In Jefferson County, about half of the property tax evaluations that are protested are reduced. One local man is using his experience to make challenging property taxes easier.
If you own property, then you know about the yellow card. It comes every year complete with estimated property taxes to be paid. But in many cases those estimated taxes may be too high.
The reason?
The county only physically examines your property every four years. That means only 25% of the homes in Jefferson County are ever examined at one time. Otis Brown serves as director for the Jefferson County Board of Equalizations. He says rating the other 75% of properties comes down to court records.
"The values are determined by the sales that are recorded in probate court," said Brown.
As a result, thousands of property taxes are protested each year. That's something Blake Ballentine is doing on this day.
"I'd hate to fight and lose, so I'm going to do my research and see what I can do."
Much of that research has already been done by Michael Pfaff. He spent two years struggling just to understand how property values are determined.
"I went down there after my property evaluation went up 50% and just asked them to explain how they develop this price for my land and they refused to do that," said Pfaff.
Part of the tax increase comes down to incorrect values Pfaff says were on record with the department of equalization.
“Such things, as square footage, I found was wrong on my house. I was being significantly overtaxed on that," said Pfaff.
Pfaff says he also found that the BOE was not taking into consideration the age of his home and the resulting depreciation. But finding those values took more work than Pfaff says the average person would be willing to do. And that's why he took his knew knowledge into cyberspace.
"I took it upon myself to research it, and because my background is information systems, I was able to produce a website that explains as much as I can how the valuation process takes place," said Pfaff.
Pfaff says his Web site, www.alproptax.org, is saving others from the aggravation he's gone through. And he's got the letters to prove it. And now with the information out there, Pfaff says he's taking the next step, a step that will require help from Montgomery.
"I think there is a bigger issue. The lack of audibility of the property tax process leads to potential corruption and somebody’s got to look at this," said Pfaff.
You only have 30 days from the date property tax appraisal notices are issued to protest that tax. In Jefferson County, that makes the deadline July 9, 2009.
More Deadlines:Bibb, July 20
Blount, August 17
Calhoun, July 22
Cherokee, Date Not Set
Chilton, June 30
Clay, Date Not Set
Cullman, Late July
Jefferson, July 9
Etowah, July 27
Fayette, July 23
Greene, Date Not Set
Marion, July 3
Pickens, Date Not Set
Shelby, July 17
St. Clair, July 8
Talladega, Date Not Set
Tuscaloosa, June 19
Walker, July 15
Winston, June 8
