Here’s How to Appeal A Property Tax Assessment in Metro Atlanta

Summer is finally here, and for the first time in more than two years, economic indicators suggest that the housing industry has finally bottomed out both locally and nationally. But with this bit of good news comes a bad news, which is that the metro Atlanta area continues to be saddled with a high number of vacant homes, many of them foreclosures on pace to surpass 2008 record year of foreclosures.
 
In April 2009, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed SB55 into law, requiring county tax assessors to incorporate the value of foreclosed homes into property assessments. The legislation will likely provide some relief for properties located in zip codes with high foreclosures in the metro area. This is particularly important, as illustrated in a recent report commissioned by the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership that shows how properties in neighborhoods impacted by a high number of foreclosures typically have inflated appraised home values.
 
The report further illustrates that taxes for properties appraised in metro Atlanta ’s five-county core area will have an overpayment of property taxes of an estimated $367.2 million, which includes an estimated $118 million in overpayment from owners of homes and businesses in areas with high foreclosures. Since the passage of SB55, several metro counties plagued by high foreclosures have reappraised properties, which also provided property owners an opportunity to appeal inflated assessments.
 
Requiring county tax assessors to reappraise homes shows that state officials are aware of the discrepancy between actual market value and assessed value, but the problem of getting a fair appraisal still exists, thus creating more problems for builders continuing to hold housing inventory.