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Many
folks received their 2012-2013 Property Tax Statements and were surprised that
their taxes didn't decrease even though the market value of their home has
decreased significantly over the last few years. You may be able to save thousands in property
taxes by appealing the value.
What Do the Values On Your Tax
Statement Mean?
When
you look at your tax statement, you will notice there are two values listed – the RMV or Real Market Value and the AV or
Assessed Value. This year, many people are complaining about their values going
down 30-50% while taxes continue to go up. And of course, homeowners want
to know if there is any recourse they may have.
First of
all, it is important to know that you are taxed on the lower of the two values
listed on the statement. This will be reflected in the column that says
“Taxable/Tax Assessed Value”. Also of use to know is how the County Tax
Assessor calculates your taxable value. The home value for your tax bill is
computed using January of the same year. So for tax bills that were just
printed and mailed out in October 2012, the value is based on your home's value
in January 2012. This value is
determined by looking at comparable sales from September of the prior year to
March of the current year.
How Do I Confirm An Accurate Value?
There
are two ways you can go about finding out what may be a truer value of your
home; you can either contact a real estate agent and request 3-6 comparable
properties that have sold between September 1, 2011 and March 1, 2012 – or you
can order an appraisal. An appraisal can cost as much as $500 on average but a
CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) done by my team will cost you nothing.
What Do I Do to Close the Gap On My
Assessed/Taxable Value?
Once
you do find that your assessed value is higher than what it should be, you can
visit your County Tax Assessor’s office and request a reassessment. The
assessor's office will review your 3-6 comparable sales and determine if they
are willing to change the value of your home. If they are unwilling to reconsider then you
will need to complete a tax appeal application and also provide the data on
your 3-6 sold properties.
The
key is that you need to do this before the end of the year.
You
will find contact information for the Boards of Property Tax Appeals (BoPTA) here.
You
can access the property forms and their corresponding instructions on how to
complete the appeal application on the Oregon Judicial Department’s Tax Court website.
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Of
course if you have any questions about this, or any other real estate related
topics, please feel free to email me today at Christine@ChristineBrowning.com.
