As in any case where opposing parties have different opinions, the quantity and quality of the evidence matters in winning – and so it is with your property assessment appeal with the Gwinnett County property tax authorities. You have to be prepared with the right information (i.e., evidence including documents and interviews) in order to have a greater chance of a winning appeal. Here are a few important things you have to know about it.
Emphasis must be made that either you or your property tax advisor should prepare as much evidence as possible supporting a lower taxable value. A professional can do all of this work for you and represent you in front of the local government. You should carefully study sales of similar properties and the current assessments of similar properties, keeping in mind that the effective date of appraisal for tax purposes in January 1 every year.
Information to Support Opinion of Value
Keep in mind that any information provided with your appeal application can be presented duringany formal hearing. You can also provide additional evidence at the hearing, provided the tax assessment staff hasn’t requested your evidence prior to the hearing. If that’s the case then you cannot provide any additional information at the hearing.
If the subject property is a residential property, your best supporting evidence is information about the sales of comparable property in the area. You are basically pointing out the over-assessment made by the tax appraisers on your real property in comparison with other residential property. You may or may not have the tax assessor agree with your evidence but, at the very least, you have the supporting documentation if it is needed in second level of appeal (Board of Equalization, Hearing Officer).
Find the Information
You don’t have to be frustrated about what, where and how to find the supporting information. You will find sources of information for comparable properties in several places.
First, look at the Tax Assessor’s official website as it may offer sales information about comparable real properties that have been sold in the last two years. You may also find the information in the county assessors’ offices.Depending on the county you may have to pay a subscription fee to access some data on their website, or to copy information in their offices.
Second, look for data on other websites that offer sales information for free or for a minimum charge.
Third, ask your local real estate or title agents for it.
Remember that the effective date of appraisal for tax purposes is January 1. So if you are appealing your 2017 assessment you have to use sales data from 2016. If you use more recent sales data for your appeal you risk having the information disregarded. The Boards of Equalization generally won’t consider data from after this effective date. When comparing your assessment to the assessment of other similar properties however, you would want to use the 2017 assessments. Ifyour presented information follows this guideline the Gwinnett County property tax appeals body will consider it as good evidence.
