subject: How To Lower Your Real Estate Taxes [print this page] We all pay taxes, and we all pay too muchWe all pay taxes, and we all pay too much. Real Estate taxes are the same; everyone pays them and everyone pays too much. Unlike most other taxes you may be able to lower your real estate taxes.
Real Estate taxes are a total of the various taxing entities that assess taxes on your property. These may include counties, cities, school districts, and special districts. In many areas these taxes are all collected by the local county and disbursed to the other taxing entities.
Each taxing entity sets its own tax rates. You can attend the annual public hearing to voice your opinion on the tax rates they set, but this is not the best way to lower your taxes. The taxing entity will set the rate based on how much money they think they need. Your protest is usually a waste of time.
Challenging the market value of your property, as determined by the county, is the way to lower your taxes. Each property is appraised and the tax rates for the taxing entities is applied to that appraised value. By having the appraised value on your property lowered, the taxes will be lowered. The county or city sets the property value which all the other taxing entities use. They are supposed to use the actual value of the property but for a variety of reason the value they set may be incorrect.
One Warning. If the county's value is less than the actual value of your property, count your blessings, and do nothing. Anything you do will raise your taxes. On the other hand, if the value set by the county or city is higher than the actual value you can do something about it, but you must do it the right way.
I have seen people approach a county and ask for their property taxes to be lowered. Their reason may be "I think they are too high" or "You raised them by 20%", these won't work, you need proof that will force the county to lower the taxes. You need to prove the property value the county has established is wrong.
If you purchased the property recently you can use your closing documents, which shows the purchase price, to prove the counties value is too high. If you have owned it for some time you will need a property appraisal to prove their assessed value is too high. The county doesn't like to lower values as it lowers their tax revenue, so you need be firm and have your proof when presenting your complaint.
With the recent banking crisis and collapse of real estate prices it is likely that your taxes are too high. The county is required to assess your property at its actual market value. If you can prove they have assessed it too high they are required to lower it, which will lower your taxes. Use your recent closing documents or an appraisal to prove that the county assessed value is too high
