(Washington, DC) — The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) announced today that it has begun to mail tax year 2012 real property tax assessment notices to all real property owners in the District of Columbia. A total of 190,000 taxable and exempt real properties have been reassessed to reflect current market values as of January 1, 2011. Property owners will not be taxed on the new assessed value until March 2012.

The overall change for residential properties is .12 percent. Thirty five percent of properties in this category increased or showed no change in value while 65 percent decreased by some degree. New values indicate a strengthening commercial real property market. Commercial properties show an overall increase of 16.33 percent. The commercial increase in value is attributable to sales and market conditions that reflect improved investor confidence.

Property owners are encouraged to review their assessment notice upon receipt. The 2012 notices contain not only the proposed assessed value for a property, but also the estimated taxable assessment and important information related to property tax relief programs such as the homestead benefit and the owner-occupied residential tax credit. Included on the notice is the assigned assessor’s contact information for taxpayers who wish to discuss their assessment.

Property owners who believe that their assessment is not equitable in comparison with similar properties or that their assessment does not reflect the market value must file an appeal with OTR’s Real Property Tax Administration by or before April 1.

Information about the appeal process and the assessment appeal application is available on OTR’s website at taxpayerservicecenter.com under “Real Property Service Center.”