What can be done to help reduce the impact of high property taxes to a property owner?

The recent decline in real property values has received a lot of attention but, what can be done to help reduce the impact to a property owner who hasn't gotten the attention it should. If you believe that your property has decreased in value and could now be worth less than what the county assessor's value for property tax purposes may be, now is the time to consider gathering information for a claim (said another way – protest the County assessed value of your real estate for the upcoming year). There is a specific window of time for gathering comparable sales information for this purpose and it began on January 1, 2009 and extends for 90 days. This means that, only sales within this window of time will be allowed as a comparable sale for valuation purposes. Watching for sales in your area and following up on the recorded sales price would be recommended to establish the basis for your potential claim. This applies to both residential and commercial property. It is unlikely that the county assessors will be as diligent as they could be in making reductions to appraised values.

Please contact your RINA representative if you have any questions.