You may be one of the taxpayers that believe the following Gwinnett County tax assessment myths to be true. Your belief in these myths may have worked against your favor, such as that a cap on property assessments will result in lower property taxes. You should disabuse yourself, so to speak, of these myths so that you can make wiser decisions regarding your property taxes.
Myth #1 High Assessments Equal High Taxes
It’s of crucial importance for taxpayers to make the distinction between taxes and assessments especially as these matters are the responsibilities of two different sets of entities. On one hand, when you believe that your property taxes are unreasonable (i.e., too high), you should take it up with the governing authorities. These include the tax commissioner, the town board, and the school board, among other authorities that set the tax rates and determine the tax levies.
On the other hand, when you believe that the Gwinnett County tax assessment value on your real property is unreasonable, you can file an appeal. You have the benefit of administrative and judicial processes that can be used to have your property assessment value reduced.
For this reason, a high property assessment value does not automatically result to a high property tax bill. You can appeal the Gwinnett County tax assessment value on your property so that you can have your tax obligation reduced.
Myth #2 Tax Rates Indicate Tax Increases
Many taxpayers compare the tax rates for the previous and present years in the belief that tax rates are reliable indicators of tax increases. This is far from the truth. The tax rates are not considered as accurate indicators for the amount of taxes the school districts will be collecting for the current year.
Instead, the tax levy is the more accurate indicator of tax increases. Look at the budget of the school district, city or town, and county to determine its spending target. Look at the levy to determine whether any of these tax entities will be collecting more taxes.
Why? Tax rates are misleading. It must be emphasized that tax rates are based on the collective assessments of each municipal component in the school district. Think of it this way: When a municipality increases assessments, the school district can still keep the previous year’s tax rate yet it will continue to collect more taxes.
Myth #3 Cap on Assessments Equal Lower Property Taxes
On occasion, a proposal to cap the Gwinnett County tax assessment increases at a certain percentage will be made. This would usually result in many property owners shouldering less than their fair share of property taxes since their tax bills are being subsidized by other property owners.
In time, real property that is increasing in value faster will be under-assessed. The real property that is not increasing in value at the same pace will be subsidizing the under-assessed property’s taxes. This means that a cap on assessments can result in higher property taxes for other homeowners.
Now that you know the facts behind these Gwinnett County tax assessment myths, you can make smarter decisions.
