Chattooga County Property Assessors Website

ASSESSMENT NOTICE EXPLAINED

Appealing a change in Value based on MARKET VALUE

      Sorry, I searched the Department of Revenue's site for this topic, and other than this ,I couldn't find anything. What follows is my attempt to explain this concept in english (more or less).

     In the simplest terms, to appeal based on Market Value is to deny that your property, if put on the open market, would sell for a value close to the one we've placed on it.

       ITEM OF NOTE: Don't confuse "Market Value" with "worth". We in the Assessors Office make absolutely NO claim that your property is "worth" any value that anyone puts on it -- us included. Nor do we make any guarantee that any property will sell for the value at which we have appraised it. Rather, an appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes tries to reflect what properties similar to yours have typically been selling for over the course of the previous year or so.

     "Fair Market Value" for tax purposes is defined by law (O.C.G.A. 48-5-2(3)) ... but since I've gone to all the trouble to set up this page, let me explain a few of the fine points contained in that definition.

1. The legal concept of "Fair Market Value" presupposes that the Seller is under no pressure to sell his property. He can sell it or not as he chooses ... therefore he can leave it on the market as long as necessary to get the price he wants, or until he gets the best price he thinks he is likely to get.
   
2. It also presupposes that the Buyer has no particular reason to but this property at this time ... rather he can wait until he finds a cheaper property just as good for his purposes, or until he realizes he is going to have to pay more to get what he wants.
   
3. Further, it assumes that Market Value is a trend that can be identified and measured by analyzing sales. No single sale determines Fair Market Value even for a single property. Rather Market Value is determined by the overall price trend based on all the sales of similar property over the course of the last year or so.
   
4. And, of course, it assumes that all the Buyers and Sellers of property in the county know what they are doing in regards to the sale of property.

     Bottom line: when you appeal on the basis of Market Value, the contention is that your property is valued out of line with the typical selling prices of similar properties in the county.