Expect property taxes to go up this year

Most residents in Escambia County (Ala.) will see an increase in their property taxes this year due to the cost in the housing market going up.

Tax Assessor Thad Moore, Jr., said most property owners should see an increase based on market values and property owners should have already received or will receive a notice in the mail saying what their new tax bill will be.

“A lot of values are going up because the real estate market has gone up,” Moore said.

Moore added that if people think the value of their house or land is appraised too high they have options.

Alabama is going through its four-year reappraisal process mandated by state law and Moore noted most will see an increase in their property taxes due to the increase of of property values.

Moore noted that the property values in Escambia County totaled $22 million last year and have jumped to $35 million from sales recorded October, 2020 to October, 2021.

Tax bills now coming will be based own ownership from ownership as of Oct. 1, 2021.

“Every four years our county goes through what is called a ‘re-appraisal’ year,” Moore said. ‘This is mandated by the Alabama Department of Revenue.”

Moore said because the real estate values were so high he asked the department of revenue to wait on the re-appraisals in Escambia County.

“I was hoping that values would level off before having a significant impact on property values,” Moore said. “’The department of revenue declined and said this happens every four years by calendar and that is something that can’t be adjusted.

Moore said 25 percent of the counties in Alabama go through re-appraisal each year and added that the department of revenue doesn’t alter the schedule.

He said while the department of revenue analysis was based on a building cost index study, he knew there would be an increase because building materials were so high last year.

“Although I was expecting a large increase in building costs, I was surprised by the amount of the increase indicated in the study.”

Moore said the department of revenue asked him to sign off on the new building cost index values for Escambia County.

Moore said Escambia was the only county in Alabama that refused to sign the state mandate of higher appraisals.

“I refused to sign off on those figures and checked their study for accuracy and found additional data to add to their study,” Moore said. “I was able to present the department of revenue with evidence that would lower their proposed increase by 50 percent.”

Moore said weeks later the department of revenue presented him with a new land value schedule for Escambia County and asked him again to sign off on the values.

“I again expressed that I thought the values were too high and then conducted my own analysis of their findings,” Moore said. “After going back and forth with the department of revenue over a few weeks they took a new look a their study and agreed to lower the amount of increase in land values.”

Moore said land values are based on a schedule based on a sales ratio of property in certain areas that can either go up or down depending on the sales ratio.

“Although the real estate market in Escambia County increased significantly during the most recent tax year, we were able to mitigate the amount of many of the increases to lower people’s taxes,” Moore said.

“In fact, the area supervisor said I was the only elected official she knew of who didn’t sign off on their studies immediately,” Moore said.

Moore added that once people receive the statement telling them what their property taxes will be this year, there are avenues to protest the tax amount.

“If we are wrong, we want to fix it,” Moore said.

The first step if someone feels their property tax bill is too high is to call the appraisal department at 251-867-9168 and the appeal will be looked into.

“Our office is responsible for values on more than 30,000 properties in Escambia County each year,” Moore said. “In instances where we have made mistakes in value, we certainly have no problem making corrections.”

Moore said if property owners don’t get the answer they are looking for at the appraisal department, he will look at those cases personally.

If still not satisfied, property owners can then appeal to the board of equalization for a formal hearing. After that the appeal can be taken to court.

“In instances we have made mistakes in value, we certainly have no problem making corrections,” Moore said.