MURFREESBORO, TN (WSMV) -
The government is actually giving back more than $1 million to taxpayers.
It's happening in Rutherford County after a change in command at the tax assessor's office.
Former property assessor Bill Boner was a controversial figure in Rutherford County.
There were allegations of sexual harassment in the office. There was the fact he took dozens of farms off Greenbelt status.
His replacement Rob Mitchell said he was going to take a fresh look at everything.
Now here we are less than two months into it and Rutherford County is the "Rebate Capitol of the State."
The numbers kept coming in. Smyrna and LaVergne were two cities the property assessor's office said were overvalued by a whopping 10 percent.
Mitchell said it's time to stop fighting with people and be fair.
"You just go ahead and settle and don't put it off until later. You make sure the numbers are right," said Mitchell. "The numbers are coming back, and we're simply paying the bill. The bill has come due and we're getting the values correct. The people who are owed money back are getting their money back, just like they should."
Mitchell's predecessor Boner took many farms off the Greenbelt.
Mitchell has spent much of his first two months putting many of those farms back on farm discount status, which has cost the county money.
The county has refunded $1.25 million to taxpayers already, and there are still hundreds of appeals pending.
One still pending is in Rockvale where a husband and wife serve as farrier and trainer, yet the farm was removed from the Greenbelt list.
"All I have to do is tell them to come out here," said landowner Becky Fisher. "There are 30 horses out here. How can you tell us this is not a horse farm?"
With less conflict between property owners and the assessor's office, productivity has skyrocketed.
Mitchell said his office completed 4,500 assessments in the last month. In Boner's last month, less than 1,700 assessments were completed.
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