NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2004 DC's Assessments Reflect Continued Strength in Real Estate Market (Washington, DC) The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) announced today that assessment notices are being mailed to all real property owners in the District of Columbia. A total of 173,000 taxable and exempt real properties have been reassessed to reflect current market value. Property owners receiving new assessment notices will not be taxed on the new assessed value until March 2005. The District's owner-occupied real property tax rate continues to be the lowest in the Washington metropolitan area at 96 cents per $100 of assessed value. “These assessments continue to reflect the strong real estate market in the District over the past several years,” said Daniel L. Black Jr., deputy chief financial officer for tax and revenue. “The District continues to remain one of the strongest markets in the country, and the commercial market here ranks as the number one investment city in the world.” Proposed assessments of properties in the District, on average, will increase approximately 12.2 percent over the previous year’s assessment. “Not all properties will change in value by the same rate,” said Thomas Branham, OTR's chief assessor. “We are conducting more property-specific appraisals than in the past, making values more equitable and reflective of the market.” Assessment Changes by Neighborhood from Tax Year 2004 to 2005* Residential assessments are determined by the analysis of recent sales occurring within the 128 neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods throughout the District, as established by the OTR. The levels of assessment increases are similar to those experienced by other jurisdictions in the Washington metropolitan area. Arlington County estimates its increase in residential assessments to be 17 percent over 2003’s average assessment. A portion of Montgomery County, not having been reassessed for the past three years, reports a 52 percent increase for residential properties, for an annualized rate of just over 17 percent. The Notice of Proposed Real Property Assessment contains not only proposed assessed value information, but important information related to new tax law changes affecting the homestead deduction and the owner-occupied residential tax credit. Also included on the notice is contact information for the taxpayer that wishes to discuss the assessment with their assessor. District property owners who believe their proposed assessment does not reflect the market value of their property are encouraged to file an appeal by the April 1, 2004 deadline. The appeal process begins when a property owner submits an appeal application to OTR. Information about the appeal process and the appeal application are available at libraries and fire stations throughout the District and on OTR's Web site. Page 1 of 2      1  2  * This document is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF) and a PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF reader or learn more about PDFs.