Property Assessment

For awhile I have been debating getting a reassessment on my property value because given the recent housing downturn I was sure the value of my property had gone down and I was paying too much in property tax. But I wasn't sure if it would be worth the battle, my property taxes are not that high compared to say, New Jersey. And I know the counties need every penny they can gets. So I let it go.

But today I got the following email:
DEKALB BOARD OF TAX ASSESSORS AGREES TO RECALCULATE REAL ESTATE PROPERTY VALUES

The Dekalb Board of Tax Assessors, Property Appraisal Department mailed out Assessment Change Notices. Included with the Assessment Change Notice was a cover letter stating that the Board did not consider foreclosure sales and in some cases bank sales in determining fair market values.

On April 14, 2009, the governor signed into law a bill that changed the definition of criteria to use in determining fair market value of real property. The new law requires that the Board consider among other things, foreclosure sales and bank sales in determining fair market value of real property.

The DeKalb Board of Tax Assessors will be recalculating real property values to include in their consideration the additional criteria of “foreclosure sales, bank sales, other financial institution owned sales, or distressed sales, or any combination thereof, of comparable real property,” as well as “decreased value of the property based on limitations and restrictions resulting from the property being in a conservation easement.”

The Board expects to complete this review and mail new Assessment Change Notices to all affected property owners by mid-May, 2009.

Property Appraisal Department
www.co.dekalb.ga.us/propappr

I paid $136,000 for my house and as of this blog my house is worth $90,000. I think I pay about $1100-1200 a year in property tax. I'm not sure because the money gets escrowed and my mortgage company makes sure it gets paid. Who knows at what value DeKalb County is charging me property tax for. And I know every dollar counts so I'm glad that the property tax may go down but I'm even happier that I didn't have to fight the battle on my own. AND the assessment should be coming just around the time my escrow account gets reassessed.