Tax Assessments

Your Property Tax Assessment is not the same thing as Appraised Value or Market Value. Generally it is the lower of the mentioned values as your assessment is simply a broad estimate of market value done in the previous year, and is determined by the City as a way to meet their budget and fund community services for the coming year. Your Tax Assessment was done without viewing your home and typically no consideration given to improvements or upgrades, or if there has been significant deterioration. Most Home owners will receive their property tax notice in January, and then the actual bill sometime in May, with the deadline for payment by the end of June. This lag time of six months gives the home owner the opportunity to dispute the assessed amount (ie, lower assessed value means you pay less property tax) but it is not a course I recommend as saving a couple of bucks a year on your property tax generally does not out-weigh the benefit of having a higher assessed value when it comes time to sell.