On Friday, the Gwinnett County Board of Tax Assessors mailed approximately 68,000 real property Notices of Change in Assessment, the first of three mailings expected to reach a total of 75,000 notices. Approximately 65,000 of the notices are from value updates while the remaining 10,000 notices are the result of new construction or tax returns filed by property owners.“The Board of Tax Assessors’ appraisal staff has worked to review market transactions in all geographic areas and for every property type,” said Steve Pruitt, chief appraiser. “In our 2009 valuation process we are definitely considering the impact of foreclosures and bank sales on values. We reviewed all of the county’s 1,400 appraisal neighborhoods and made changes where supported by the data. Most property owners receiving notices will see a decrease this year.”
The vast majority of the notices issued for residential property – around 60,000 – will show an average value decrease of 11 percent or $25,000 of market value. The sum of all decreases for residential property totals approximately $1.5 billion of market value.
The Board of Tax Assessors had previously seen a marked increase in the number of Real Property Tax Returns filed before the March 1 deadline. “Almost 45 percent of the Property Tax Returns received were within neighborhoods already being adjusted downward for 2009,” said Pruitt.
Appeals from the Notices of Change in Assessment must be filed within 30 days from the date on the notice. All appeals must be in writing and either USPS-stamped or hand-delivered within the 30-day period. Once an appeal is filed, a staff appraiser will review the additional information, make changes if necessary and the Board will notify the property owner the results of the appeal review.
Answers to frequently asked questions may be found at http://www.gwinnett-assessor.com/. The Assessors office may be reached at (770) 822-7200 or assessor@gwinnettcounty.com.
