Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd sent this note into DM, reporting that 1,500 Decatur properties will be reassessed by July 2nd and finally an explanation about what’s going on behind the volatile numbers.
The city manager and I met with several people from the tax appraiser’s office on June 5, 2012. The following information was given to us at that time.
- There are 30 properties that were identified last week with errors. These will be submitted to the BOA for adjustment at their meeting on June 7th. Revised appraisals will be mailed after the meeting. Property owners will have 45 days from the date of the revised notice to file an appeal.
- The appraisers office has identified an additional 1500 properties in the city that are being adjusted for any of several reasons
- The list of 1500 will be submitted to he BOA at their meeting on June 21st for approval
- If approved , these revised notices will be sent out the week of June 25th.
- Current appeal deadline is July 13th.
- If you receive an adjusted notice, it restarts the clock and you have another 45 days to appeal
Their Recommendation:
- Wait until July 2nd to appeal to see if you get a revised notice.
- If by that date you have not received a revised assessment, you are probably not going to get one and you have until July 13th to file an appeal
- If you have received a revised assessment and it is a satisfactory amount you will not need to appeal. If you receive a revised assessment and are not satisfied, you have 45 days from the new notice to appeal.
Comments:
- The appraisers are attempting to adjust land values to more realistic(their words not ours) levels based on market conditions.
- You can appeal based on land value, house value or both.
- The problems are due in part to a software transition they have been under going for about a year. They are currently operating under two systems. Our appraisals are under the old system that is difficult to manipulate for older more mature communities with varying housing types, styles and ages. Transition is expected to be complete before next year ‘s appraisals.
- DeKalb County Tax Appraisers office under a tremendous work load now. If you receive an adjusted notice that is acceptable and do not appeal rather than filing an appeal and withdrawing do to a satisfactory adjustment, it will help those who do appeal receive a quicker response.
Our anticipation is that of the 1500 adjustments about ½ will go up and ½ will come down. Some will be satisfied and some not. Our insistence with the appraiser’s office is that all get a fair appraisal.
They also do not use geographic definitions for neighborhoods in places like the City of Decatur because of the varying types, ages ,conditions and level of renovations of the housing stock. For example – a house built in the 1930’s that is still a 3 bedroom 1 bath, 1100sf that has never been significantly improved is in an “Effective Age” neighborhood with other similar construction types regardless of the geographic neighborhood (Oakhurst, Winnona Park, Great Lakes); a 1930’s house that has been significantly renovated – added a second floor or new master suites, would be in a different “Effective Age” neighborhood; and a new house that replaced a demolished 1930’s house would be in a different “Effective Age” neighborhood. Ultimately they want to be using a depreciation type valuation system that provides a reasonable fair market standard value for land and an economic life value for the building and any improvements. This is the system they are trying to transition to but have been hampered in making it work because of the dual software systems.
Anyone know how many properties are in Decatur? What percentage does 1,500 represent?
I understand there are approximately 8000 to 8500 parcels in Decatur. This is about right using an estimate of 2.5 to 3 people per lot, the population of Decatur is around 20,000 people.
I hope someone will post exact numbers.
This is really good information. Thank you. I am curious as to what will happen to those of us who saw a huge increase in our land value and a huge decrease in our house value (yet still an increase overall!).
That’s exactly what happened to us! I’m just afraid they’ll approve the land value and then next year say our building value was way too low…and try to raise it.
That has been my fear all along and the fear of some on neighborhood listservs. And that fear makes one worried about appealing. What if the response is that your land value tripled but so did that of everyone around you, so that’s ok. And, hey, by the way, that house value decrease doesn’t make sense so we better raise it. Then you have to appeal the response to the appeal?
” appraisers are attempting to adjust land values to more realistic(their words not ours) levels based on market conditions.”
I was told this was based on the market value of vacant lots.
As we all know these are very limited in Decatur and typically bought by builders who maximize their profits with larger homes. Not a realistic way to base land value
If that is not the way to base land value, what do you propose?
Why would market value of a piece of land be an unrealistic indicator of that land’s value? Unless I’m not following you, it would seem to be the most accurate measure possible.
Not saying that Dekalb is doing so for this particular reason but there is a growing body of advocates out there right now pushing a change from the present system, where the value of built structures dominates, to one where the land value dominates. The idea is that, in downtown areas looking to revitalize, the current system incentivizes prime redevelopment sites operating as surface parking lots to not develop (no structure = very low taxes with consistent revenue stream from parking). A shift to land value taxing would incentivize redevelopment because the landowner would then increase their revenue dramatically with only minimal increase in property tax.
That’s the idea, anyway. But it’s a fairly progressive, fringe proposal right now so it would surprise me if that’s the reason Dekalb was doing this.
That makes SO much better sense than how it’s done now. My house sitting outside the Decatur city limit would be worth a small fraction of what I could get for it if I put a sign in the front yard tomorrow morning, never mind what the tax office says.
Seems to me that anybody who’s ever complained about commercial properties around Decatur sitting vacant and unimproved for years would be clamoring for taxation to be land-based. Not to mention the multi-family rentals that need improving and updating.
Here is my opinion:
#1 – I don’t trust DeKalb Co.
#2 – If they can raise all land values across the board it is going to be hard to argue that your assessment should be lowered. I just think that deciding that suddenly land is 200% more valuable that is was over the last 5 years is arbitrary. Yes, near me in city of Decatur I have seen lots sell for over $200,000 (where they set my land value). But less than 2 blocks away in city of Atlanta there are many vacant lots that can’t sell for $150,000 and in unincorporated DeKalb they are under $100,000.
“But less than 2 blocks away in city of Atlanta there are many vacant lots that can’t sell for $150,000 and in unincorporated DeKalb they are under $100,000.” — City of Decatur schools, Decatur public safety, Decatur sanitation services, municipal governance and management that’s a darned sight more effective and efficient and accessible than Dekalb or Fulton counties or City of Atlanta.
The timelline doesn’t seem fair to property owners who think that their assessment increase is unfair or in error. If they happen to have one of the 1500 properties being re-assessed and they receive a reasonable re-assessment, then this works out for them. But if their property does not happen to be one of the re-assessed properties, they then have only 11 days to file an appeal. True they could have been preparing during the wait until July 2 but following the process is one more thing for them to keep track of and the County lucks out if they forget or the mail is delayed or they have an emergency work or medical or personal event that prevents them from filing quickly. They don’t want to file ahead because what if the re-assessment turns out to be worse, not better, and then they have to prepare their appeal differently.
What a mess.
+100
We won’t know for a few weeks whether our silly appraisal gets fixed or not, but I would like to state my appreciation to Bill Floyd and Peggy Merriss for representing our interests with the county and at least forcing the county to acknowledge a systemic problem. It’s sad that our trust in county governance is so low that it seems like a victory for them to even admit an error, but it feels to me like a moral victory nevertheless.
If they really want the process to not be slowed down, it would be helpful if they would list the 1,500 houses that will be re-evaluated. I assume it is already known, so why not tell us already rather than making everyone wait arbitrarily?
As for land value, I just care that they do it consistently. My land value went up nearly 100%. The two lots on the right of me only went up 50%, and the two on the left went up 100%. They are the exact same size parcels! Consistency!?!?!
It would be helpful if they told those 1,500 homeowners, wouldn’t it? I can tell you that Burrell Ellis, Elaine Boyer, Jeff Rader, Larry Johnson, Sharon Barnes Sutton, and Stan Watson aren’t among those 1,500 because the values of their homes all decreased. Lucky them! Only Kathie Gannon saw an increase, but she probably likes it since she voted for the 26% tax hike last year.
Agree with major thanks to Mayor Floyd and City Manager Peggy Merris! I always find the City leadership, management, and workers so responsive and helpful.
This is good info, but I really wish someone could pinpoint exactly what neighborhoods and streets are affected by the bad assessments. I hate feeling like I should wait and then feeling rushed to appeal if my house isn’t one of the ones being reassessed. I saw something on the WXIA 11 o’clock news last night about Dekalb County’s problems and they pinpointed a “swath from Brookhaven to Northlake” as getting wrong assessments. Of course, that “swath” could include any range of neighborhoods (and exclude just as many). I have a feeling that my house is in the bunch that got bad assessments (it should be anyways…no way my house’s value increased that much) but it’s frustrating that no one from the county will just come out and 1) admit that serious error was made and 2) tell us where exactly the errors are.
The way I read it, those 1500 are in Decatur, right?
Here’s my opinion. Unless you could sell your house for close to the county’s appraisal, appeal. Appeal early. Appeal often. The idea to wait so that the poor county tax office won’t be overburdened with paperwork is pure bologna. They are hoping you will forget, miss the deadline, and have no recourse.
To value land as if a developer was panting to buy your land is as mythical as hoping there is oil or gold underneath. The county is required to value property for what a willing seller would pay for house and land. Not some mythical maybe developer. This is a ruse to raise taxes when values have been plummeting. Don’t fall for the misdirection.
Appeal!
I think you are right that all should have a low threshold for appeal. But what if one appeals now and then gets a reassessment that’s even worse? I don’t think you’re allowed to pull back that appeal and redo it are you? I think that’s what I understood from the County appeal information.
How many houses are in the city anyway?
I want to know too. What proportion of Decatur residents are homeowners? I think 75% of Decatur residents do not live in households with school age children so are probably, on average, 2 person households, some more, some less. (.75 X 18,000)/2 = 6750 non-kiddie households. If 75% of them are homeowners then that’s 3875 non-kiddie properties. If we assume that family households are 4 in size on average and 90% of family households in Decatur own their home, we’ve got (.90 X .25 X 18,000/4) = 1012 kid-ful properties. Total number of households = guesstimate of 3875 +1012 = 4887 or about 5,000 taxable residential properties. So maybe the 1500 reassessments is about 1/3 of Decatur residential properties? This is a silly wild guess based on wild assumptions and there’s a correct answer somewhere but hey, if DeKalb County can make up their numbers, so can I.
8,709 households, including rentals.
http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=89
Many of those households are in apartments and public housing, and those households don’t have a separate tax parcel number. The “property” would be the apartment complex for tax purposes.
What if you already appealed before all this useful info was available? Can you add an addendum to the appeal? I’m not a lawyer, so my appeal was a “naive” attempt at best. And I add my thanks to the mayor and city manager! Now who needs a baby or pet sitter so I can earn those extra taxes 🙂
Last year they gave me an absurdly high appraisal. I appealed immediately. The county called and said we have your appeal, and whoops!, we made a mistake. A new appraisal is coming. It did. They called again and said now will you withdraw your appeal? I said no. So then they said, what if we reduce the appraisal below the revised one you just got? So then we agreed on a valuation and it was over.
I wasn’t sure of the revised appraisal entirely negated my first appraisal or the appeal. But the county very much acted as if it did not. So, for whatever that is worth.
My .02, I would not modify my existing appreal if I were you. Wait to see what, if anything, the county actually does. Then you can withdraw if you’d like, appeal the new appraisal, etc. The last thing I would do is tamper with an existing, timely appeal.
What if you already appealed before all this useful info was available? Can you add an addendum to the appeal? I’m not a lawyer, so my appeal was a “naive” attempt at best. And I add my thanks to the mayor and city manager! Now who needs a baby or pet sitter so I can earn those extra taxes
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Mayor Bill Floyd and City Manager Peggy Merriss for following up on this issue and getting some answers. We are very fortunate to have such responsive city leaders.
Ack. I knew our 30% decrease was too good to be true.
There are approximately 7200 parcels in the City of Decatur. 1500 is about 21%. According to Tax Assessors staff there are about 270,000 parcels county-wide. Based on our meeting I do believe staff members in the Assessors Office are trying their best to apply a systematic approach. Unfortunetly the communication was serioulsy lacking. We hope to address that later this summer, once the first round of appeals are completed.
Were 1,500 properties selected b/c of identified errors or did they just arbitrarily pick 1,500 to try to appease everyone? If the latter, although a step in the right direction, fixing only 20% isn’t much of a solution.
As usual, I’m learning a lot on DM. So we have ~8709 households in Decatur and ~7200 taxable parcels. My wild guesstimate of 5,000 taxable properties was at least in the right order of magnitude!
So property owners have about a one in five chance of being re-assessed by July 2. For those wanting re-assessment, that’s probably not a high enough chance to risk missing an appeal deadline. I’d appeal now if there’s any chance you could miss doing so between July 2 and July 15, the appeal deadline. For those who like their assessment and it’s not ridiculously low, like one property in our area that has such a low value, it must be a mistake–there’s a good chance the assessment will not be changed.
As has been said above, much thanks to our City officials for pursuing this issue and communicating well.
When can we discuss what the City will be doing with all this new revenue? Is it all necessary? If not, how about reducing the millage?