The Board of Assessors (BOA) and the Board of Equalization (BOE) are two of the most important government bodies in your Fulton County tax appeal. You and your tax advisor will deal with these bodies to lower your real and/or personal property assessment values and, thus, your property taxes.
Board of Assessors
The Board of Assessors (BOA) is the first body in the tax appeal process that every taxpayer who wants to dispute his/her property assessment values must deal with. You will file a letter of appeal that states your intention to dispute the assessment value listed on your annual notice of assessment. Your Fulton County tax appeal letter should be filed within 45 days of the notice so be aware of the deadline.
The BOA then receives and processes your letter of appeal, assigns a staff appraiser for the review of the assessment value, and issues an acknowledgement of its receipt of your letter. The office also assigns special status to your real property (i.e., under appeal), which provides for a temporary property tax bill usually discounted by at least 15%.
The staff appraiser will review the values assigned to your property and review your property’s characteristics, which may require a visual inspection aside from the routine assessment inspection. You should be courteous when dealing with the staff appraiser but you must not disclose property details without the knowledge of your tax advisor. Otherwise, you may be putting your Fulton County tax appeal in jeopardy.
After the BOA’s review, you will receive either of two letters. First, a “No Change Letter” indicates that Fulton County stands by its assessment value, which means that your appeal will automatically be forwarded to the Board of Equalization (BOE). Second, a “30 Day Letter” indicates that the Fulton County has revised its professional opinion of your property’s assessed value.
In the second case, you can either accept or reject the new assessed value. If you accept, then it becomes the new value. If you reject, then your Fulton County tax appeal will move to the next step. If you do not reject the new value within 30 days, then it becomes the new value.
The bottom line: Be very aware of the deadlines since you can forfeit your right to appeal.
Board of Equalization
The next step in your Fulton County tax appeal is the Board of Equalization (BOE) hearing. Your appeal will be certified to the BOE and a hearing will be scheduled to establish your property’s value. You should receive a hearing notice usually 3-4 weeks before the hearing date, thus, providing you and your tax advisor ample time to prepare sufficient evidence.
Your tax advisor and the county’s staff appraiser will present their cases before the board. The BOE will establish your property’s value based on the evidence presented, thus, emphasizing the importance of being prepared for the hearing. You will receive a Decision Letter regarding the hearing’s outcome within 10 days of the BOE hearing.
The penultimate step in the Fulton County tax appeal process involves the update of the county’s records regarding your property’s value within 30 days, provided you accept the BOE value. You can, however, appeal the value to the Superior Court within the 30 days and the value decided by the court will be final.
