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.
Smoke & Mirrors SC Top fanJanuary 10, 2024 at 12:44 pm
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.
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.