There are a few changes for 2011 relating to property assessment notices, appeals, the oversight of the Board of Equalization and the definition of an arm’s length property sale. Fayette County Tax Assessor Joel Benton commented last week on the provisions of House Bill 346 that brought those changes into law.
Benton said that, unlike in times past, the passage of HB 346 requires that every property owner in the state receive a “Uniform Assessment Notice” this year. That said, the current moratorium on unimproved property will continue through 2011, Benton added.
“It’s not a tax notice. It’s a standard assessment notice due to the change in the law,” Benton said of the upcoming assessments notices. “It’s an estimation of taxes. The legislature thought it would be important for people to see.”
Benton said the estimate of value on the assessment notice will be based on last year’s millage rate. What will not be factored into the notice are any potential adjustments in the millage rate by local governments later this year.
Assessment notices are expected to go out in early May. The appeal deadline is June 16. For those wishing to file a return of value, that deadline is still April 1, Benton said.
Also new this year is a Uniform Assessment Appeal Form. The form provides a new option for those wishing to file an appeal, Benton said.
“Property owners don’t have to use the new form to file an appeal. They can use a letter as before. This form is just a new option,” said Benton.
The Uniform Assessment Appeal Form provides several options associated with an appeal. An appeal can go to the county’s Board of Equalization, to binding arbitration, to a hearing officer for non-homestead property with a fair market value in excess of $1 million or directly to Superior Court with consent of the Board of Equalization.
The new appeal form, PT-311-A, and a detailed explanation of the appeals process is available on the state’s website at https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/adm/taxguide/appeals.aspx and will soon be available on the county’s website.
Another change for this year relates to the 21-day change letter after an appeal has been filed. Property owners used to have 21 days to accept the decision or go to the Board of Equalization, said Benton, but now that period has been extended to 30 days.
Yet another change this year deals with property sales in 2010. Benton said the last sale of a piece of property in 2010 has to be used as the value of the property for one year unless the prior year’s value was lower than the sale price.
Other changes for 2011 deal with the oversight of the Board of Equalization and its timeframe for rendering decisions. The Fayette County Superior Court Clerk now has responsibility for oversight and administration of the Board of Equalization and the board must render its decision at the conclusion of the hearing, Benton said.
Also new this year is the definition of an “arm’s length, bona fide sale.” Such sales were previously defined as a “transaction which has occurred in good faith without fraud or deceit carried out by unrelated or unaffiliated parties, as by a willing buyer and a willing seller, each acting on his or her own self-interest.”
Added at the end of the definition this year is the clause, “… including, but not limited to a distress sale, short sale, bank sale or sale at public auction.”
For more information contact the Fayette County Assessor’s Office at 700-305-5402.
