Responsibilities
The Auditor's office calculates millage to satisfy annual budget requirements for Charleston County, including 43 tax districts. In addition, this office calculates, creates and mails tax bills for real estate, mobile homes, motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft and business-owned personal property.
Duties
- Calculate, create and mail tax bills for all real and personal property
- Calculate and issue agricultural property tax rollback bills
- Process claims for tax refunds on real and personal property
- Process motor vehicle high-mileage and reappraisal appeals
- Process motor vehicle license plate returns and tax refunds
- Provide customer services at each Service Center
- Provide public access to and assistance with archival property records of real estate transactions and plat revisions
- Update and maintain records of all real and personal property
- Update and maintain archival records of all sales or conveyances of real property, including plat measurement changes
- Update and maintain current addresses of real estate property owners for tax billing
- Accept applications and qualify taxpayer requests for Homestead Exemptions on primary residences
- Assess business personal property, rental residential property, motor vehicles, boats and motors, and aircraft
- Qualify 4 percent assessment ratios for live-aboard boat owners claiming the boat as their primary residence
Contact
County Auditor
Phone: (843) 958-4200
Fax: (843) 958-4222
Real/Personal Property Fax: (843) 958-4234
Personal Property: PersonalProperty@CharlestonCounty.org
Motor Vehicle: MotorVehicle@CharlestonCounty.org
Watercraft: Watercraft@CharlestonCounty.org
Real Property: RealProperty@CharlestonCounty.org
Office Hours: M – F | 8:30AM – 5PM
Related Information
Duties
- Calculate, create and mail tax bills for all real and personal property
- Calculate and issue agricultural property tax rollback bills
- Process claims for tax refunds on real and personal property
- Process motor vehicle high-mileage and reappraisal appeals
- Process motor vehicle license plate returns and tax refunds
- Provide customer services at each Service Center
- Provide public access to and assistance with archival property records of real estate transactions and plat revisions
- Update and maintain records of all real and personal property
- Update and maintain archival records of all sales or conveyances of real property, including plat measurement changes
- Update and maintain current addresses of real estate property owners for tax billing
- Accept applications and qualify taxpayer requests for Homestead Exemptions on primary residences
- Assess business personal property, rental residential property, motor vehicles, boats and motors, and aircraft
- Qualify 4 percent assessment ratios for live-aboard boat owners claiming the boat as their primary residence
Online Services
Common Terms
- Ad Valorem Tax:
- Latin for "toward value". A tax imposed on properties in proportion to their values. The most common are the ad valorem taxes imposed on real and personal property which are based on the assessed or appraised values.
- Appraised Value:
- Also known as fair or true market value, it is the actual market value of a property.
- Assessed Value:
- The appraised value of a property multiplied by its assessment ratio
- Assessment Ratio:
- The ratio applied to the appraised value of property depending on the use of the property. Assessment ratio qualifications are set forth by state law.
- Levy:
- To impose or collect.
- Millage Rate:
- The ratio used to determine the individual tax to be levied on a property. A mill is equivalent to 1/1000 of a dollar. For example, if the millage rate is 200 mills and the assessed value of a property is $1,000, the tax on that property is $200.
- Personal Property:
- This category includes motor vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, and business personal property.
- Property Tax Relief:
- An exemption from school operating millage received on your primary legal residence.
- Real Property:
- More widely known as real estate, it includes land, buildings, and mobile homes.
Interesting Facts
- The Auditor's office calculates and mails over 500,000 tax bills every year.
- The Auditor's downtown office maintains records for over 186,000 parcels of real property, 252,000 motor vehicles, 36,000 watercraft, 200 aircraft and 50,000 business personal properties.
- The Auditor's downtown office maintains an archival record, called a Property Record Card, detailing the history of each individual parcel of real property in the county. These records are updated to indicate all deed, court order, and plat changes that have affected ownership of a parcel of property since 1962. These records can be accessed online at CharlestonCounty.gov.
Auditor's Outreach Mission:
The Auditor's Office is committed to serving all citizens of Charleston County. In an effort to raise awareness of the advantages of being a homeowner and primary resident within the county, our Outreach Division is available for free public consultations.
If you would like a member of our team to attend a local community event to provide more information regarding exemptions and discounts contingently applicable to county taxes, please, reach out to us:
Phone: (843) 958-4200 (option 9)
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