Almost every year, Disney sues the Orange County Circuit Court for charging them what they believe is far too much in property tax This year they are at it again. They claim that the assessor in the area values their properties too highly, and it causes them to pay out huge dividends in property tax. Within the span of a year, their property tax bill went from nearly $85 million to over $100 million – all because the assessor valued the property higher than they did the year before!
We’re talking about properties that are worth millions, perhaps billions, of dollars when estimated correctly and fairly. Anyone walking by can tell that the properties would sell for untold amounts of money on the market. So why should Disney think that they can prove their properties aren’t worth what the assessor says?
The fact is that even if a property is of very high value, it still shouldn’t be taxed at a rate that is too high. Regardless of whether or not Disney is correct, they are a great example of why appealing your property taxes can be important even for homeowners with high-value homes.
In order to appeal your Gwinnett County property tax when you have a high-value home, you’ll mostly be relying on market data that shows what a home like yours could truly sell for. Since you won’t have proof that your home is of lower value through pictures of issues with the property, you’ll instead have to show that the market just wouldn’t support the numbers the assessor used. A good realtor could be your friend in this process.
Another thing you can do is to showcase the area around your home that could make it harder to sell. For example, was a busy highway recently re-routed to be a little closer to your home? Did a big commercial building just expand their headquarters, blocking the sun in your home for most of the hours of the day? These could be things that would impact how well your home would sell, which is what your property taxes are based on.
If you have a very high value home and you want to lower your tax bill, one thing you can do is focus on finding all the exemptions you can. There are quite a few home exemptions for personal property taxes. For example:
These are just a few of the long list of exemptions that you could find to help your tax bill go down.
To learn more, or to get professional help with a property tax appeal, contact Fair Assessment LLC at (404) 618-0355. It’s our goal to help you keep your money in your wallet, and we don’t think you should have to pay unfair tax rates just because your home is of high value. As you can see, even big companies like Disney fight against their property assessment, so there’s nothing shameful in trying to get taxed only what you should be taxed. Let us help you handle all the nitty gritty details of the appeals process today!