Property Tax Assessment Appeal

[Steve Metz]

Any folks here specialize in this kind of work? I have stopped doing mortgage work last year and have been doing some estate work. Do you guys do narrative reports for this kind of work?

Have the Realtors and BPO's taken over this market?

 

[mikeinpittsburgh]

I use a general purpose form from Wintotal.

 

[Restrain]

First, check with your state to see what type of registration/licensing you need to do tax appeals. Second, as an "advocate and consultant" you can charge on the basis of a percentage of tax differential. Conversely, you can do the appraisal for fee and charge an hourly rate for representation. Virtually everyone doing this business does it for the percentage fee. Just be sure to check with your licensing entities as to how to keep from crossing the line between "appraiser" and "consultant/advocate".

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Do many tax appeals -- assessments are an ongoing controvery around here. The powers that be seem to think a reassessment equals a tax increase, ignoring the millage aspect of the process.

Typically we get the assignments through attorneys (mostly commercial/industrial properties) and sometimes from individual homeowners. In both instances we function only as an appraiser defending our appraisal and not acting as an advocate. Hearing officers are more likely to heed what you have to say if they view you as an impartial participant. Such an approach also helps build up credibility before such panels which is a major asset.

 

[Mark K]

I've done several but wouldn't say I "specialize" in it.

Residential, as mentioned, the GP Wintotal form fits well with necessary addenda.

Non-residential, it depends on the property, but generally a short narrative with a grid or two that I've created in Excel.

Be sure to talk to the Assessor and find out what they require in the reports and the effective dates. I have to include the Property Record Cards and the Sales Discloure forms in the report for all comps for one county Assessor. Other counties requires something as simple as a mortgage appraisal format, even a 1004 form is fine with them. Also, right now I have a small office building I'm appraising and the effective assessment date is Jan, 2007, prior to the meltdown. Today, we're paying taxes on the assessments from 06/07 so the comps have to be from about 05-07, +/-.

Another county will not even consider a report if the subject has a metes/bounds legal and the comps are in platted subdivision (or vice versa), even in the same neighborhood and same size sites. Makes no sense but they make the rules.

Find out the rules before you get into the game. Also, I'd suggest NOT trying to become an owner's advocate at any hearings. Do your report, let the owner do the arguing.

Also, I always put a disclaimer in the report that I was paid a flat fee of $zzz for the report so the appeal board doesn't think I'm paid on contingency based on the amount of savings for the owner. Sometimes I wish I did. One client had his taxes reduced from $150K/yr to $100K/yr based on one of my reports.

 

[CANative]

I do this as a 40+ hour a week job. I am employed as an agent of my company representing our clients before the various appeals boards. We mostly do commercial property but will do residential for some of our clients.

 

[Walter Kirk]

I do quite a few tax appeals and I always use a GP form. I do not (and legally can not)represent the clients,I can only explain my appraisal report and point out mistakes in the tax assessment.

Having worked as a tax assessor I have seen appraisers submit URAR's and even 704's in tax appeals. This is a mistake since lending forms were not designed for litigation purposes.

The best advice I can give an appraiser seeking to become involved in tax appeal work is to learn the rules in your jurisdiction.

 

[Tom Eichholz]

I do quite a few tax appeals and I always use a GP form. I do not (and legally can not)represent the clients,I can only explain my appraisal report and point out mistakes in the tax assessment.

Having worked as a tax assessor I have seen appraisers submit URAR's and even 704's in tax appeals. This is a mistake since lending forms were not designed for litigation purposes.

The best advice I can give an appraiser seeking to become involved in tax appeal work is to learn the rules in your jurisdiction.

Good advice!

I too have been on both sides of the fence. If you are a Licensed or Certified Appraiser be careful you only represent your appraisal ~ as others have said, in a hearing, you should not advocate for the owner to get a lower value, but only your appraisal and the methodology, and that can be a slippery slope.

When I was on the Assessment side of the fence, generally speaking, most of the lowered valuations were made only for homeowner's who could prove factual errors; e.g. too high square footage, wrong unfinished area, wrong bed/bath room count, over stated condition, obsolescences, recent arms length sales price, or current street or subdivision listings, etc. (Condition proof must be with pix, or square footage w/blueprints, or APEX type full sketch, etc). Whiners usually would get the boot...

IMHO, from a homeowner's perspective, most assessment reductions, however, usually did not justify the hiring of an attorney, tax rep, or even a full fee appraiser. Commercial yes; House, no.

 

[Financially Feasible]

assessments are an ongoing controvery around here.

Pete - if you want to see controversy over assessments... come on over to Philadelphia. Voters in Philadelphia just voted on Tuesday to dissolve the BRT (Board of Revision of Taxes) due to "wildly inaccurate assessments". This was triggered by a MASSIVE article by the Philadelphia Inquirer over "cronyism and mismanagement at the BRT" over the last 50+ years. Plus, they've spent over 2 years on the AVI (Actual Value Initiative) that is still projected to take another 2 years to complete... and which may bite the dust under the new tax assessment regime. Millions have been spent on it and it has been equated to the concept of "garbage in; garbage out". They City even posted the job of Chief Assessment Officer on the AI's webpage. What an unbelievable cluster-f.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I never appraise a property for a client. I vet the assessors appraisers for accuracy. If you get the field notes for the valuation and the field notes for the previous valuation, then you have a basis to have a go at them.

In the past few years, almost certainly the biggest drops in values has been for the assessor to take rural property that should be valued in use as "ag land" and convert it to non-ag, often on the pretext that it did not have cattle on the place the day that it was inspected...as if that were the definition of agriculture. A copy of a lease, a timber deed, or schedule F on the income tax form is often proof enough that the land is "agriculture"

Secondly, I found that many houses are upgraded, that is an "average" quality home in the past is now "good" quality. The effective age may be too low, the SF wrong, and a host of other errors frequently mean that I need only trash the assessor's work and not worry about reappraisal. There is no real need to appraise it, just force them to roll back the values to match the correct features, quality and condition issues.