Hiring Help on Property Taxes
My Yahoo!Finance column that posts August 7 looks at the silver lining in the real estate downturn: The possibility of challenging your property tax assessment. Some jurisdictions make the process incredibly easy – even sending you the form to fill out to make your case. Others are complex, have tight deadlines, and don’t tell you exactly what proof is required.
For example, in my home state of New Jersey, the state relies on a “presumption of validity” standard – in other words, the tax assessor is always right unless you can prove him wrong. The homeowner’s evidence has to be “definite, positive and certain in quality and quantity to overcome the presumption” – which in terms of grounds for protest, has to be about as vague as it comes. (For instance, see this 2007 Superior Court ruling for an example of a Jersey man who bought a property for $40,000 in 1991, and the county reassessed its value at $360,000 in 2004. He appealed. And lost. Ouch.)
In that case, you may want to hire an attorney or other tax consultant to protest your assessment. Tap colleagues, friends and family first for recommendations. When you contact the attorney, ask for four to five references and documentation of his case record (you can also obtain this at the county government offices.) The attorney should be a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers, the group of professionals who do tax assessing. Ask how his fees are structured, and whether he would be willing to work on a contingency basis (a percentage of the tax reduction).
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