Beaufort County South Carolina Property Tax Reassessment : Ensuring Your Tax Assessment Is Accurate

For the first time since 2018, Beaufort County has reassessed real estate and for many, this reassessment valuation has resulted in much higher property taxes owed annually. If you've gotten a bill from Beaufort County, South Carolina lately, you may wonder why it's much higher than last year.

For those of you with a subscription to the Island Packet, Mary Dimitrov wrote an interesting article on July 17th, 2023 concerning these changes, which can be accessed by clicking here: https://amp.islandpacket.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article277252083.html.

Information to appeal your tax assessment is included on your tax bill, and you must file a written notice to the Assessor's office within 90 days of receiving your assessment. The appeal must include why the new value is inaccurate, and needs to include supporting documentation for the appeal in the form of a recent sale contract, repair estimates, photos of your property, comparable sales in the area and/or a recent appraisal. You could also hire an real estate agent to provide you with a valuation at your own expense, but this supporting information must be dated after December 31st, 2022 to be considered in conjunction with your timely appeal by the Assessor's office. You can also file an appeal online, by clicking here: https://assessorforms.beaufortcountysc.gov/ITSupport/appeal-of-real-property.

There is a cap on residential tax rates despite the updated valuations, so a resident of Beaufort County taxes can only increase by 15%. For example, if Beaufort County residents Bob and Judy's owned a house that was valued at $100,000.00 in 2018, but was valued at $200,000 in this reassessment, the cap means that Bob and Judy will only be taxed on $115,000.00, not the $200,000.00.

If you are a resident and do not have the residential abatement, you can find the online application to reduce your taxes here: https://assessorforms.beaufortcountysc.gov/ITSupport/LegalResidence.