Just like most local governments in the United States, Clayton County imposes property taxes on personal and real property as their main source of revenue. This is the primary reason for the high property tax in the county. Your Clayton County has to levy taxes in order to pay its employees, deliver basic services, and build infrastructure, among other goals of governance.
Instead of ranting against it, however, you may want to understand the way that your local taxing authorities view property taxes. You will find that, just like the property owners and taxpayers, the local assessors and appraisers are people, too. You may even change your view of them from being your sworn enemies, so to speak, to being your allies, sort of, in winning your Clayton property tax appeal.
Subjectivity
Property owners can make a declaration of property values to the local taxing authority, particularly the Clayton Tax Assessor’s Office. But emphasis must be made that the local assessor doesn’t have the obligation to accept each property owner’s declared value. In fact, the local assessor has the legal obligation to conduct periodic property assessments that, in many jurisdictions, can happen once every three to five years.
While objectivity is a must in the local assessors’ job, it cannot be helped that subjectivity typically comes into the picture. This is because the property assessment process itself involves the determination of fair market value based on the judgment of the subject property’s exterior appearance. The better the exterior appearance of a property, such as a residential home, the higher its assessed value can be.
And therein lies the issues related to property assessments. The local assessor will not consider the factors that reduce the subject property’s value, such as functional obsolescence, expired franchises, and seasonal income. You and your tax reduction consultant must then present evidence during the Clayton property tax appeal hearing to counter the high property tax assessment.
Valuation Methods Used
And then there’s the issue of the valuation method used in the determination of the property value. Upon close inspection, your tax reduction consultant will likely find errors in the valuation method and, thus, you have more reasons to file a Clayton property tax appeal. You shouldn’t dismiss apparently small errors since these can have a significant impact, such as the number of rooms in your hotel or the number of bedrooms in your home.
Again, the valuation methods will have a certain element of subjectivity involved in it. You must be prepared with the supporting evidence to counter the local assessor’s assertion of value. You can present the interview conducted with an authorized representative of the Board of Assessors (BOA) as part of your supporting evidence.
You can fight your high property tax assessment by filing a Clayton property tax appeal. You must, however, put yourself in the shoes of the local taxing authorities and beat them at their own game, so to speak. You will need the professional assistance of Fair Assessments, LLC, a tax reduction consultant with comprehensive experience in the types of property similar to yours.
