If you own property in Cobb County, then you know about getting your annual property valuation assessment notice in the mail. What you might not know is that you should pay good attention to those because you could end up needing to appeal the value that was assigned to your home.
Why would I do that, you might ask yourself. The property value is what your property taxes are based on. If you file an appeal with the Cobb County Tax Assessor, you could end up getting the assessor to bring down the value of your home, therefore, bringing down the amount of property taxes you owe.
Why Would the Cobb County Tax Assessor Agree to Lower Your Property Value?
There are cases where the value on your property would have to be lowered if you file an appeal. There could be several reasons that this might happen. One big indicator that might mean you should file an appeal is if you see your property value jump up by a lot. If that happens, and you weren’t expecting it to, then you should look into why.
The Cobb County Tax Assessor has the right to modify your property’s value from year to year accordingly, but any sizable jump in your property’s value, you would normally be expecting. It would be for something like adding an addition on to the structure or doing renovations to rooms inside. Those things could greatly change the value of the property, but there’s no way you wouldn’t see that coming.
Other things could cause a change in value that would lead you to appeal. The Cobb County Tax Assessor would have to change the property value of your home or business if there was a clerical error that led to a greater value being assigned to the property. That’s just a part of any business. Clerical errors happen, and sometimes they just have to be cleaned up.
What Are Other Reasons For Filing an Appeal on Your Cobb County Tax Assessor’s Valuation?
You might find that your neighbors’ properties were valued much lower than yours and they’re virtually the same. That’s cause to look into an appeal because part of the assessment process is looking at other homes in the area. If your home is much like others on your block, but you got a higher property value placed on yours, in the very least you need to find out why, and an appeal would lead you to that answer.
There are all kinds of different exemptions. If you claimed a certain exemption and it was going to keep an amount of your property’s value off the total, or you weren’t supposed to be reassessed at all per an exemption, but you were, then you probably have the grounds for an appeal.
Honestly, even if you just think your property is just being valued too high, you can appeal the amount that the Cobb County Tax Assessor put down for your home or business. The only thing to remember is that you do have to be able to substantiate your claim. You can’t just say that because you think so. You’ll need to gather documentation for what you are saying supports your reasoning for the assessor to have to lower your property value. If you can provide the proof though, you should appeal and you may end up saving yourself a bit of money.
How Do You Submit an Appeal if You Choose to Do So?
The actual filing part of the appeal isn’t difficult. You have 45 days to get it submitted after the date of the assessment notice from the Cobb County Tax Assessor. This county allows you to download a form online and fill that out to mail it into the office. Or if you want, you can just write a letter saying you are appealing the amount on your notice.
If you choose to write a letter, you must tell them what route choice you’re using to make your appeal. You also need to state clearly that you are appealing. Then, if it’s possible, try to explain the reason you don’t agree with the value that was given to your property. You need to include the street address of the property you are appealing the value of, as well as, the Parcel ID Number. It’s best that you include your phone number and an email address too. Understand that this letter has to be mailed or hand-delivered to the Cobb County Tax Assessor’s office. They will not accept it by fax or email.
Should You Try to File the Appeal Yourself?
You can certainly try to appeal your property value yourself. However, it might not be the greatest idea. The success rates are higher when someone works with a professional because the evidence ends up being more substantial and the expert you’re working with knows the process and the system. If you want to do it yourself, you definitely can, but it’s less work and you have a better chance at your appeal being approved if you work with a third party professional.
Experts who work with appeals like this all the time know how to get you prepared. Your appeal will make it through faster a lot of the time because there’s no missing information that has to be asked for along the way. Also, professionals know what kind of evidence works as support and what doesn’t. They can guide you through every step of the process and take all the hard work out of it for you.
Where Should You Start?
You should start by contacting Fair Assessments, LLC for all the answers to your questions about appealing your Cobb County Tax Assessor’s valuation of your property. The experts at this company are very experienced and well-versed in property value appeals. You’ll find that these professionals will take all of the burden off of you and will work hard to get your appeal completed in the least amount of time possible and with amazing efficiency. Give them a call, they’re waiting to talk to you.
