Kathy & Ben
On January 1, 2011, several changes were made regarding Georgia property taxes. These changes come from the passage of SB 346 last year. The bill titled, Property Tax Assessment and Appeals Reform Bill was authored by Senator Chip Rogers (R- Woodstock).{[}]{[}]
Highlights of the bill are:{[}]
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- Property owners have 45 days to file an assessment appeal rather than 30 days.
- Property purchased during 2010 for less than the county assessment of record value will be taxed in 2011 at the sale price of the home: however, if the purchase price is higher than the county assessment the county cannot raise the taxable value. Example – if you bought a $300,000 house in foreclosure for only $150,000, the county can only tax you for $150,000.
- Each county is required to send every taxpayer an assessment notice each year, whether there has been a change in value or not. Notices go out at the beginning of summer. Property owners can request a reappraisal of their property at that time, without being required to file a tax return.
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{[}]Congratulations if you purchased a home in 2010, you may have gotten a tax decrease. At the time of this writing, we do not know if this will also hold true for homes purchased in 2011 – as soon as we can find out this information we will update you with additional information.