Effective Tips for Non-Residential Property Owners
Most public relations materials from local assessment offices are focused toward residential property owners. Although a majority of the properties they assess may be residential, the tax payers in the community who have the largest tax burden (as measured by assessed values) are non-residential property owners. Non-residential properties include multi-family apartments, office buildings, retail and service facilities, office buildings, industrial complexes, shopping centers, special use properties, etc. While agricultural land and farm operations are also non-residential property, they will not be covered in this article.
The following tips are intended for non-residential property owners who want to develop a working relationship with their local assessor in order to understand the assessment process and be able to effectively challenge the assessment should it be necessary.
1. Make an appointment to visit your local assessor’s office. The purpose of your visit will be to introduce yourself and others with your company that will be familiar with real estate tax compliance and to gather the information that is described in greater detail below and in other articles in this series.
2. Review the current assessments records related to your property. You’ll want to have a complete copy of the assessment records that the assessor has on file in his office that are available to the public. Minimally, you should except to get a copy of a tax assessment map showing the boundaries of your property, abutting properties, and streets and alleys, and a copy of the assessment record card or computer printout that shows the assessment history of your property, year built, square foot size, zoning, etc. The next article in this series will explain how to you can approach the assessor about correcting any errors in the characteristics of your property.
3. Ask about real estate assessment and tax abatements, deferrals, and exemptions. The qualifications for assessment and real estate tax abatements, deferrals, and exemptions vary by state or province, and can even vary by city and county within a state or province. Some states and provinces have enacted special provisions to promote local business, encourage new businesses to relocate to their community, and even to retain current businesses and industry.
4. Comply with any requests from the local assessor’s office. Either during your initial visit to the assessor’s office (item 1 above) or before, ask the assessor if there have been requests for information sent to you for reply. Assessors typically keep a mailing list that shows which owners did or did not comply with their requests for income and expense information or sale verification questionnaires, and similar requests. In many state, if you have not complied with requests from the assessor for certain information you are barred from using such information to challenge the assessment.
5. Determine important deadlines for property assessments and taxes. You will want to know the following dates:
- The effective date for the last reassessment and upcoming reassessments
- The deadline for filing a request to have the local assessor’s office review your assessment (current or any upcoming reassessment)
- The deadline for filing an assessment appeal with the appeal body (board of assessors, board of equalization, board of review, etc.) related to your assessment (current or any upcoming reassessment)
- Real estate tax due dates (the annual tax is typically divided into two or more installments during the tax year)
- The deadlines for filing routine requests for assessment information (for compliance with the assessor’s request for income and expense information, sale verification, etc.)
About this series: This article is the first in a series that will focus on property assessment and tax information for non-residential property owners. Each article will include advice, tips, and suggestions for non-residential property owners who want to develop a working relationship with their local assessor in order to understand the assessment process, develop an efficient system for compliance with assessment procedures, and be able to effectively challenge the assessment should it be necessary.
A sample of upcoming article topics includes:
Correcting errors in property assessment characteristics
Develop a calendar for property tax compliance and monitoring
Filing a request for review of assessment with the local assessor’s office
About the author: Richard L. Sanderson has more than 30 years experience in property assessment administration, with over 25 years of that experience as the manager of property tax assessment offices in Michigan and Virginia. Non-residential property valuation experience includes complex commercial, industrial, and special use properties (including real estate owned by The Dow Chemical Company, an abandoned nuclear power plant, air rights above Washington D.C. Metrorail stations, and operating railroad corridors).
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