New Maryland Property Tax Assessments Deadline to Appeal is Early February 2015
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New Maryland Property Tax Assessments Deadline to Appeal is Early February 2015

Posted December 1, 2014 at 2:45 PM

Business & Tax, Litigation, Maryland Property Tax News, Real Estate

Every three years, one-third of the residential and commercial properties in Maryland are reassessed for property tax purposes. The assessments are staggered and rotate geographically within each county. For example, in Montgomery County, commercial properties located in Rockville and Gaithersburg will receive new notices of assessment for 2015. In Frederick County, commercial properties in Thurmont, Emmitsburg and parts of the City of Frederick will receive new assessment notices. In Prince George’s County, notices will be sent to commercial properties in Temple Hills, Capitol Heights, District Heights, Clinton, Suitland, Lanham, Landover and Bladensburg.

On or about December 26, a new assessment notice will be mailed by the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT) to the property owner’s designated mailing address. If the owner is dissatisfied with the assessment the owner has 45 days from the date of the notice to file an appeal. For notices being mailed this year, the appeal deadline should fall on Monday, February 9, 2015.

Owners should file an appeal if they believe the assessment exceeds the fair market value. For income producing properties this could be based on a reduced cash flow to the property, higher tenant vacancies, increased operating expenses or increased risk in the marketplace resulting in higher capitalization rates. Also, there may be miscalculations by the assessor, poor evaluations of comparable sales, a flawed cost approach to value, regulatory restrictions (such as downzoning the property), a refusal by the county to re-zone the property or the failure to consider vacant or demolished property as part of a redevelopment plan.

Miller, Miller & Canby has more than 30 years of experience in pursuing property tax appeals in Maryland. In 2014, we obtained over $20,000,000 in property assessment reductions for our clients. Our litigation attorneys regularly represent clients at the assessor level, before the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board (PTAAB) and in the Maryland Tax Court. We have successfully appealed the assessments on office buildings, retail stores, industrial sites, warehouses, apartment buildings and land at various stages of development. Click here to learn more about our property tax appeal practice and representative tax assessment appeals.

If you have any questions concerning your property assessment or would like to file a property tax appeal, please contact Michael Campbell or James Thompson, attorneys in the firm’s litigation practice group.

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