Those people in the neon green vests are government employees reviewing all 34,000 parcels in Troup County.

The review, which started last week in the Hogansville area, will last an estimated 18 months to two years to correct errors in the county’s property records and identify any new development that hasn’t gone through the regular permitting process.

“We want everyone’s value to be as close as possible to fair market value and ensure our data is accurate,” chief appraiser Dana Eaton said.

County Manager Mike Dobbs said the green vests are “great for identification. It’s a move we should have made years ago.”

The appraisers and data collectors also will have photo identification badges and appropriately marked vehicles. They will be measuring, taking photos and verifying data, among other things that don’t require entry into the home or business.

If the owner happens to be around, the workers will ask a few questions to verify property data. If not, they’ll leave a brief questionnaire on the door that can be returned to the appraisal office.

A new state law freezes tax appraisals at 2008 levels through 2012, but new construction can be added to the tax digest as well as values that change because of data errors. The legislature exempted its own 0.25-mill share of tax revenues from the freeze.

“Some values will go up (because of the review) and some will come down based on conditions and how it was assessed before,” said Dan Smith, the county’s new commercial and industrial appraiser who will help with residential properties during the review.

Smith, who has done work for Wilkes and Lamar counties, as well as real estate and mortgage companies, was recommended for the Troup County job by the state Department of Revenue.

The county had experienced problems getting updated values on a Web site that was maintained by a private company. The county has contracted with another company, Binarybus of Atlanta, to maintain and host the Web site, property.troupcountyga. org.

Other features such as improved search functions, property photos, interactive maps and aerial photography will be added later.

The county also has just converted to WinGAP appraisal software that already was used in nearly every other Georgia county.

When people get their tax bills this month, they “should be able to pull up their property and see the same value” that’s in county records, said impact fee administrator Scott Turk. He said the property can be searched by the owner’s name, address or parcel number.

“It sounds like you’re making a lot of significant progress in that area,” Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe said at last week’s County Commission meeting.

Dobbs also gave credit to Board of Assessors Chairman Wayne Bartley.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.