Chief appraiser Chris Williams has commented further on the Georgia Power substation built on Blacksmith Road in Leslie Georgia; “The parcel that the substation was built upon was the result of a split from a parcel owned by Americus Solar LLC. In 2022, Americus Solar LLC gave Georgia Power 69.84 acres from 152 Bobby Hines Drive (parcel 1514 81 1). A new parcel was created for Georgia Power at 0 Blacksmith Road (parcel U 1 116). Americus Solar had previously taken out a permit for $2.1 million in November of 2020. The permit was closed March 29, 2022. We have no other permits for 152 Bobby Hines Road nor 0 Blacksmith Road. Parcel U 1 116 was created in 2022. A manual override containing a small value was put on it until the digest was completed in 2022.”

Williams explains further; “we tract new construction based on permits submitted to Code Enforcement. We do not receive utility permits; the Georgia Department of Revenue does. Therefore, if there was a $16 million permit taken out, it would not come to the Sumter County Board of Assessors. We are in contact with the GDOR concerning this, but we do not have anything to report yet. We cannot determine if there is a loss of revenue until we get clarification from the GDOR.”