You know that you have to pay property taxes for your home and the land that you own each year. However, you may not know exactly what goes into determining how much you have to pay, or what the job of your Cobb County tax assessor really is or what they do.
It is the duty of the Cobb County tax assessor to provide an estimate of the value of each parcel of real property in the county every few years. Examples of real property would be property and the homes or other structures that it includes. All pieces of land will have value to it, whether it has structures on it or not. However, there are certain buildings that the assessor will not provide a value for, such as churches and public schools. The assessor will also determine the value of new construction properties, as well as reassess properties that require it, such as when the ownership changes.
The value of the property is one of the factors that is included when determining just how much property tax a person owes for their properties. Other factors include the tax rate at the time, along with any exemptions that you might be able to claim to help reduce your taxes. The taxes that are collected are then used in a range of ways by the local government.
What Do the Property Taxes Pay For?
The taxes become part of the local government’s coffers, and they are often a large part of the revenue for a city or town. The property taxes can then be used to pay for things such as libraries, parks, police and fire departments, public schools, and more. While the taxes are often put to good use, this does not mean that you should be paying more than your fair share of taxes.
Are Your Property Taxes Too High or Too Low?
The job of the Cobb County tax assessor’s office is quite large and daunting. While the assessors strive to reduce their mistakes, it is always possible that there are errors made when it comes to providing a value assessment for a piece of property. These issues could arise from a range of different factors, such as incorrect information about the home, a clerical error on the size of the lot, and more.
While they might be rare, these problems do occur, and it is important to make sure that they are taken care of as quickly as possible. If you don’t appeal, there is a chance that you could be paying a substantial amount more in your taxes each year than you should be. If you do not correct the issue, this can be a problem that plagues you for years to come. Therefore, it makes sense to appeal the valuation from the Cobb County tax assessor.
Even if you find that the valuation of your property was too low, you still might want to consider an appeal in some cases. For example, though it might lower what you are paying in taxes, your property is seen as being worth less than it really is, and that can be a problem. This is particularly true if you are considering selling your property anytime soon. Someone who is going to be buying a piece of property will want to know the valuation of the home when it comes to property taxes, and if the value is lower than what you are going to be asking for the home, those potential buyers are going to want you to drop the price. They do not want to pay more for the home than its true value.
If you are going to sell, and the value of the property is valued too low, it is going to affect your price. You should appeal to make sure the true value of your property is reflected.
Appealing the Cobb County Tax Assessor Valuation
When it comes to the actual process, you will have to file with the Cobb County tax assessor and let them know that you believe the valuation was incorrect. They will review the property and then get back to you, generally within a month or two. However, they will not always agree that the valuation was incorrect, which means you will want to then appeal their decision.
Once you decide that you want to appeal, it is important that you have your own evidence of why you feel that the appeal is warranted. This will serve as evidence to help them make their decision. One of the most important aspects of the appeal is to make sure that you check for comparable homes in your area that have recently sold. Comparable simply means that they need to have a similar size and number of rooms, a similar lot size, and they need to be in the area.
Not only do the comp homes need to be recently sold and near you in Cobb County, but they also need to have sold during the period of valuation. Homes that were sold after the valuation period was complete for your home are not going to be usable, as the market conditions could have changed during that time. Everything about these comparable properties you want to use needs to be viewed during the time of the initial valuation.
Get Help from a Property Tax Consultant
Going through the appeals process can be a complicated process, and it is one that you will not want to tackle on your own. Instead, you should make sure you are working with a professional property tax consultant who can help walk you through the process and take care of all of the hard work for you. Working with a pro tends to make things much simpler for you. Make sure you are working with a professional who has experience in the field, and who has a substantial amount of success in helping their clients to win their appeals.
