Baldwin County requested a performance evaluation from the Georgia Department of Revenue for the Baldwin County Tax Assessor’s (BCTA) office. The 74-page document was released to the The Baldwin Bulletin Jan. 22 for review.
Georgia Revenue Commissioner Frank O’Connell appointed a performance review board (PRB) to conduct the review, including Compliance Specialist III of the Local Government Services Division of the Georgia Department of Revenue Ben Pop, Chief Appraiser of Augusta-Richmond County Scott Rountree, and Chief Appraiser for Columbia County Morgan Aune. The review officially began June 16, 2025.
The review investigated the Baldwin County Board of Tax Assessors’ actions and appraisal staff in regard to “technical competency of appraisal techniques and compliance with state law and regulations.” The full report includes evaluations, judgement, and recommendations.
The PRB identified three primary areas of concern in its review, discerned through the summation of reference statements from interviews with officials and employees. The statements were only referenced if, “they were made by multiple indiudals, were relevant, and were supported by facts gathered during the review.”
In 2012, commissioners voted to implement Tyler Technologies, originally used for the county’s financial and utility billings. In 2016, former Baldwin County Finance Director and Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson proposed a second phase implementation of the software to be used for assessments in the BCTA office for billings and collections. Hudson stated that it would streamline the process to transfer from WinGAP Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) System to a Tyler Technologies CAMA System.
“No evidence was discovered to indicate that Hudson or any other county officials discussed or consulted the BCBTA prior to making the decision to transition,” states the report. “This is significant because Tyler Technologies’ iasWorld software is sophisticated, technical, and costly compared to WinGAP. While both fulfill the purpose of mass appraisal for ad valorem taxation, each CAMA software differs significantly … these differences require extensive training for staff to achieve proficiency in iasWorld.”
Based on PRB interviews, appraisal staff struggled with the transition and “neither Baldwin County Chief Appraiser Wade Williams, Hudson, or Tyler Technologies were able to provide information regarding the amount of training that occurred prior to the ultimate utilization.”
Reported interviews indicated that prior to utilization, training sessions consisted of basic instructional presentations rather than hands-on training.
“In 2019, after the software conversion was complete and in-office software utilization had commenced, additional remote and in-person training sessions were provided by Tyler Technologies’ staff. Despite this, based on PRB interviews, Williams and members of the appraisal staff continued to demonstrate a significant lack of understanding of the new CAMA system and its core valuation functions,” states the report. “The PRB noticed the lack of understanding still remains as of the time of this report.”
The report notes that multiple counties across the state use the same CAMA system without significant difficulties after training and an initial transition period.
Baldwin County’s inadequate pre-and-post conversion led to the county’s lack of technical fluency.
“Based on interviews, the PRB discovered that Williams underutilizes additional administrative support by the Board of Commissioners.
Specifically, a quality control database administrator who has extensive experience with the iasWorld platform was hired … prior to the PRB review. This administrator’s role is to provide support to both the BCBTA and the tax commissioner's office,” states the report. “The administrator receives most of his requests for assistance from the tax commissioner’s office. Furthermore, he expressed a willingness to aid the assessors’ office on multiple occasions; however, the chief appraiser declined, claiming the office was able to manage matters without assistance.”
PRB also received multiple complaints on Williams for not responding to emails and phone calls in a timely manner, arriving late to work and leaving early, Williams reporting and approving his own time, and that he has not provided direct answers to taxpayers’ questions leading to concerns not being properly addressed.
Overall, the PRB reported receiving “mixed evaluations regarding Williams” with these problems being noted but other employees complimenting him as a manager.
In conclusion of the primary areas of concern, the PRB concluded, “The application of the date entry in iasWorld is inconsistent within the BCBTA’s office. Discrepancies in data entry within the software used by the chief appraiser and appraisal staff have hindered the quality control database administrator’s ability to assist in answering questions of other departments and taxpayers. Not having a cohesive standard for system operation further illustrates issues with William’s engagement as a leader, giving limited instructional and managerial support to staff.”
While the report details recommendations and evaluations in more detail by the section, the majority of recommendations advise further training and submitting things by deadline and recommend different times of notice based on the area of review to ensure citizens are notified and aware.
As of the newspaper’s deadline, where to access the full report had yet to be released, but the full report will be posted to the public.