CGA Law News & Blog

Real Estate Tax Assessment Appeals

access_time Posted on: June 20th, 2011

Time to Do Some Investigating

CGA Law Firm Attorney; Frank Countess

In these challenging economic times, it seems there is no shortage of bad news.  Taxes are increasing while the value of your home, at least on paper, is substantially less than what it was a few years ago.  In the midst of these challenges there may be a silver lining in that your residential, commercial, or industrial real estate may have significantly dropped in value since the last county-wide assessment was performed for York County in 2005. Accordingly, it might be worthwhile investigating whether your assessment should also be decreased.   

Additionally, very few people are aware that the assessed value shown on your real estate tax bills are effectively multiplied by 1.25 by the local Taxing Authorities when effectively calculating your tax bills.  This is done to make-up for the perceived inflationary increase in value on real estate in York County since 2005 when the last assessment was performed.  Many residents of York County are finding that their property did not appreciate 25% since 2005 and in fact as a result they are entitled to tax relief in the form of lowering their real estate tax assessment. 

The process for filing a tax assessment appeal for real estate in York County is not a complicated process if you are familiar with the civil procedures of the appeal process and possess expertise in the real estate appraisal process.  Here at CGA Law Firm we possess all of the expertise and skills necessary to guide you through this process as quickly and as cost efficiently as possible.  Keep in mind the annual deadline for filing a tax assessment appeal is August 1, 2011.    

The legal fees and costs associated with the process are typically a fraction of one year’s worth of real estate tax savings.  If you are interested in a consultation to discuss your property and the tax assessment appeals process, please contact CGA’s real estate department at 717-848-4900.