To understand if your commercial property tax bill is correct, you need to know if the property value used to calculate it is accurate.
Remember that tax appraisers have thousands of properties to assess, so they may not take the time to investigate each property thoroughly. They will often average out things across the area, which could lead to you paying less than you should but can often lead to you paying more than you should.
There are two ways you can check:
- Is it fair and equitable compared to what your neighbors pay?
This is a good place to start. Search what others in a similar location with similar properties are paying. While there will always be slight differences between different pieces of real estate, they need to be in proportion. For example, if your real estate is twice the size of your neighbor, you might expect to pay around twice as much. If you discover your bill is three times higher, you want to ask why.
- The traditional market approach
This requires a more in-depth approach, so if the fair and equitable method suggests something is wrong, this can provide more evidence to back up your theory. There are three methods of calculating this: cost, market or income.
If you believe your property has been overvalued, you can file an appeal for a reduction in your commercial property tax. This can be a lengthy and challenging process, so be sure to get legal help to present your appeal in the best possible way.