Property Tax Appeals Due Tuesday

If you bought a Manhattan Beach home in the last few years and it has fallen in value, you're entitled to a partial property tax refund—but only if you file an appeal with the Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board by Tuesday, Nov. 30.

The property taxes you pay are primarily based on your home's assessed value as determined by the County Assessor. This value is mailed to residents around the middle of the year.

If you disagree with the assessed value of your property, you can appeal that value to the Assessment Appeals Board.

You may file your appeal online here. Or you can fill out an application and file in person at the Assessment Appeals Office, 500 W. Temple St., Room B4, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Be sure to include your property's parcel number. This can be found on your property tax bill.

Remember, the Nov. 30 filing deadline is for the 2010-11 tax year. That means you should consider the assessed value of your home as of Jan. 1, 2010.

Question four of the appeal asks for your opinion of your home's value. The question refers to your home's value on Jan. 1, 2010. A common error when answering this question, according to the assessor's office, is for applicants to write down their estimates of the current value of their home.

How can you accurately estimate your home's value as of 11 months ago?

If you have a friend who is a realtor, ask him or her to run a search of comparable home sales from around Jan. 1 on the Multiple Listing Service, which is an industry database of home sales. Make sure the home sales chosen are truly comparable to yours in size, location and condition.

You can also look at Zillow.com, a free website that estimates property values and tracks home sales. Property sale information on Zillow is reliable because it is taken from public records.

It may take a bit of searching to find homes that were sold around Jan. 1, but it can be done. I used this site to find the information I needed for my appeal, which is relatively easy and there is no need to hire an outside firm or lawyer to do so. 

I filed an appeal last year, suggesting that my property had fallen 20 percent in value. The assessor agreed to lower the value by 17 percent. I received a refund of about 17 percent of the property tax I had paid for that year.

My appeal went before an Assessment Hearing Officer and I felt that I was treated fairly. Question nine of the appeal form asks if you are willing to have your hearing conducted by an Assessment Hearing Officer rather than the formal Assessment Appeals Board. If you check "yes," your appeal will be heard faster. 

Whether you file online, mail your application in or deliver it in person, make sure you keep a copy. And then be prepared to wait.

Many property tax appeals are being filed, it can take six months or more to hear back from the assessor's office with a date for your appeal. Once you have that date, you will need to fill out additional forms.

If you win your case, which is likely if you follow all directions closely, it will take about six months for your refund to arrive.

In the meantime, avoid penalties by making sure you pay the entirety of your current property tax. The payment for the first half of the 2010-11 tax year is due Dec. 10, 2010.