Greater Baton Rouge Tax Appeal Appraisals: Steps To Lower Property Taxes and Assessed Values

http://www.gbrpropertytaxappeal.com/ – Greater Baton Rouge Tax Appeal Appraisals: Steps To Lower Property Taxes and Assessed Values

The following is a re-broadcast of a letter to the editor in Saugatuck, Michigan to “The Commercial Record” sent it in by Patricia K. Topping, Saugatuck Property Owner and is quoted verbatim below. The direct link to this letter to the editor is here! Keep in mind that this is from the State of Michigan, which may have different tax policy and procedures. This is offerred as possible help for locals in the Greater Baton Rouge housing market!

“To the editor: Steps anyone can take to lower their taxes and assessed values:

1. Go to the city building and get a copy of your property’s residential appraisal record card. Compare facts about your property to what the assessor’s information is on the card. Are items such as the size of your home and land, the home’s age, number, type and size of rooms and condition all accurate?

2. Verify the actual true market value of your home. This doesn’t mean having a realtor give you a price, although this can be a useful place to start. Keep in mind most agents are optimists. The best way is to hire a professional certified appraiser. Ask your bank for a recommendation.

3. Learn what your property records and notices mean. For example, when you get this year’s notice for your taxes and assessed values, pay attention to more than taxable value. Look at the SEV and AV values. Both are supposed to be 50 percent of your property’s true cash value, its actual market value. Double either of these two values and ask yourself if the result is what your home would actually sell for as of Dec. 31, 2010. If the SEV value is incorrect, it can have an impact on your taxable value. Taxable value can’t be greater than the SEV value.

4. Is your land subject to flooding; is it very steep, in the flood plain, or in the critical dunes? In other words is all of your land useable and buildable? Could you rebuild your property, as it is, if it burned down? If you answered no to the second question and yes to the first, then your property’s value is likely to be too high compared to what the assessor claims.

5. Did your SEV or assessed value go up this year? Stay the same? How can this be true in light of today’s real-estate market where values have declined 27 percent since 2006 and are projected to decline even more? Pay attention to your assessed (AV) and SEV values. The SEV value, not your current taxable value, determines what a buyer will pay in property taxes when you sell your home. A typical new property buyer in Saugatuck will confront a property tax bill that is 25 to 40 percent higher after the sale than before. This can be a deal breaker. Go to https://treassecure.state.mi.us/ptestimator/ptestimator.asp. Enter your SEV and see what a buyer will have to pay. Ask yourself, if you would buy your property and pay the amount shown.

6. Check out your neighbors’ values. Are they consistent with yours? And don’t fall for the “Everyone got treated the same” excuse you might hear. Your property is unique. The law requires each property to be individually assessed. So, based on things like the age, condition, and size of your property, its location and land characteristics, your property may or my not have been properly assessed.

7. Ask to see the land value maps and studies that the assessor used to determine your property’s land values. Are the maps up to date? Are the studies accurate and up to date?

8. Don’t be intimidated or confused by the assessor. You’re paying for the assessor’s wages and have the right to straight, understandable answers and access to all the information and calculations the assessor used to determine your property’s values. If you can’t get straight, understandable and complete answers, there could be a problem.

Once you’ve done your homework, it will not be unusual that your property would have assessed values that are incorrect. Your next step is to appeal the error to the March 2011 board of review.

Don’t be surprised if the BOR rejects your appeal. After all, it’s not in the government’s interest to lower your taxes or assessed values.

Don’t fret if you don’t prevail. Kick it up a notch and go to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. The process in either case is straightforward. Be aware, though, that unless you have appealed in March to the BOR, you can’t later appeal to the tribunal.

Have confidence when you make an appeal. It’s your right and you are armed with the facts and a professional appraisal of your property. The assessor is finally going to be required before the BOR and under oath if before the tax tribunal to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the city made no mistakes and the assessed and taxable value of your home was correct.

It’s been said that more than 80 percent of those who do their homework and are armed with a professional appraisal prevail at the tax tribunal. This is exactly what Aubrey McClendon did in Saugatuck Township and he saved more than $350,000.

There is no expense to file an appeal with the BOR. The cost to file with the MTT is around $50 for most claims.

Owners who have followed these steps have prevailed before the Saugatuck BOR. Others who have not prevailed have taken their appeals to the tax tribunal.

At this juncture these appeals have been held in abeyance because the state, which seized the Saugatuck city tax roll three years ago, has not released the roll to the city. This by itself may reflect a question as to the accuracy of your assessment.

Don’t let your wallet be taken to task or your ability to sell your property adversely impacted. Exercise your right and do a little homework. The reward can be many thousands saved.

Patricia K. Topping
Saugatuck property owner”

Proper Attribution is being given to The Commercial Record

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