Perhaps you’ve been spending some time on Pinterest lately perusing the different home improvement pins, and it has given you some ideas on how to spruce up your own house. Adding a new laundry room or updating your kitchen to a more modern style are great projects that will really improve the quality of your home, but when you are creating your budget for tackling these projects, don’t forget to add a little extra padding for your property taxes.
Home Renovations and Property Taxes
There are a lot of things the Gwinnett County tax assessor will take into account when he or she is figuring out the value of your home, and the improvements you have made during renovations can definitely be one of them. While you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to give your home a refresh, it is simply important to understand that the work you put in can significantly increase your home’s value. Thus your property taxes will rise as well.
The particular renovations that will cause your property taxes to go up are specific to the area in which you live. For instance, in the state of California, adding a bathroom will be cause for reassessment, even if the new room doesn’t actually increase your square footage. In other areas of the country, the taxable renovations are entirely dependent on jobs that add to the overall size of the home.
With the popularity of Pinterest and the emphasis the site puts on home decor and renovation, the overall spending on home remodeling in the country is projected to keep growing. According to the Remodeling Futures Program, which is at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, home improvement spending has been rising since the second quarter of 2016. All of these improvements are something the Gwinnett county tax assessor may be interested in when it comes time to reassess home values. As a homeowner, it is a good idea to be aware of this possible increase so you aren’t caught off guard when the tax bill comes.
Projects that Could Cause the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor to Raise Your Tax Rates
To give you a better idea of what projects could cause your home property taxes to soar, we have compiled a list of renovations that may affect your taxes.
- Increasing your Living Space: Any project that gives you more actual living space can have an effect on your property taxes. This means renovations that add new rooms to your home like building on a den or a new laundry room. However, this can also mean finishing a space like a garage or the basement. Those areas aren’t considered “living space” according to the Gwinnett County tax assessor until you start adding flooring, finishing the walls, and adding in a ceiling. Taxes are very likely to be assessed on the space if you are adding HVAC or electricity to a new area of your home.
- Ambitious or Large Renovation Projects: There are large scale renovation projects that may also draw the attention of the Gwinnett County tax assessors office that doesn’t actually change the square footage of your home. For instance, putting in a bathroom or changing a half bath to a full bath can add to the overall value of your property and thus your tax rate. If you are redoing a room in a substantial way such as adding more counter space in the kitchen or moving/knocking down walls, you could also be increasing the value of your home. If you own property that you are “flipping,” then you can definitely expect the tax assessment to go up after you are finished with all the gutting and the renovations.
- Improvements Outside the House: Even if you thought about how your property taxes would be affected when adding on the new addition to your house, you might forget to consider the increase in taxes when you erect a simple garden shed or put in a wraparound deck. The Gwinnett County tax assessor looks at many things when assessing your property: the actual land, the house, and any other erections on the property.
Appealing Your Property Taxes in Gwinnett County
There may be times when you do not agree with the value the Gwinnett County tax assessor places on your home. Perhaps, the details or incorrect or your home is being compared to properties that are much nicer. Whatever your reason for disagreeing, you have the right to file an appeal and request that the Gwinnett County tax assessor take another look.
Once you receive your Annual Notice of Assessment, you should take a few minutes to look at it very closely because you will only have 45 days from receipt to file your appeal. There are links available on the Gwinnett County website that allow you to file your appeal electronically, but there is always the option to do so manually. You will need the PT311A appeal form which should be mailed to the board of assessors office. Either of these methods is equally acceptable.
Once you have filed the appeal, you should be able to check the status of the process online. It can take around three days for your appeal to show up, so don’t get worried if you don’t see it right away.
Help With Your Appeal is Available
Appealing your property tax assessment may seem too difficult for many people, especially if they are not too familiar with how the Gwinnett County tax assessors determine their numbers. However, you don’t have to go through the process all alone. Fair Assessments, LLC is here to help you with every step of the process, and we have the expert knowledge you need to ensure that all of your paperwork and evidence is in order. You can email us to set up a consultation, and we will be happy to discuss the ins and outs of your case so that you will know exactly how to proceed. We have the knowledge you need to appeal your unfair property tax assessment.
