Homeowners flock to challenge tax appraisals

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thousands of Gwinnett and DeKalb property owners filed property tax returns on Monday, the last day for taxpayers wishing to challenge their 2010 appraisals.

The tax return process enables property owners to tell the county what they think their property is worth compared to the value the county has set. The deadline for filing a return in DeKalb and Gwinnett was Monday; the deadline in Fulton, Cobb and Clayton is April 1.

During the past five days, Gwinnett County has handled about 8,000 returns, about 2,500 of them Monday, according to Chad Teague, division manager for the Gwinnett Board of Tax Assessors.  Last year, the county processed about 16,000 forms. Teague estimated that, by the time all forms are received this week, the total will exceed 22,000.

The numbers in DeKalb were lower. Chief appraiser Calvin Hicks said his office had received 7,912 returns as of Friday, with about 2,600 arriving on Friday alone. But Monday was just as busy, Hicks said.

"We've redirected staff, using all the resources we have to make sure the wait is as small a time frame as we can make it," Hicks said. "But I don't think there's a tremendous backlog as I walk down and assess the traffic."

Taxpayers typically file a return in the current year because they were dissatisfied with last year's valuation. Assessors review the return and decide whether to change the valuation; if they don't agree with the taxpayer on the property's value, the taxpayer has an automatic right to appeal. The Journal-Constitution, which completed an exhaustive analysis of more than 500,000 property records late last year, reported in December that tens of thousands of residential properties across metro Atlanta were overvalued in 2009.

Teague said Gwinnett began preparing weeks ago because the assessors office has lost almost half its employees in the past year. The department went from 64 to 37 employees because of cost-cutting measures in 2009.

A team of 10 finance staff walked through the office and reviewed the process from the citizen’s perspective to identify how to improve, eliminate wasted time and increase efficiency, Teague said. The result was a simplified form and an assembly-line arrangement of tables staffed in the hallway so walk-ins could get a printout of their appraisal, sign a return and drop it off. The process took about two minutes.

"We have had numerous citizens thank us for making it easy, so the results have been good from our perspective," Teague said.