Whether the property owner likes it or not, the Fulton County Tax Assessor has an advantage where access to property assessment-related records are concerned. Fortunately, you can make a few simple yet effective counterattack steps to balance out the scales, more or less. Your welfare as a taxpayer is at stake here, particularly in terms of reduced property taxes, so appropriate action on your part is a must.
Advantage Over Knowledge Base for the Assessor
The county assessors in the State of Georgia have an advantage over the knowledge base in comparison with the taxpayers. The reasons are many including meaningful changes in the state’s reporting laws and improved data collection technology, among others.
For example, the Fulton County tax authorities can compel taxpayers to submit their annual income and expense statements, closing statements, renewal options, sales data, rent rolls, and vacancy lists, among other official documents. Property owners are also required to file building permits and plans, zoning descriptions, and sales taxes on construction costs, all of which can be used for tax computation purposes.
The Fulton County Tax Assessor can typically access the information with a few keystrokes, or a few calls to its custodians. With the wide range of information available, the tax authorities can create comprehensive profiles that even the concerned taxpayers will be unable to compile.
Disadvantage to the Property Owners
To say that the property appraisal, assessment and appeals process is not a level playing field is an understatement. The Fulton County Tax Assessor has more information that it can easily and quickly access for its purposes.
Of course, property owners and their tax consultants also have access to the knowledge base. But it must also be noted that a significant amount of the appraisal data will be out of the public’s reach for several reasons. These include the confidentiality rules made for the protection of the property owners; the cumbersome rules related to the Freedom of Information law; and the manner in which the data is compiled.
The twist: Most of these challenges to data access do not apply to governmental bodies including the Fulton County Tax Assessor Office and its authorized personnel.
Also, the assessor can and will use the information gathered from other properties comparable to the subject property since his office has easy access to it. Since privacy laws will inhibit the assessor from revealing the information, a property owner cannot ask for it. But the assessor will not be prevented from using the information to either make the subject property’s assessment higher and/or supporting the value during an appeal.
Counterattack of the Owner
Don’t despair about your disadvantage. You can adopt many steps in successfully challenging the assessment. First, you must capture and computerize the information that the assessor maintains. Be sure to keep a systematic documentation of any information related to the property. The Fulton County Tax Assessors have a website with property information on it that can be used to gather information for this purpose.
Second, you have to hire the most qualified tax counsel or consultant for your appeal. Your consultant can plan an effective strategy for appealing the assessment, gathering the records for a fair appraisal in the current tax year, and challenging the tax authorities.
Where the workings of the Fulton County Tax Assessor are concerned, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
