The number of appeals filed by property owners objecting to their reassessments jumped along with the rise in property values this year.
Nearly three times more property tax appeals were filed this spring with the Hamilton County Board of Equalization than were filed in the previous reappraisal four years ago. Hamilton County Assessor Marty Haynes said the 5-member appeals board is hearing 595 cases this month, up from fewer than 200 in the 2017 reappraisal.
The rise reflects taxpayer concerns over the increase in assessed property values in the county, which rose about 29% for residential properties and more than 21% for commercial properties, Haynes said.
Henry Glacock, a Chattanooga real estate appraiser for more than four decades, said the increases in property values “are probably as great as what I have seen since I got in this business,” reflecting the historically low mortgage rates and an influx of interest in buying properties from outside investors and others with extra cash from many of the stimulus measures adopted last year.
“Chattanooga has been an historically under priced market for real estate,” Glascock said. “We are seeing more interest in both people moving here and investing here and that has tended to also bid up property prices.”
Despite the increase in reappraisal, Haynes said the great majority of people who initially called the assessor’s office this spring didn’t file a formal appeal after appraisers explained the overall growth in the market and Tennessee’s requirement that local governments roll back the property tax rate to offset the higher assessment.
“There was a lot of sticker shock this year when people first got their assessments in the mail,” Haynes said. “We’re experiencing what most counties that are in reappraisal this year are seeing.”
Haynes said the county received about 14,000 calls, emails and in-person visits from property owners initially concerned about their reappraised property values from the county.
“For the most part, once people realized that values of nearly all properties are going up, and that as those values go up tax rates have to come down, they were usually OK with that,” Haynes said. “When we showed people the comparable sales we used for their neighborhood, it seemed to help them understand their values much better.”
Among all 158,000 properties assessed in the county, the 595 appeals of the new appraisals represents less than 0.4% of all properties. Haynes said five property owners who collectively own nearly 200 properties accounted for 40% of the appeals.
The number of reappraisal appeals this year is the highest since 2009 when there were more than 1,500 appeals in Hamilton County, Haynes said.
“The 2021 property value reappraisal process has been very busy but not overwhelming,” he said. “As of today, it appears the (county appeals) board possibly may adjourn next Friday, July 2.”
Haynes said his office uses data from each neighborhood to compare property values in each area, “but we’re not allowed in anyone’s homes” so some of the individual variation on the condition of a property may need to be adjusted to better reflect true value.
The decisions by the citizens appointed by the city and county to the local appeals board may be further appealed to the Tennessee Board of Equalization or an administrative law judge.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.