Questions Raised about Wakulla County TRIM Notices

{sidebar id=1}Dear Editor,

When I received my Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice from our Property Appraiser, Mr. Donnie Sparkman, I noticed that the assessed value of my home had been calculated using the maximum allowable increase of three percent (3%) as opposed to the correct percentage of 2.5% (Source Department of Revenue, Property Tax Administration Bulletin PTA-PA07-02 issued January 18, 2007.

It is bad enough that the notices were late coming out this year, but the fact is that Mr. Sparkman wasted thousands of taxpayers’ dollars by sending out incorrect notices. It is distressing that Mr. Sparkman, who promised to lower our taxes, has wasted our tax dollars in this fashion.

This may have even more dire consequences. Did Mr. Sparkman give the correct amount of assessed values to be used by Wakulla County and Wakulla County School Board in their budget preparation? Does this mean that the County and School Board budgets need to be reduced by the amount that Mr. Sparkman over-assessed our taxable values?

I would urge each and every homesteaded property owner in Wakulla County to carefully check their tax bill in November to ensure that Property Appraiser Donnie Sparkman is not increasing their tax burden through over-assessment of their homesteads.

Let’s make sure that Truth in Millage notices really tell the truth.

Respectfully submitted,

Anne Ahrendt
Crawfordville

This letter originally published on August 28, 2007.

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