The Dekalb County Tax Assessor sent real estate assessment notices on May 30, 2014. In Georgia you have 45 days to appeal your assessment and that makes the deadline to file July 14, 2014. Here you can access the Georgia Appeal of Assessment form.

2013 was a strong year for the Atlanta warehouse market on most metrics. While you might be seeing this in the performance of your building, you aren't the only one. The Atlanta GA tax assessors track the market just like you and, when they see strong performance, they are more likely to raise property values. Higher property values mean higher tax bills from the Atlanta GA tax assessors for you to pay or for your tenants to have to cover through their CAMs.

When the Atlanta GA tax assessors determine the value of your office building for property tax purposes, their decisions are largely based on the specifics of your building and on the state of the market. Usually, their estimate of your property's value assumes that its value moves in the same direction as the greater Atlanta market. With this in mind, the key to managing your property assessment is to understand the broader market. That way, you can better gauge how your property's performance compares.

The Atlanta apartment market, much like the national market, capped off its strong 2012 performance with a strong 2013. Whether or not you are experiencing the growth in your property, the Atlanta GA tax assessor sees these numbers and will use them as a part of projecting what your property's tax value should be. If you're performing at-market, a small tax increase could simply track the increased vale of your building. However, if you aren't doing the same as your neighbors, the Atlanta GA tax assessors could end up overvaluing your building and leaving you with an unreasonably high tax bill. The first step in determining if this is the case is to compare your property to the market as a whole.

For business owners and residents of DeKalb County, property taxes are due annually. You’ll receive a letter from the DeKalb County tax assessor stating the taxable value and amount you owe in taxes, and when that payment is due. If you don’t pay the tax by the due date, you are in danger of going into delinquency, and the county can take legal action against you. Of course, property taxes are always a burden, but your burden may or may not be accurate.

Homeowners have to pay property tax in every county in Georgia, including DeKalb County. Of course, each county sets its own tax rate, and offers its own exemptions to help qualifying residents save on their taxes. The problem here is that it’s very possible you’re overpaying on your DeKalb County property tax, and have been for some time. Here are some of the top signs you’re overpaying.

DeKalb County Property Tax Returns are filed at the Board of Tax Assessors in the Callaway Building, 120 W. Trinity Place, in Decatur, GA 30030. Business personal property tax returns are required to be filed by April 1 of each year. For real property (real estate) if you think your appraised value is not correct, you may file a real property tax return. If you do not file a real property tax return you have, in effect, returned the same value that was on the property the previous year.

While doing research for a property tax appeal on a warehouse/production facility a field visit was performed. The building is in an older industrial part of town and was built early in the last century. By looking at the exterior you can see that the improvements are old and suffer from physical deterioration. Undisclosed Functional Obsolescence was also discovered, which if taken into consideration by the tax assessors would lower the taxable value of the improvements further.

Did you know that in most cases mortgages in default are paid off by private or public insurance and yet the bank still takes your property? The banks have never made more money than during and after this mess they created. 

As stated in Georgia law, before tax bills are released, all counties should have already issued an Annual Assessment Notice to all taxable real estate owners. This Tax Assessment Notice should be distributed April - June of each year.