May 20, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Your Money Team: Cut Your Property Taxes
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
In these tight financial times, you are probably watching every dollar. But are you watching your taxes? You should! 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan shows us how you can challenge your property assessment and possibly save on your taxes.
It's your biggest investment and one of your biggest bills: your house and your property tax.
Giuseppe Palmarini got both when he bought his Delaware County home in 2003.
"We bought the house when the market was on the upswing, and then there was a collapse," said Palmarini.
An attorney suggested Palmarini appeal his property assessment. So he did, and the county changed his assessment from about $393,000 to about $282,000. That cut his taxes by $3000 a year.
"Ecstatic," Palmarini said. "It's like money found."
For decades, county assessors have estimated how much your home is worth, then used that to set your taxes. But now that houses are dropping in value, your home might not be worth what the county assessor thinks it's worth. So people are appealing their assessments.
"They're successful quite often," said James Byrne, Jr., solicitor for the Delaware County Board of Assessment Appeals. "If you look at 2008, we had about 1015 appeals. Of those, there were 757 that were approved by the board."
Palmarini's attorney, Donald J. Weiss, says homeowners should review their assessments, especially if they have a newer home.
"The houses that are the worst ones are houses built since 2002," said Weiss. "They're almost all over-assessed."
Even though the deadline to appeal this year has passed in New Jersey and Delaware, you can start laying the groundwork now by getting your assessment.
Weiss says the key to a successful appeal is a professional appraisal to determine your property's fair market value.
It can cost several hundred dollars, but it might pay for itself.
"Because you're talking about a lot of money in my opinion," said Weiss. "If you're off by $200 a year, that's $200 a year."
To Giuseppe Palmarini, paying for an appraisal and an attorney was worth it.
"Everyone should have to pay their taxes, but no one should have to overpay their taxes," he said.
In many counties in our viewing area, you can file an appeal any time, but they must be received by a certain deadline for each tax year.
Appeals filed now in Pennsylvania can help cut your taxes starting in 2010.
You'll be able to file for New Jersey until April 1 of next year.
Each of Delaware's three counties has different deadline dates (see below).
The exception to those deadlines: if your property has recently undergone an assessment revision, sometimes called an interim assessment. If you have recently been reassessed, check your assessment revision notice for the deadline to appeal your new assessment.
RELATED LINKS:
PENNSYLVANIA:
Bucks County:
The deadline for filing an annual assessment appeal is August 1.
Philadelphia County:
The deadline to file with the Board of Revision of Taxes, or BRT, is no later than the first Monday of October of the year preceding the tax year for which the revision is requested. Appeals for 2010 would be due Monday, October 5, 2009.
Chester County:
Annual assessment appeals may be filed starting May 1 through the first business day in August (this year, August 3rd).
Delaware County:
The deadline for filing an annual assessment appeal is the first business day in August (this year, August 3rd).
Montgomery County:
The deadline for filing an annual assessment appeal is September 1.
Lehigh County:
The deadline for filing an annual assessment appeal is the first business day in August (this year, August 3rd).
NEW JERSEY:
New Jersey residents throughout the state have until April 1 of the tax year to appeal an assessment, unless there has been a municipal-wide revaluation or municipal-wide reassessment. Then the appeal filing deadline is extended to May 1. The window has closed for this tax year, but check into the process for next year at your county's Board of Taxation:
New Jersey Guide To Tax Appeal Hearings
Atlantic County
Burlington County
Camden County:
The Camden County Board of Taxation can be reached at 856-225-5238.
Cape May County
Gloucester County
Mercer County
Ocean County
Salem County
DELAWARE:
Property Tax Information for the State of Delaware
New Castle County
The deadline for filing an annual assessment appeal is March 15 each year.
Sussex County
The county suggests sending in annual assessment appeal forms by March 1, although by law, they are required to hear cases until the end of their mandated board hearing period (15 working days into March).
Kent County
Appeals of the annual assessment must be received in the assessment office by January 31 in order to affect taxes for the next tax year, which begins June 1.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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