Important Notice to Laurens County Taxpayers in Fountain Inn
September 18, 2024
City of Fountain Inn residents and businesses with properties located in Laurens County need to be aware that their property tax bill’s LOST Tax Credit will decrease when they receive their 2024 Tax Notice this fall, resulting in a seeming increase in property taxes due. This has been caused by a mathematical error at the Laurens County Auditor’s office on 2023 tax bills which created an artificial and miscalculated decrease in property taxes last year. For 2024 taxes, the miscalculation will be rectified, but the realized impact on taxpayers will be an increase over last year’s tax bill.
This should apply only to properties inside the city limits of Fountain Inn and also in Laurens County.
After much due diligence, the City of Fountain Inn has determined, and confirmed, that the miscalculation was made by the Laurens County Auditor’s office during the processing of 2023 property tax notices.
The increase for 2024 is due to a miscalculation of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) credit “factor” on the previous year’s, 2023, tax bill.
The LOST credit is provided to all Laurens County property holders under state law as a proportionate property tax relief based on the collection of a sales tax enacted a number of years ago. The amount of the credit varies between properties and is based on the appraised (not assessed) value of each property. However, the “factor” (or “ratio”) used is the same for each property. It is this “factor” that was incorrectly calculated by the Laurens County Auditor’s office and then applied to property tax bills in the city limits of Fountain Inn by the Laurens County Auditor’s office in 2023.
The amount of increase property owners can expect will vary based on that owner’s property’s appraised value. The City of Fountain Inn has ensured that tax notices for 2024 will include a LOST Credit in line with historic rates.
For property owners who escrow their mortgage payments, the Laurens County’s Auditor’s error likely caused an adjustment to escrow payments in the calendar year 2024, which may have resulted even in a refund, but which may likely cause an increase to payments in 2025. Please consult your mortgage company for more information.
Due to this miscalculation of the 2023 tax notices, the Laurens County Treasurer did not collect or remit to the City of Fountain Inn over $400,000 in the last completed fiscal year.
The City of Fountain Inn has attempted to work with the Laurens County Auditor and Treasurer offices to identify a solution to rectify the issue created by this error and which would not cause additional financial burdens on taxpayers. The City will continue to explore and offer solutions in an attempt to avoid impacting our taxpayers in the hopes of finding an amicable solution. However, at this time, no such solution has been agreed to by the Auditor’s and Treasurer’s offices.
For questions, please contact the Laurens County Auditor’s office Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
Phone 864-984-2535
Email – Jim Coleman [email protected]
Email – Jewel Hollingsworth [email protected]
