MACON, Ga. — A Bibb County homeowner says she realized that for the past 10 years, she has been paying taxes to the wrong county. She says she's confused, but Jones County says there's a good explanation.
Shurlena Hargrove has lived in her Bibb-County home for more than 10 years. She purchased the house in 2012 with her daughter who is now deceased.
"My daughter found this house and said, 'Ma, you want this house?' I told her, 'Yeah,'" Hargrove says.
She believed she lived in Jones County until 2022.
"Bibb County sent me a tax paper saying I had to pay them," Hargrove says, "But I'm already paying Jones County."
Hargrove says for the past 10 years or so she's paid her taxes to Jones County, not Bibb.
"Jones County always sent me a tax letter saying, 'Hey, you owe us $642 every year," Hargrove says.
Hargrove's home sits directly on the county line.
She recently got a notice stating that her home is in Bibb County and she would have to pay her taxes to them only.
"Bibb ensured me my house was sitting on Bibb all along," Hargrove says.
Bill Goodman at the Jones County Tax Assessors Office sent documents from Macon-Bibb showing that Hargrove will pay her property taxes to them, because she is registered in Bibb for her vehicle tag, homestead, and other utilities.
He also sent documents from 2004 stating that 60% of the property taxes would go to Jones County, and the rest to Bibb since the house is on the line.
But Goodman says that agreement with the previous owner has expired and now all the taxes will go to Bibb.
Here's the catch -- Hargrove didn't live in the home in 2004.
"I think they should reimburse me my money. That's what they should do, but he said I had to pay taxes somewhere."
Hargrove says she will continue to look for solutions to get her money back from Jones County.
Hargrove says she's also paying less in property taxes after being transferred to Bibb County because she qualified for the homestead tax deduction.
We reached out to the Bibb County Tax Assessors Office. They couldn't give us a statement regarding the matter.