GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT TAXES PRESENTED BY: NEEL & ROBINSON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1. Tax bills can be issued by a municipality any time during the year. 2. Once they are issued, they are due and become liens on the property regardless of when the due date is or how many installment payments are allowed 3. Tax bills cover the time period from January 1 to December 31 4. Any exemptions should be determined by the status of the property on January 1 unless the exemptions are transferred to another property in the same county within the deadlines 5. The general excepted procedure in the proration of taxes at closing is to use the last available tax bill. So even if closing in 2009, the 2008 tax bill may be used for prorations if it is the most recent bill available. 6. If taxes are under appeal at the time of issuance, the tax bill issued is usually for 85% of the bill the municipality has actually charged 7. Tax bills can change after being issued. EXEMPTIONS Exemptions are special applications for qualified homeowners that lower the amount of taxes owed by the homeowner. 1. General Homestead: 2. Senior Citizen Exemptions: 3. Disability Exemptions: 4. Poverty Exemptions: ASSESSMENT FREEZE 1. In most counties an appeal of the tax valuation can freeze your assessment for three years. 2. In certain counties, such as DeKalb, a homeowner who is eligible for homestead can also apply to freeze the assessment. 3. The homeowner must weigh the benefits of freezing the assessment during this time of declining values. 4. This does not freeze the tax bill, just the assessed value of the property. TAX APPEALS There are two ways to get an appeal started with the tax assessor’s office: 1. Notice of assessment changes are send out by the tax assessors office usually in April. Depending on the county, the homeowner may send a written notice of appeal to the tax assessors office within 30-45 days from the date of the notice from the tax assessors office. 2. The homeowner may file a Real Property Tax Return with the tax assessor’s office between January 1 and March 1. On the form the homeowner will state what they believe the value to be of the property. Appeals may be filed on the basis of the following: -uniformity of assessment -value -taxability -denial of homestead Different tax assessors have different procedures once an appeal is filed; however the basic procedures are as follows: 1. The assessor will review the notice received from the homeowner and either make changes/corrections or will denial any changes/corrections. A notice will be sent to the homeowner at that time. 2. Any changes or denial of changes can then be appealed to the County Board of Equalization (BOE) and a hearing date will be set. 3. The BOE will specifically decide and vote upon all questions presented in the appeal and then will notify the homeowner of their decision. 4. A decision of the BOE can be appealed directly to the County Superior Court. A court date will be set and a jury trial had. 5. Homeowners have the option of appealing to an Arbitrator rather than the BOE, but this option must be made clear in the initial notice of appeal from the homeowner. GOOD SOURCES OF INFORMATION County Websites: From these sites you can usually find the following with only the address: - property owner - tax ID parcel number - deed book and page of last warranty deed - prior sales - an interactive parcel map - tax information - year built - approximate square footage |