Well, hopefully Death is not right on the horizon for any of you dear readers but taxes are a current topic. No, I’m not talking about income taxes….that is SO April 15th–I’m referring to the new property tax appraisal being done this year and being cheerfully delivered to mailboxes all over Davidson Co.

In recent media reports we have been buttered up with news that a re-appraisal is in the works AND that most people can expect their property taxes to GO DOWN in Davidson Co/Metro Nashville!!! Yay! Yet, as these notices were mailed and people opened them in areas 2 and 6 (in real estate parlance, West Nashville and East Nashville) they are discovering that taxes are actually up. Looking at the “heat map” inserted in these tax notices one can see that the Eastside and midtown all the way down the I-65 corridor are the color RED. In fairness much of the rest of Metro looks Blue which indicates that real estate values are not rising as quickly as the RED areas.

So your taxes have gone up (you probably aren’t too concerned about reading this post if your taxes went down right?) and you don’t know what to do about it. My first question is…..”Can you sell your house for what the tax appraisal says it is worth?” If you own an existing house in East Nashville or West Nashville, I bet many of you can sell your house for that amount. If that is the case, you probably won’t get much sympathy from the Board of Equalization when you come in front of them to cry out about the tyranny of your appraisal going up. I bet most appraisals in these areas are 20 or 25% below what a person could sell their house for in those areas even with a spike upwards in the appraisal. However, new construction homes usually are more in line with their tax appraisals. Often the taxing authority looks at what a new house sold for and that is how they base the property tax appraisal. Existing houses tend to lag behind market value–except when it doesn’t. Is that vague enough?

However, if your appraisal went up and you don’t believe you can sell for what they’ve appraised it at (because of no recent renovations, deferred maintenance issues, proof of recent sale lower than appraisal, or major structural issues), you may have a case to appeal their appraisal. You will need to explore the process to do this at the property assessor’s website. You can have an informal review of the tax assessor’s appraisal if you contact them before May 17, 2013. After that you will have to formally come before the Metropolitan Board of Equalization (or if you disagree with what the assessor says at your informal hearing). A hearing before that Board needs to be set up between May 20 and June 21, 2013.

Look on the brightside, if you live in Metro, your taxes are not as low as Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, Cheatham, or Montgomery Counties….but yours are lower than Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis!

Contact us if you have questions about your tax bill or need any comps to help bolster your case to the Board of Equalization.