However, some residents could wind up with a tax bill that is higher than anticipated because they missed the deadline to apply. And since the burden to apply for the special assessment belongs to the homeowner, they may not be aware of the need to apply.
While the administration of the exemption is handled differently from one county to the next, sources tell FITSNews recent changes in Beaufort County could create a difficult and unexpected situation for homeowners.
In a departure from its previous policy, county government will not be granting taxpayers a grace period while their applications are pending.
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Anytime the title to a property changes, the property tax bill is recalculated. The special assessment does not transfer with the title, meaning homeowners must apply for the exemption in order to receive it. The sale of a home – or the death of a spouse or co-owner – are two examples of times when a deed changes. It may not be obvious to a new owner or a bereaved spouse that they need to re-apply to continue to receive the discount.
The Beaufort County code identifies the properties subject to re-application this way: “Parcels previously qualified as legal residences and agricultural lands that were conveyed to new owners by deed, will, or administration during the previous year.”
The county ordinance calls for a notice to be sent to homeowners in this situation alerting them so they can take action prior to the deadline. Sources tell FITSNews homeowners have never been issued such a letter.
As of last Friday, the county is no longer giving applicants the benefit of time to resolve the issue while their application is being reviewed. For the past two years, the county has extended waivers to homeowners who filed applications that had not yet been reviewed by the county. About 92 percent of applications for the special assessment are approved. Nonetheless, this waiver is no more. Even with a pending application, prior to its approval, taxes are due.
Homeowners are now faced with the choice of paying the higher amount up front – and hoping for a refund – or facing a penalty as high as 15 percent for paying late.
“Submitting this application does not delay the payment of taxes that are billed,” the application stated. “Penalties and interest will not be waived. You will only be notified if your application is denied.”
It is possible for residents to receive a refund of their property tax overpayment if their request for an exemption is approved post-deadline – but that approval process can take months.
Without the exemption, homeowners with mortgages may find themselves in an even more difficult situation that could translate into a significant increase in their monthly mortgage payments when their lien holders make adjustments to accommodate the unexpected increase in taxes.
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RELATED | BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOLS’ BAD MATH
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Homeowners who are trying to sell their property could also be in for an unpleasant surprise. Much to the dismay of those in real estate, the administration of the special assessment can potentially hold up or interfere with the sale of a property – because the assessment can be adjusted or “re-billed” – and that does carry over from one owner to the next.
“Just you wait until you get a surprise bill from the government,” said Heather Nix – whose Beaufort County real estate client got caught up in the red tape. “This is scary. And the fact that ‘re-bills’ can be issued from years ago and previous ownerships – should piss you off. It’s not right. As of now – my client has to pay north of $6,000 or else she cannot sell her home. It’s BS. I didn’t even know that “re-bills” were “a thing”. And from various conversations I’ve had over the last six days or so….a lot of others didn’t know they existed either.”
Nix made her comments on social media and FITSNews reached out to her for permission to use them.
“From now on – prior to closing on a home – I encourage everyone to take themselves up to the assessors office and have them run a search on the property as well as the names of everyone attached to the property at least ten years preceding,” Nix said. “And make sure current owners are claiming accurate tax rate. It’s a shame that level of due diligence is necessary but you just can’t be too careful and obviously there are cases where debts can be buried in their county portal and overlooked in title searches by outsourced companies hired by attorneys.”
Until there is a change in the system, Nix said “the seller is on the hook and if she wants to close tomorrow – she has to pay someone else’s taxes.”
FITSNews reached out to Beaufort County assessor Ebony Sanders for comment, but received no response before publication.
The legal residence assessment application for homeowners in Beaufort County is available on the assessor’s page of the county website. It is an online application that requires homeowners to download their documentation. The deadline to apply for the assessment is January 16, 2024.
Update: The article was updated to correct a discrepancy about notices for homeowners.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher, and author whose investigative work can be found in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world – most recently in the Parisian newspaper Le Monde and a German documentary for ProSieben. Lyons also appears in Citizen Sleuth – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
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2 comments
Beaufort County is an absolute train wreck, but someone has to pay for all the grift, like weighted blankets and positions being created for people the County Administrator wants to sex up. I appealed my tax bill and was denied. My house is completely overvalued. Schools want more money as well even though they have seen a decrease in student numbers.
Something is amiss with SC’s property records, seemingly within both the Register of Deeds and County Assessor’s Offices. I have continued to notice this over several months within more than a few Lowcountry counties. Of note, Horry County’s Online Deed Search, which used to provide easily accessible image downloads of filed mortgages and other documents has been curiously inaccessible for months now with no clear explanation. If you want to view a file, you have to go to Conway Courthouse. Only the bare bones of information is provided online, such as the file location and filling date. What precipitated the need to take these off the web from public access? Looking at Georgetown just yesterday, it was announced that this year’s property tax deadline has been moved to February 15th. The reason? A vague reference to “software issues.” One cannot help but wonder if those very issues are lingering repercussions, not to mention vulnerabilities, of the county-wide cyber security breach in 2021. I recall that even the Sheriff’s Office was without their computer systems due to this massive attack. We are told only that private employee information has been compromised, and that the public appears to have been spared from the bad actors. How much faith can we put in that? I remain greatly concerned with how the public is left again and again to pick up the pieces of time, money, and mental wherewithal of these “oversights”. The extent of the data breach in Georgetown (and perhaps beyond) and the financial ramifications of it on taxpayers remain brushed under the rug, joining other matters that require more than a band-aid of a cure from those pulling the strings. Hear me out: I’m all for giving homeowners proper time and proper notice for reconciling any tax issues this year and any other hereafter. However, I’m afraid this mess has been stewing for at least 2 decades in our state, and whether families are granted an extension or not, they alone will be left to carry the consequences of the habitual negligence of so many broken systems throughout SC.