Dekalb County Property Tax Appeal (assessor, home, assessment)

[VJP]

Filed March 1st, 2010 to dispute the 2009 valuation of my home @ 322k;

Received a temporary tax bill in August 2010;

Received a notice that I will receive a notice with a hearing date in January 2011;

Received the hearing notice a few weeks ago for today.

I went in and the tax assessor had already pulled a bunch of comps and put forth a value on my home of 254k, which is what my appraisal from 2009 (from the refi I did) showed. They didn't even ask to see the appraisal or the five comps I brought in. I accepted the value at this point. I think the number might be a few thousand higher than what my home is really worth, but since the appeal was for 2009, they only look at comps in 2009. The assessment is frozen for the next two years.

Just thought I'd post a story about the process, pretty straightforward if you're organized and detail oriented.

[JPD]

Glad it worked out for you.

I did this a few years ago and didn't even have to go to a hearing. They knew they were wrong, they knew that I had nailed them to the wall, and they lowered the assessed value to approximately the same amount that I told them it should be.

[VJP]

The temporary tax bill was actually about $25k higher than the value I accepted today. They definitely knew they were in the wrong. I think just showing up gets you points, it was the first time in my life a government agency called to remind me I had an appointment with them and then began the appointment ahead of schedule and finished promptly. :-D