Most localities determine your property tax burden based on an ad valorem assessment of the property's value. Sometimes, as a property owner, you get an unwanted surprise in the mail telling you your taxes are going up, and sometimes it may seem as though your assessment is too high.

 

There are as many different procedures for appealing assessments as there are property taxing districts, so it's important to enlist the help of a professional appraisal firm that's experienced and trained in the ins and outs of your particular jurisdiction.

 

The state of Georgia provides a uniform appeal form for use by property owners. In that initial written dispute, the property owner must declare their chosen method of appeal.

 

TAXPAYERS HAVE THREE OPTIONS WHEN FILING AN APPEAL:

 

APPEAL TO THE COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION:  The appeal based on value, uniformity, taxability or denial of exemption is filed by the property owner and reviewed by the board of assessors. The board of assessors may change the assessment and send a new notice. The property owner may appeal the assessment in the amended notice within 30 days. This second appeal made the property owner or any initial appeal which is not amended by the board of assessors is automatically forwarded to the Board of Equalization. A hearing is scheduled and conducted and the Board of Equalization renders its decision at the conclusion of the hearing. If the taxpayer is still dissatisfied, an appeal to Superior Court may be made.

 

APPEAL TO A HEARING OFFICER:  The taxpayer may appeal to a Hearing Officer, who is a state certified general real property or state certified residential real property appraiser and is approved as a hearing officer by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the Georgia Real Estate Appraiser Board, when the issue of the appeal is the value or uniformity of value of non-homestead real property, but only when the value is equal to or greater than $1,000,000. If the taxpayer is still dissatisfied with the decision of the hearing officer, an appeal to Superior Court may be made. Click here for a list of hearing officers published by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and Appraisers Board.

 

APPEAL TO AN ARBITRATOR:  An appeal of value may be filed to Arbitration by filing your appeal specifying Arbitration with the board of assessors within 45 days of the date of the notice. The Board of Assessors must notify the taxpayer of the receipt of the arbitration appeal within 10 days. The taxpayer must submit a certified appraisal of the subject property within 45 days of the filing of the notice of appeal which the board of assessors may accept or reject. If the taxpayer’s appraisal is rejected the board of assessors must certify the appeal to the county clerk of superior court for arbitration. The arbitration is authorized by the judge and a hearing is scheduled within 30 days. The arbitration will issue a decision at the conclusion of the hearing, which is a final and which may not be appealed further. If the taxpayer’s value is determined by the arbitrator to be the value, the county is responsible for the clerk of the superior court’s fees, if any, and the fees and costs the arbitrator. If the board of assessors’ value is determined by the arbitrator to be the value, the taxpayer is responsible for the clerk of the superior court’s fees, if any, and the fees and costs the arbitrator.

 

TAX APPEAL FORM & ASSESSOR INFORMATION

 

A copy of the tax appeal form can be found Here. In order to protect your appeal rights, do not send this appeal form to the Department of Revenue. In all instances the appeal is filed with the County Board of Tax Assessors. If the Board of Tax Assessors has adopted a written policy consenting to electronic service, the taxpayer may email an appeal to the Board of Assessors. Contact information for each County Tax Assessor in Georgia can be found here.

 

Accessing your property data on file with the County Tax Assessor will be the first step in gathering the appropriate information needed. With the information reported by the County Tax Assessor, you'll be able to begin forming a case for appeal based upon the validity of the reported data. If you need help locating or parsing through the data, or have specific questions, please feel free to contact us by phone or send us an email via our Contact/Order page.