In a pretty shocking report, Kiplinger financial experts determined that, "Chances are pretty good that you're paying more in property taxes than you should be. According to the National Taxpayers Union, as many as 60% of properties in the U.S. are assessed at a higher amount than their current value." That includes both residential and commercial properties, and means that your Gwinnett County property tax assessment does need a second look.
Naturally, if you are trying to sell a commercial or residential property, that higher valuation is probably not a problem. Yet, what if they reduced the value and you are now facing a lower sale price? The good news is that whether you feel a Gwinnett County property tax assessment is too low or too high, it is perfectly acceptable to challenge or appeal it.
Don't Wait
One of the first things to know, though, is that you have a limited amount of time to submit for an appeal. Generally, the best moment to act is the moment you read that Gwinnett County property tax assessment and determine it is not in the area you had wanted it to be (low or high).
Remember that assessments don't happen every year, and if you just let that unfair assessment sit around, you'll be paying a tax bill that is not fair or accurate for the next few years. Of course, many wonder how, if property values in general have declined over the past few years, any tax bills can go up. The simple truth is that "budget shortfalls at the local level…[can] mean municipalities are spreading the pain among taxpayers." Across the country, many voters actually approved of higher property tax rates, meaning that tax amounts are going up while property values are not.
Any changes in the tax rate are not the reason behind your inaccurate Gwinnett County property tax assessment, though. That is because there are also a lot of factors that contribute to the final calculation (your bill is the tax assessment for your property multiplied by the county's tax rate and you can challenge your assessment, but not the rate).
For instance, it may surprise you to know that your tax bill was determined by such details as:
- The size of the lot
- The number of bathrooms
- Whether you have a pool
- What size the garage is
- The square footage of the home
- Whether your basement is finished, and more
Yet, to determine the value for these things on the Gwinnett County property tax bill, your assessor may not have visited the property. They are not obliged to because they have the data about the property in their files. They will use what you paid for the property, the data points above, and comparable properties in the area to create the most reasonable assessment.
Here's the thing, though, human error is found everywhere, including the potential for it in your Gwinnett County property tax assessment. Case in point, someone may have put down that your property is on 25 acres when it is on .25 or 2.5. That can cause an immense amount of variation in the assessment.
What to Do When the Gwinnett County Property Tax Assessment Is a Shock
Whether you got the letter about your new Gwinnett County property tax assessment on a commercial or residential property, and whether it was too high or too low for your liking, you can challenge it. First, get in touch with their offices and ask them for a copy of the worksheet used to calculate the assessment.
Do a fine-toothed comb analysis of it. Did they get everything 100% correct? Even a single bathroom can make a difference, so double check. If the worksheet is right, it is time to consider what are known as comps. These are actually comparable properties in the town or city in which your property exists. This is a very labor intensive process, but if you can dig around and find at least five properties recently sold and nearly identical to yours in terms of size, land, baths, and so on, you need to use them as points of comparison.
Did they get tax assessments of a similar rate? Were they much higher or lower than yours? When you find comps that prove your assessment is off, you should make note of them as they will be part of your appeal.
You also have to pull together the documents that could support your case. Maps, blueprints and other paperwork that shows how your assessment is somehow wrong all have to go to the assessor's offices.
It is a very tricky scenario, though, because you are actually confronting the professionals who made the valuation, effectively telling them they were wrong. It can be uncomfortable, to say the least, to approach them with questions or suggest that they've made a big error. Yet, if it appears that your assessment is even 5% to 10% off, it translates to a great deal of money you should not have to pay. Alternately, it could mean you lose a huge amount on a potential real estate sale.
So, always file that appeal. Then wait for their determination.
A Better Way to Appeal the Gwinnett County Property Tax Assessment
Do you think you have the time to do these things? Do you have the expertise to gather all of this data, fill out all of the forms and submit it all by the deadlines? If not, you can have experts appeal your most recent Gwinnett County property tax assessment for you.
Fair Assessments, LLC is an expert resource for property tax appeals. Offering you more than two decades of experience with commercial and residential property valuations and tax reductions, they are a perfect resource for homeowners in the Atlanta metro area as well as commercial property owners in GA and FL. Get in touch today to find out how to begin the process of appealing your Gwinnett County property tax assessment.
