In DeKalb County, the number of individuals who choose to appeal their property tax assessment is constantly rising. With property values rising, it’s only natural that residents are interested in keeping taxes as low as possible. If you are considering filing an appeal for the first time, you may be interested in what the process is, so you don’t make any mistakes. That’s completely understandable and a large part of the reason that we put together this guide to help you.
The Yearly Assessment Notice
Once a year, every person who owns property in DeKalb County will receive a piece of mail called the Annual Notice of Assessment. This will have information about the taxable value of your property. This piece of mail will also have information about filing an appeal, mainly that you have 45 days to appeal from the date on the notice. That isn’t a ton of time, so what is most important with the process is getting started quickly. One of the best ways to do this is by contacting a property tax appeal service who can help you get things done quickly and efficiently.
The First Steps Toward an Appeal
DeKalb County makes the filing process relatively simple, which is an advantage. You can visit the tax commissioner’s website of the county to download a form for your real estate appeal. Your property tax appeal service provider will also have the proper paperwork for you to fill out. While you won’t have your information available immediately for this part of the process, having a copy of the form and understanding what is needed can give you a great start to gathering the right documentation for a solid appeal.
Determining the Appraisal Information for Your Property
The system that DeKalb County uses for appraisal takes a handful of things into account. We’ll give a short rundown of the items you can expect to find there.
- Information on property zoning
- Current use of property and any limitations
- Existing restrictions and covenants on the property
- Sales data including type of sale, sale price, deed date, etc.
- Data about building permit including type of work, data issued, amount, etc.
- Map information such as new subdivisions and dimension changes
- Characteristics of the building including footage, heating and ac, fireplaces, detached buildings, number of bathrooms, pools, etc.
- Any other important factors
One way you can find information about the stored data is by visiting the assessor’s office. There you can find your property tax card and look it over for any errors. There is another option that may be more convenient. DeKalb County offers an online real estate data search that you can use at your leisure. All you need to do is type in the name of your street under “partial street name.” At this point, it will show a list of houses. You can click on your own and see the information in this way. Again, what you are looking for here are any errors in terms of square footage, garage size, number of bedrooms, and things of that nature.
Look into Your Potential Exemptions
If you qualify for any exemptions, such as the Senior Citizens exemption or the Basic Exemption with Freeze, make sure that you are credited for those amounts. If you are not, this is a great reason to request an appeal. You can appeal solely on the basis of being denied an exemption that you should qualify for. You’ll give information about the exemption and proof of your qualification. If this or the property tax information above is wrong, you have a very good chance of winning an appeal with the help of a property tax appeal service.
Consider the Rest of Your Neighborhood
Don’t worry if the options above do not apply to you; there are other reasons to seek an appeal of your property appraisal. The next thing you are going to look at is uniformity in valuation. Basically, you want to find out if other properties that are similar to yours and in similar neighborhoods are paying about the same amount in taxes that you are. Your tax expert may be able to help you with this process. However, you can use the same website as above to look at other properties near yours. You just need to keep in mind that they have to be quite similar for the valuation to be close to your own. If you find that you are paying way more than those who have homes like your own, that’s another reasonable case for appealing.
Finishing Your Paperwork
At this point, you can take the forms from the beginning of this process and fill them out. In addition to filling the form out in full, you should also enclose a letter explaining why you believe your house has been assessed at the wrong value. You should also enclose any documentation you have that supports your belief. Make sure you date and sign everything and then mail it into the address provided on the DeKalb County website.
Final Steps
It may take a few weeks or even months to find out if your appeal has been accepted. If it has, congratulations! If it has not, you still have options. You are allowed to appeal again, but this time it will be an in-person setting where you present your case to an audience. If it comes to that, you can count on your property tax appeal service to be at your side the entire time.
At Fair Assessments LLC, we offer answers to your questions, a suite of resources, and more. We can handle commercial property tax appeals in the Southeastern United States for you.
To learn more or ask questions, you can call 404-618-0355, email us at info@Fair-Assessments.com, or visit our website. You can reach us at any time of day or night for support and assistance.
