SURPRISED
BY YOUR PROPERTY TAX INCREASE?
From
our initial review of the DeKalb County records, it appears many
homeowners in our neighborhood and the surrounding area experienced
an increase in 2012 as high as 50% in the assessed value of our
houses and property. Property taxes should be based on actual
fair market value.
The right to appeal this assessment
ends July 13, 2012. Each homeowner needs to file a separate
appeal, but unfortunately these appeals can take over a year to
resolve and each of us will still be required to pay taxes on 85% of
the assessed home value during the appeal process, this is too long
for such an obvious mistake in home assessments. Our neighbors in
the Northlake area were successful in compiling information and
lobbying the local tax assessors office for mass reappraisals,
something that needs to be done for our our community as well.
What to do:
- A group of like-minded neighbors are trying to organize a meeting. A few tax attorneys who live in our area plan to attend, and will be happy to answer questions about the appeals process. We will post information about the meeting and share all of our findings with you on this blog:
- Call the County. Stress that the most efficient and cost-effective way for the County to resolve this matter is to re-assess the Brookhaven area instead of having to process appeals for the hundreds and hundreds of homes which are still dramatically over-valued for tax purposes. Advise them that we all intend to file appeals if the County won’t take immediate steps to correct its mistakes.
- Deputy Chief Assessor, Donna Rosser: 404-371-2522
- County Commissioner, Jeff Rader: 404-371-2863
- Please post any questions or useful information you hear; share your experiences contacting the commissioners and tax assessors office on the blog above. You can also email or call me with the information and I will post it. As a group, we can work together to compile supporting documentation to show a more accurate & reasonable valuation for each of our properties.
- As fellow homeowners, we plan to speak with the Assessor’s Office and review the county’s records used to determine the new assessed values (if any exist), and compile information critical to our efforts. We will share any useful information we acquire.
- File your property tax appeal by the deadline, if the county refuses to reassess your property.
Several
individuals from our neighborhood have helped with this initiative.
Thank you to everyone for working together to make sure no one is
paying more than their fair share.
Appraisals for the DeKalb CEO and BOC
ReplyDeleteBurrell Ellis: 2011 was $193,800 and now 2012 is $123,300
Elaine Boyer: 2011 was $244,320 and now 2012 is $204,800
Jeff Rader: 2011 was $302,500 and now 2012 is $273,000
Larry Johnson: 2011 was $91,920 and now 2012 is $58,800
Sharon Barnes Sutton: 2011 was $206,520 and now 2012 is $117,400
Lee May: ??? bankruptcy and foreclosure, does not own a home
Kathie Gannon: 2011 was $529,800 and now 2012 is $577,300
Stan Watson: 2011 was $177,360 and now 2012 is $135,100