Representatives of the Barrow County Appraisal Staff are reviewing and inspecting properties throughout all of Barrow County. The process began the week of Oct. 19, 2009.

The Barrow County Board of Assessors must notify property owners prior to making a site visit, in accordance with Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 48-5-264.1).

Initial site visits will include properties which are the subject of an active building permit (from Jan. 1, 2009 forward) for changes and improvements which have been made to the property, building permits which are dated prior to Jan. 1, 2009 for changes and improvements which have been made to the property, field reviews for properties that have not acquired permits, yet have made changes and improvements to the property and other reasons deemed necessary to make an appraisal for fair market value.

These appraisal reviews will include all classes of property and may involve measuring structures, listing construction information and photographing property and/or immprovements.

The majority of these field reviews will take place between October 2009 and May 2010. All staff members performing, site visit inspections are issued and will be wearing a Barrow County identification badge.

For more information or if there is any question about the identity of the appraiser/data collector or staff member or the purpose of the on-site inspection, contact the Assessors’ office at (770) 307-3108.

Between now and May, initial site visits will be made in the following areas:

• Western Barrow County, Auburn, Carl and Braselton

• Central Barrow County, Bethlehem and Winder

• Eastern Barrow County and Statham

Refer to the following websites for the most current information: www.qpublic.net or www.barrowga.org

The Appraiser/Data Collector does not set values at the time of the visit and will only gather the necessary property information needed to determine the fair market value at a later date.

Collecting this information typically does not require access to the interior of the home or business. but on occasion it may be necessary to determine accurate appraisal information.