Office of Tax and Revenue: Press Release

Office of Tax & Revenue Helps Property Owners Understand New Assessment Process

WASHINGTON, DC - The DC Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) is currently mailing assessment notices to one-third of District of Columbia properties, including neighborhoods such as Anacostia, Cleveland Park, and Kalorama. Owners receiving new assessment notices will not receive tax bills until March 2002. The return to annual assessments, which recently became law, also will not affect the District's residential real property rate, which continues to be the lowest in the Washington Metropolitan Area - 96 cents per $100 of assessed value.

OTR is providing public education and assistance to help property owners understand and manage under the new assessment process. A new information guide is available as well as a special telephone number, (202) 727-9138, for the agency to receive inquiries about real property assessments. Assessors and other OTR staff are scheduled to speak at a number of community meetings.

In making the change, city lawmakers noted the increases in the city's commercial and residential real estate markets over the last three years. Annual assessments, they said, should better reflect the reality of the market.

"There are a few very desirable areas, or hot markets, where increases in assessments reflect a surge in real estate market activity," said Herbert J. Huff, Deputy Chief Financial Officer. "But of the 50,000 properties recently assessed, most saw only modest increases." Huff noted that the District's real property law requires OTR to assess at 100 percent of the market value. "Assessments are done fairly and efficiently, with only like properties compared to one another," he said.

The new law provides for a return to annual assessments by phasing out the current triennial assessment process. However, any property in the midst of the first three-year triennial assessment cycle will be allowed to complete the cycle before annual valuation begins.

The Office of Tax and Revenue is ready to make the conversion easier for everyone by providing:

Public outreach and education to help District property owners understand both the real property valuation and assessment process;

Assessment roll information and real estate market data on the Internet for viewing assessment uniformity between like types of property, and more timely adjustments of the District's real property assessments to current value; and,

Timely and equitable distribution of the real property tax burden across the entire real property tax base of the District of Columbia.

"The goal is to educate District property owners on the annual assessment process, the appeals process and eligibility for tax property relief programs," Huff said.

Tax relief programs for which owner occupied property owners may be eligible include the Homestead Deduction, the Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief and the Lower Income Home Ownership Tax Abatement. These programs provide tax relief by reducing tax burdens.

The Homestead Deduction reduces owner occupied (Class 1) residential real property assessments by $30,000 of assessed value. The Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief program lessens the real property tax liability by one-half for property owners 65 years of age or older whose combined household income is under $100,000. Also, there is a Lower Income Home Ownership Tax Abatement program that provides a five-year tax abatement from real property tax and exemption from recordation and transfer taxes for property owners with certain income levels.

There is an assessment appeals process available for property owners who believe the new value on the assessment notice does not reflect the market value of their property. The assessment appeals process consists of three levels. The first level is an informal meeting with an assessor. At this meeting the property owner may share information about the property value, characteristics, and condition with the assessor. The assessor may explain the valuation of the property. The property owner will receive a written notice of the final determination of the first level assessor appeal.

If the property owner disagrees with the resulting property value from the assessor, he or she may then appeal to the Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals (Board). If after appealing to the Board, the property owner still disagrees with the value, he or she may appeal to the Superior Court.

Property owners must begin the appeal process at the first level of appeal and then proceed to the next levels.

"A successful appeal requires meaningful and accurate supporting factual information, beyond information based on opinion," said Henry Riley, Director of the Real Property Tax Administration.

To begin the appeal process, property owners are requested to complete and return the Real Property Administrative Appeal application that will be mailed with their assessment notice. A property owner may also mail a letter requesting an assessment appeal. The letter should include the property address, parcel, square, suffix and lot numbers, daytime telephone number, and any documentation to support the value.

Appeal applications or appeal letters should be sent to the Government of the District of Columbia, Real Property Assessment Administration, Attention: Appeals Section, P.O. Box 176, Washington, DC 20044. You can also request to receive an application by fax by calling (202) 727-4TAX.