The State of Georgia’s House Bill 202 (HB 202) introduced several crucial changes that have affected the Gwinnett County property tax assessment and appeal process. You should have basic knowledge about these changes since your property tax-related rights and responsibilities, from challenging the tax assessment via an appeal to paying the tax bill, will be affected. Your tax advisor will likely have an in-depth knowledge about HB 202 but it always pays to know about these matters yourself.
New Optional Appeal
But there are things that remain unchanged in the assessment and appeal process. This includes the deadline for filing of an appeal against the annual assessment – you should file an appeal within 45 days after the Gwinnett County property tax assessor issues its annual assessment notice (i.e., date reflected on the notice).
The change comes in the form of a new optional appeal form, which contains a field wherein the taxpayer has to declare an initial assertion of value for the subject property. Without said assertion, the appeal will not push through since HB 202 makes it compulsory. But there’s good news: You, the taxpayer, can change the asserted value at any time during the appeal process.
New Deadlines on the Certification
Yet another HB 202 provision that can prove beneficial for taxpayers is the new stricter guidelines regarding the Tax Assessor’s timely review and certification of the taxpayer’s appeal to the Board of Equalization (BOE). Keep in mind that prior to the passage of HB 202, the Board of Tax Assessors (BOA) was not exactly obligated to review a taxpayer’s appeal in a timely manner. This had the effect of appeals sitting, so to speak, for months and years with little to no progress.
The BOA has to comply with the deadline or else face a penalty – the taxpayer’s initial asserted value becomes the final value of the subject property for the tax year under appeal. You can use this new provision to your advantage by following the new rules and regulations, perhaps even hoping that the BOA will commit a mistake along the way.
Yet another notable deadline is the one related to the mailed notice. The annual notice of assessment and other correspondence such as hearing notices should be sent to the taxpayer and his legal agent (e.g., attorney) when the taxpayer notifies the BOA of said representation. If the BOA fails in this regard, the penalty is tolling the deadline on the property owner/taxpayer until the appropriate notice is given.
If you have multiple real estate properties, you may also benefit from the consolidation provision. Basically, you can consolidate all your property appeals as a common ownership to the Gwinnett County property tax appeal venues including the BOE, arbitration, or hearing officer in a single hearing, instead of multiple hearings for the various properties. You can also file a consolidated appeal for a consolidated hearing, which means a single civil action at the Superior Court.
