Single-family homeowners are likely to pay a higher portion of DeKalb County's property taxes this year as owners of apartments and commercial buildings seek reduced values for their properties because of COVID-19.
Residential property appraisals are expected to increase 5 to 6 percent this year as appreciation accelerates in a market where there are a limited number of properties for sale, DeKalb County Chief Appraiser Calvin Hicks told a committee of county commissioners on Tuesday.
Hicks warned that 80 to 90 percent of owners of multi-family properties, as well as hotels, motels and restaurants may appeal their appraisals this year because they have been negatively affected by the pandemic. Some apartment buildings were unable to evict tenants who had not paid rent because of the federal government's eviction ban, which President-elect Joe Biden has said he will extend.
"They have some legitimate concerns," Hicks told commissioners. "You can't really deny that there's been some loss of value as the metrics of the economy as it relates to their revenue have diminished."
"I've seen some reports that indicate as much as 80 percent of the commercial owners may consider filing some type of an appeal simply to get some sort of tax relief," he said.
Already, the county is behind on resolving appeals that were filed last year. Normally, 70 to 75 percent of previous-year appeals to the Board of Equalization have been resolved by this time of the year. However, only about 5,000 of the 11,600 appeals received last year have gone through the process because equalization hearings are only being held online.
"That's going to create something of a backlog as we move forward to 2021," he said.
Hicks anticipates an increase in the appraised values of industrial properties, which he said are doing "relatively well."
"Distribution warehouses and the industrial segment seem to be doing pretty good, with increases in demand for that type of property," Hicks said.
The county's appraisal department is seeking funds in the new county budget to make technological improvements including upgrading the street-level imagery used to review land parcels.
