Gwinnett County Tax Assessor notices did go out on April 5th as evidenced by 28 assessment notices I have been sent. The appeal period in Georgia is 45 days in all counties and that makes the appeal deadline in Gwinnett May 20th. This is the last day that your property tax appeal can be postmarked or hand delivered.
I have value changes on approximately 14% of the notices that I have received. Two values decreased, two increased, and 24 had no change in value. No change in assessment isn't necessarily a blessing, especially if your value has remained unchanged for several years and it has not been appealed. In 2012 we appealed many values in Gwinnett County that hadn't changed since the start of the Great Recession. We were able to get most of these reduced.
Our hearts go out to the police officer and the firefighters that were injured in the standoff in Suwanee. The SWAT team and firefighters are brave souls. I thought it odd that the AJC reported that the house that was involved in the standoff was valued at $131,600 by the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor. I guess they were just trying to add something concrete to the neighborhood description they gave.
The Gwinnett County Tax Assessor raised values on two properties that were not taken to the Gwinnett County Board of Equalization. I obtained reductions from the county appraiser responsible for those market areas and accepted those reductions as reasonable. In Georgia, you can have your property tax assessment frozen for three years if the value is settled at the Board of Equalization (BOE) level of appeal. Because I obtained a satisfactory reduction prior to the BOE the county has every right to increase the value if they want to. Let this be a lesson.
There is plenty of time to secure a Gwinnett County property tax appeal, but don’t let that tax assessment notice end up at the bottom of a pile of “not urgent” mail on May 26th. Many people get their tax bill at the end of the summer and wonder if there is anything they can do about it. The sad fact is there is nothing you can do about it. The time to secure a lower tax bill is now, not when the tax bills have been printed and mailed.
Fair Assessments is here to stay. I have been in this business for nine years, full-time. Fair Assessments is 2.5 years old but we have all the experience that nine years of property tax consulting brings. You can check out my experience at Linkedin. To get your property tax appeal started, or do some research for your own appeal go to Fair Assessments.
