(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 176,000 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 2006. 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 reflect the strong real estate market the District has experienced over the past several years," said Daniel L. Black Jr., deputy chief financial officer. "The District and surrounding region continues to remain one of the strongest in the country, and the commercial market here ranks as one of the top investment cities in the world."
Proposed assessments of properties in the District, on average, will increase approximately 15 percent over the previous year's assessment. Current legislation provides for an owner-occupied residential tax credit. It is a credit applied against the tax due on the portion of the reassessment exceeding 12 percent from the prior year. The credit does not reduce the assessed value of the property on the tax rolls or the assessment notice, but will appear as an automatic credit on the tax bill.
"Not all properties will change in value by the same rate," said Thomas Branham, chief assessor and OTR's acting director of the Real Property Tax Administration. "We are conducting more property-specific appraisals than in the past, making values more equitable and reflective of the market. Continued low interest rates, along with a stronger economy, have increased the demand for the limited supply of housing in the District."
Residential assessments are determined from the analysis of approximately 10,000 recent sales occurring within the 128 neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods throughout the District, as established by OTR. The levels of assessment increases are similar to those experienced by other jurisdictions in the Washington metropolitan area. Arlington County reports the increase in residential assessments to be 24 percent over 2004's average assessments. A portion of Montgomery County, not having been reassessed for the past three years, has increased 65.1 percent for residential properties, for an annualized rate of just over 21 percent. Maryland's annualized statewide increase over last year's assessments is 15.5 percent.
The Notice of Proposed Real Property Assessment contains not only proposed assessed value information, but important information related to property tax relief programs such as 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 on or before the April 1, 2005, deadline. The appeal process begins when a property owner submits an appeal application to OTR. Information about the appeal process and the appeal application is available on this website and at libraries and fire stations throughout the District.
