Bob,

With regard to your appeal options, they each vary in what they are going to cost you... Option 1) You can file the appeal yourself, so it will only cost you time and effort; Options 2 & 3) Arbitration will most likely cost you 1/2 of the Total of the Appraisal Fee, Arbitrator Costs & Court Costs; however, I am not clear if these are Flat Fees or the County will "tally" up the bill and split with you after the decision has been rendered.

Either way you go, you will be better served and have a higher chance of success if you have someone educated in this process to handle this arduous task for you. I would seriously consider letting Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, Inc., which is a non-profit organization, represent you. As a resident of Fulton County (Sandy Springs), they contacted me earlier this year offering a review of my assessment by a Licensed Appraiser ($150 Value) to determine if I had grounds for an appeal in exchange for joining their foundation. Their annual membership fee is only $50. Their fee for representing you is based on the market value of your house which will either be $300 or $400. All monies paid to them are tax deductible since they are a registered non-profit.

If you visit their website http://(www.fctf.org), you can download a letter template if you would like to file an appeal yourself. Otherwise, you can have them represent you right out of the gate. I would give them a call and hear what they can do for you right from the "horse's mouth". Remember, you must file within 45 days of receiving your appeal!

Good luck!!!

Bob,

What do your neighbors recommend? Are you teaming up?

Have you been to the Fulton County Taxpayers' Foundation website? All they do is fight this kind of monkey business.

I wrote an article in the attached web reference about my plight with Dekalb, and my assessed value dropped from $494000 to $417000, with one simple appeal, in less than 2 months.

I don't know about your Fulton roadblocks, but they start with philosophical and systematic changes that government folks just do not adapt to very well. This cut and paste from an AJC article cited in my February post, includes a quote from your chief appraiser:

"Assessors and local officials fear including discounted sales will drive down assessed values and cost local governments millions in tax revenues. Assessors also struggle with the idea because it’s such a drastic change in a system that’s designed to record gradual increases in values, not sharp decreases.

Fulton’s chief appraiser, Burt Manning, said he’s never seen a market so volatile.

“You are telling me something in this legislation that is contrary to fair market value,” Manning said. “I can’t balance that with what I know. Right now, the appraisal procedures manual tell us to ignore distressed sales.”

I'm surprised that you have options this late in the year - I say go for the binding arbitration and get the process over with, but attempt class action with a show of force on your street.

The costs should be only your time and due diligence in research and in follow up.