Oklahoma Property Tax Appeals & Important Dates
Consulting an experienced property tax advisor at Savage & Browning may make the difference in a successful reduction of your real estate taxes in your Oklahoma county assessor valuation appeal.
Most property owners fail to protest their property’s valuation because they aren't aware of their options, don’t understand the complicated process, or have access to the resources to substantiate a claim stating their property is overvalued. Our experience allows us to effectively analyze your property’s value using one or more of the established valuation approaches. We have a proven history for successfully reducing valuations for a diverse range of property types.
We represent Oklahoma property owners in their county tax appraisal appeal. We have won successful real estate property tax reductions for our clients in Oklahoma County, Tulsa County, Cleveland County, Canadian County, Comanche County, Rogers County, Payne County, Wagoner County, Pottawatomie County, Creek County as well as in every corner of even the smallest Oklahoma county.
We often are able to find more compelling reasons for reduction and additional favorable comparable properties to support the appeal in the more urban areas of Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Broken Arrow, Edmond, Lawton, Moore, Midwest City, Enid and Stillwater.
Fair Cash Value by County Assessors
In Nebraska assessors in each county are responsible for valuing all property October 1 of each year and assessed valuation notices are sent out by the counties between February and April of each year.
On or before April 30 of each year, every property owner whose property has been assessed at a different value from the previous year or has had property added to the list of properties owned will receive a written notice.
Protesting County Valuation
If you don't agree with the increase in valuation of our property you are entitled to file written protest with the assessor's office. This appeal must be made within 30 days after the assessor mailed the notice.
Note: While your appeal is pending you must still pay taxes when they are due. When you do, notify the county treasurer that your taxes are being paid under protest. They will then be escrowed pending your final valuation with any reductions refunded to you.
Once you file your protest the assessor must hold a hearing on your protest and the assessor must issue a written ruling within seven days of the hearing.
If you disagree with the assessor's ruling, you may appeal the county board of equalization within 15 days after the assessor mailed their decision. The board must hold a hearing and you will be notified of their decision.
If you don't agree with the board of equalization's decision, you may appeal to the county district court within 30 days of the board's decision. The district court judge will schedule a hearing and issue a ruling. You may appeal the district court ruling to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Don’t delay. Contact Savage & Browning today and let us get a jump on valuing your real properties and determining the best cases to be made for assessment reduction.
With the uncertainty of Covid-19 shutting down many businesses, property owners have seen unprecedented shifts in cash flow from shuttered businesses or residential tenants who lost the ability to pay rent. Additionally, there are other considerations that can be presented to justify assessment reductions:
- Equitability of the Assessment
- Building Age and Type
- Needed Improvements and Repairs
- Vacancy
- All Forms of Depreciation / Obsolescence
- Highest & Best Use of Your Property
As a part of our long history, our team worked hard over the years to build and maintain positive relationships with the various assessor offices and other property tax professionals. These relationships facilitate appeal and negotiation since we have proven our credibility time and again.
Our Process
We start each engagement with a Real Estate Appraisal Review that includes:
- Obtaining data from you, the client and taxing authorities.
- We identify appraisal methods used in assessing properties and audit the results for accuracy.
- We aggressively seek and secure refunds for past years tax over-payments when inaccurate assessments are identified.
- We use cost, market and income approaches in preparing appeals for presentation to taxing authorities.
- We review the assessed value of comparable properties to ensure fair and equal standards.
- We use comparable assessments and calculations of cash equivalency values in presentations to taxing authorities.
If we determine that your real estate valuation by the county is unjustifiably too high, we go to bat for you throughout the entire Real Estate Property Tax Appeal Process:
- We arrange for and conduct diligent, informal settlement discussions with taxing authorities.
- When advisable, we file written protests with tax appraisal review boards for all unsuccessful appeals at the informal level.
- We attend hearings and offer personal presentations of expert testimony before tax appraisal review boards to support lower values.
- If appropriate, we recommend legal counsel and provide support services for continuing an appeal at the state level.
Throughout the entire process you will receive status reports and so you know where we stand in your property tax valuation reduction appeal:
- A preliminary tax savings report using estimated tax rates.
- A final tax savings report using actual tax rates and identifying savings by property.
- A tax comparison report on a property-by-property basis including current and prior year's values and taxes.
- A narrative report pertaining to research, analysis, and negotiation activity.
Once we have established a familiarity with your property we are prepared to Administer your real estate property tax valuation on an annual basis, always looking for opportunities to appeal and reduce valuations or mitigate increases in valuation.
On your behalf we will:
- Respond to inquiries from taxing authorities.
- Provide tax estimates for accrual and budgeting purposes.
- On a timely basis, obtain, audit and forward tax bills to clients with an approval letter.
- Seek and secure corrected tax bills where inaccuracies are discovered.
- Upon request, provide clients with copies of parcel maps from taxing authorities.
- Verify the property tax proration on escrow closing statements for acquisitions or dispositions.
Important Dates
| REAL ESTATE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Events | Notes |
| Jan 01 | Assessment Date | |
| Feb – Apr | Value Notices Issued | |
| Mar 31 | Tax Bills Due | 2nd half installment |
| Feb – March | Appeal Deadline | or 20 days after notices are mailed |
| Nov – Dec | Tax Bills Issued | |
| Dec 31 | Tax Bills Due | 1st half installment |
| PERSONAL PROPERTY | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Events | Notes |
| Jan 01 | Assessment Date | |
| Mar 15 | PP Returns Due | |
| Mar 31 | Tax Bills Due | 2nd half installment |
| Apr – Jun | Appeal Deadline | 20 days after notices are issued |
| Apr – Jun | Value Notices Issued | |
| Nov 01 | Tax Bills Issued | |
| Dec 31 | Tax Bills Due | 1st half installment |
Ready to reduce your Kansas real estate property taxes?
Contact us today to learn more about how we reduce the single highest expense for most income producing properties.