Appealing 2011 Assessments…as long as one has closed on his or her property by whatever county’s appeal deadline, he or she may appeal for 2011.

In years past, it used to be that if a person purchased a property after January 1 of that tax year, then he or she had to wait until the following year to file an appeal for that’s year’s assessment.  Not so anymore. So, for example, Fulton and Dekalb are mailing out there 2011 notices in the middle of May meaning that as long as the property has conveyed by the appeal dealine, June 30 or so, one may appeal for 2011.  Gwinnett is sending their residential notices out on April 15, so one has until May 31, 2011 to appeal.  If anyone has any questions or comments about this, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com.  Thanks.

Gwinnett County commercial assessment notices were mailed out March 25. The appeal dealine is May 9. Residential notices are to go out April 15 and the deadline to appeal those will be 45 days after or towards the end of May.

Gwinnett County has mailed out the commercial assessment notices to the owner name of record on file.  One may still get a copy of the notice on line.  If one wants to appeal his or her value, he or she must go to the www.gwinnett-assessor.com and fill out an on line form and then get it back to the assessor’s office by the appeal deadline.  Take two copies so as to get both of them “stamped” in.  If the commercial property is an income property, the assessor’s office would like to see three years worth.  If it is an undisclosed sale, they want to see a HUD statement or other closing document that shows the sale price.  Please contact me with any questions or comments pertaining to appealing property tax assessments.  info@taxappealatlanta.com

Gwinnett County Assessor’s Meeting this Friday, March 25, 2011 to discuss tax year 2011, assessment notices, etc.

I am attending a meeting at the Gwinnett County Assessor’s Office, this coming Friday, where they are supposed to update us on when assessment notices are coming out, the deadline to file an appeal, what to expect as far as value decreases go and what they plan on doing about working up the tax estimates that are supposed to be included on the new assessment notices.  I’ll post an update here once i learn more.  If anyone has any questions or comments, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com.  Thanks.

Fulton County 2011 Assessment notices and other information

I went to a meeting, for property tax representatives, at the Fulton County assessor’s office, this past Friday.  I was told that there are still 13,000 outstanding appeals from prior tax years at this time.  6,500 of them are still at the Board of Tax Assessor’s level waiting to go to the board of equalization and 6,500 are at the board of equalization waiting to be heard.  There are approximately 10 boards working full time, so it’s going to take awhile to get all of those hearings taken care of.  335,000 tax year 2011 notices are going to be mailed out at one time.  Allegedly, at the end of April.  I have a feeling, it will be sometime in May.  There is a six week window to file an appeal.  There is still a moratorium on the assessor’s office increasing values, so if anything, the values will be decreasing.  The Assessor’s office is anticipating about 10% of the tax payers to file an appeal, or 35,000.  I feel like it will be higher.  Extra staff has been hired at the assessor’s office and there will be three more fulltime boards running as well.  On the assessment notice, there will be an “estimate” of the 2011 property taxes due, but it won’t be correct.  There is no way to figure up the exemptions and have it correct for each parcel.  Also, there is a state form for people to use to file an appeal.  One doesn’t have to use the form, but the assessor’s office is encouraging people to use it.  An appeal letter will still suffice though, to initiate the process.  On the appeal, there will be several choices for the taxpayer to select.  Arbitration is an option, there may be a small price for this and it’s non binding.  The board of equalization is an option and it’s free.  The decision obtained there is binding.  For commercial properties over $1M in value, a hearing can be selected before a “special master.”  There may be a charge for this one as well.  Also, should one not get the value he or she feels like he is entitled too, filing it to court is  an option.  There is no way that all of the 2011 hearings will be heard in 180 days like the SB 346 bill calls for, but the Fulton County Assessor’s Office is doing the best they can to adhere to this new bill.  As always, contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com for more information.  Thanks!

I also was able to reduce the value on another client’s home in Druid Hills, Atlanta, GA 30306

I had another tax year 2010 appeal for a client who owns a home in Druid Hills on Oxford, in between North Decatur Road and The By Way.  I was successful in reducing her 2010 fair market value from $980,600 to $850,000.  Based on the approximate 13% reduction in the value, the total 2010 tax savings for this particular home were $1,600.  Over three years, that equates to $4,800 in total savings.  It’s not a great deal of money, but it will pay for something.  It’s better than having it needlessly go to the Dekalb County Coffers.  Again, everyone should appeal his or her assessment for 2011.  The assessment notices will be out in April and May and then there is a six week window to file an appeal.  If i can be of service, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com.

I obtained a nice property tax savings for a client in Dunwoody, GA 30338

I finally had a client’s Dekalb County tax year 2010 real estate tax appeal, on his home in Dunwoody.  I was able to get the fair market value reduced from $1,198,400 to $900,000.  As a result of the reduction in the2010  value, the  total 2010 property tax savings for this client were $4,400.16.  The savings will compound over the next two years, so really, the total tax savings total $13,200.48.  Now that is $13,200.48 which would have needlessly gone to the Dekalb County Coffers. Everyone should appeal his or her 2011 tax assessment.  One won’t know if he will save any money or not unless one tries.  If i can help, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com.

Georgia General Assembly SB 346

This bill has been in effect since January 1, 2011. Anyone interested in how this bill will affect the tax assessor’s offices, in all 159 counties, should read it. The Fulton County Assessor’s office is having a meeting about this bill on March 11. I plan to attend this meeting and will post comments about it afterwards. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com