Columbia County

I haven’t mentioned my dealings with the Columbia County Tax Assessment office here before, but the final resolution deserves a post.

You see, for the last 5 years I’ve been receiving in the mail each January an envelope with my name and address (in Smyrna) that documents the ownership of jet ski in Columbia County, Georgia.

Now I’ve driven through Augusta several times, eaten at a Waffle House there (I’m fairly certain) and I own a 2005 Masters hat my dad got me. He and my mom went to watch the practice rounds a few years back.

Other than those fleeting connections, I couldn’t care less about Columbia County.

But I kept getting this official statement in the mail. Not a bill or a “please remit” letter or anything that actually had my social security number, but documentation of a jet ski I’ve never owned in a county where I hold no property. Silly, innit?

So I did what any confused taxpayer would do: I called the county.

Time and time again (four, for those keeping track) I would get asked if I owned the jet ski or if I owned the property. Every time I would reply in the negative, the nice lady would tell me to shred the document and apologize for my inconvenience.

This time, however, was different. I got a no-nonsense gal who was determined to figure why, if I kept calling and my account noted the discrepancy, did I keep getting the mail.

She had things sorted out in a jiffy and told me Columbia County would never darken my mailbox again. Phew!

As a side note, jet skis apparently don’t incur ad valorem or other taxes in Columbia County, so it really was just a clerical error with no dire effects. They were sending me a copy for my records to show I owed nothing, which is true in two ways.

So there you have it. A minor annoyance settled easily after 5 years of semi-work and general laziness on the parts of everyone involved.

More boring stuff tomorrow. Promise.

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