Look closely at your property tax bill. You will notice it contains various charges in addition to the general tax levy. These charges are known as Direct Assessments (and are not related to the value of your property.) They include fees for services such as sewer maintenance, flood control and street lighting.
Although they show up on your property tax bill, the County Assessor does not determine these fees. Rather, they are charged by various service districts within the county. Each assessing district is governed by its own set of policies, ordinances and methods of calculation.
Overcharges can occur in a variety of ways. First, there can simply be errors in the calculations. Or the data affecting those calculations may be faulty. Also, assessing districts take a mass approach to apportioning the cost of their services to the property owners they serve. Unfortunately, that means the fees they charge are not specific to the benefit you receive.
The great diversity of these direct assessments is exactly why many inequities go undetected. Many property tax professionals focus on the valuation side of the tax bill and do not have a working knowledge of these complex, non-value related fees. You need an expert in direct assessments on your team.
Our staff at State Tax Management specializes in Direct Assessment analysis. Our initial free evaluation is simple yet affective in determining whether your property merits a full direct assessment review. Do not let legitimate tax savings go unclaimed.
Get the process started by contacting us today.
