Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2018 16:20:52 -0400
From: nortonmarian01
Subject: Fair Market Value
Chatham Property Owners,
We recently went before the Chatham County Board of Equalization and Review in regards to the 2017 reappraisal of property.
It was a year late, but family illness had prevented my doing it last year.
After filing the form required to be sent to the Board of Equalization and Review I was contacted by a county tax appraiser who was visiting the property and in the course of his visit he determined that the tax card information on the property had inaccurate measurements.
Weeks later I received a call from him saying that the correction of information resulted in an increased value and that he was sending me on to the Board of Equalization and Review.
We received information to appear about 2 weeks following, but no information on the new value that had been made.
I turned to on-line information through Chatham County’s GIS and tax department sites.
The tax card on-line remained unchanged from 2017 with the same measurements and a value of $116,716, but within 2 minutes and 4 clicks of the mouse I had read 4 different values on the same property….and yes, I know there is a disclaimer that the information may not be correct, but what I desired was correct information. Let me clarify that these were all county records linked to or on GIS map…not Zillow!
When we arrived at the meeting one of the first things I addressed before the board was that I had come without knowing exactly what value I was contesting.
The form I filled out said I was contesting the 2017 assessment, but it seemed that a new assessment (following February 2018 property visit) was being made. No clarification was made and we proceeded to present the house and answer questions based on its current condition. During the meeting with the board, a county employee who was present gave the value given by the tax assessor of a number in the $130K’s.
I cannot recall the exact figure she gave, but it was not any of the 4 figures I had read on-line a few days prior.
Today we got a form letter that states the value of the property at $158,888 per decision of the Board of Equalization and Review. The letter says effective January 1, 2017….which is over a year ago? What? we are going to be taxed for improvements . . before they were made? I don’t understand. The letter contains no explanation as to the reason for the high value.
I’m having no problem with the correction of inaccurate information on the size of the house. I like accurate information, and fair values cannot be made without accurate information.
Before we pursue further, I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced the Board of Equalization and Review placing a value higher than that recommended by the county?
This was my first experience and if this is the expected result, I won’t be doing this again!
Please feel free to email me.
Just a taxpayer,
Marian Norton