Now is the time for Warren County residents to start thinking about December.

Not yuletide bells and mistletoe, but property tax bills.

Warren County supervisors accepted and sifted through property tax rolls from Tax Assessor Richard Holland last week, checking for uniformity between assessments and value.

All property owners get 30 days in August to challenge the assessor’s calculations, with a public hearing set just weeks before the 2006-07 budget is adopted in September. Usually set for the first Monday in August, the hearing is the prime time for residents to air their concerns about what their property taxes are. Supervisors, however, still expect mostly just familiar faces.

&#8220We’ve gotten about six to eight people at the objection hearings,” District 5 Supervisor Richard George said.

As for the value of property in Warren County, Holland said true values from the rolls of real and personal property will reflect a 3.5 percent increase over last year – the fourth consecutive increase of at least 3 percent.

&#8220It’s pretty close to what we run every year,” Holland said, adding that the 11,443 applications for homestead exemptions received thus far are also the norm for this point in the fiscal year.

Exact numbers show rolls grew from $2,817,838,848 in 2005 to $2,915,314,280 in 2006.

Of that, land rolls made up $2,153,314,280. Personal property comprised $762,040,696.

Holland credited this year’s growth to home sales, which in recent years here has grown most dramatically in the $100,000-to-$150,000 range.

&#8220What the properties are selling for is what we go by,” Holland said, &#8220and if they are selling for 20 percent above market value, then we have to adjust the valuation.”

The state mandates 25 percent of the county be reappraised each year and the higher values mean more money for the county and school treasuries without changing the tax rate, which supervisors have the authority to do.

On homestead property, parcels are assessed at 10 percent of the true value. On all other property, including commercial, agricultural and rental, it is assessed at 15 percent. Tax bills result from multiplying that figure by the millage rate, currently 83.94 mills.

However, the state does not specify which sections of a county should be reappraised and what the rotation should be. Last year, the bulk of the reappraisals were done in the southeastern portion of the county.

This year, the reappraisals covered a swath of about 7,000 properties mainly in the northern half of the county, including Eagle Lake, Oak Ridge and Openwood Plantation.

The only area within city limits reappraised was the Kings community, but much of the city will likely be in next year’s portion, Holland said.

Once the process of approving tax rolls goes through the objection phase and the budget is set using those projections, growth can be even more.

&#8220It could go to four or five,” county administrator John Smith said, adding that about $500,000 in extra tax money can be expected from a 3.5 percent jump.

Last year, money from a 4.6 percent increase in tax revenue wasn’t enough to head off a millage increase, most of which went to pay for upgrades in public safety including emergency dispatch and courthouse security.

&#8220Hopefully, that growth will be enough. My goal is to not raise the millage this year,” Smith said.