The Board of Tax Assessor's Office will be adjusting the 2010 tax value on several thousand properties in Gwinnett County as assessors review the real estate sales and foreclosure data occurring in certain areas the county. To make sure your property is included on the review list, you should file a Real Property Tax Return. The property tax return will allow you to declare your opinion of the value of your property.

If your value is not accepted, a Notice of Change in Assessment will be issued to you (scheduled mailing by mid April 2010). The notice allows you to appeal the value, which will result in a review process and possibly further into hearings.

The property tax return process begins with the timely filing of a Real Property Tax Return. Complete and mail the Real Property Tax Return anytime between January 1 and March 1, 2010. If you are mailing your return, it must be postmarked by the USPS no later than March 1, 2010. Your completed return will not be accepted via email or fax - no exceptions.

Should you have questions about the process, please read the list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) or please call 770.822.7200 or e-mail assessor@gwinnettcounty.com.

Georgia law and Department of Revenue regulations require the local county Board of Tax Assessors to maintain taxable values at a minimum of 90 percent (on average) of actual market value.

Gwinnett County's last countywide update project occurred in 1999. The Property Appraisal staff spent more than 18 months and $700,000 on a program to validate property characteristics and revalue all classes of property in the county. Countywide property reappraisals are very expensive and resource-intensive. On the other hand, periodic value updates are more cost effective and are better handled by the in-house appraisal staff. Furthermore, most people interviewed would rather see more frequent smaller increases to their property valuation than infrequent large increases.

Every year we review sales by area or neighborhood. If the there is an indication based on sales that that our appraised values are out of line with what properties are generally selling for we then select that neighborhood or area to update the valuations to market. For 2009 over 75,000 change of assessment notices for real property were mailed in three (3) separate mailings.

On April 9, 2010, the Gwinnett County Board of Tax Assessors plans to mail approximately 65,000 real property Notices of Change in Assessment. This will be the first of 3 notice mailings expected to reach a total of 80,000. Approximately 65,000 of the notices are expected to be value reductions and the remaining 15,000 notices result from new construction and tax returns filed.

The appraisal staff will continue to review all sales in selecting the best course of action to take on every neighborhood, area or property type. We have considered foreclosures and bank sales in the 2010 valuation process. We are reviewing the market transactions in all of the County's 1,400 neighborhoods and will make indicated changes where sufficient market information has occurred. Most property owners receiving notices will see value decreases for 2010.

We saw a marked increase in the number of Real Property Tax Returns filed before the March 1 deadline in 2009. Almost 45% of the Property Tax Returns received last year were within neighborhoods already being adjusted downward for 2009.

Appeals from the Notices of Change in Assessment must be filed within 30 days from the date on the notice. All appeals must be in writing and either USPS stamped or hand delivered within the 30 day period. Once the appeal is filed a staff appraiser will review the additional information, make changes if necessary and the Board will notify the property owner the results of the appeal review.

The deadline to appeal the valuations contained in the notices will be 30 days from the date of the notice. The assessment notices will explain how to make an appeal. If you have questions about the assessment notices, please read the list of frequently asked questions (FAQs).

If you have questions about your appraisal, please feel free to contact the Tax Assessor's Office at 770.822.7200 or assessor@gwinnettcounty.com.

Our online GIS browser lets you search our data with no special software required. You can easily locate any street, address or intersection in the county, print or email your map, or create a URL so others can easily go to the same data.

Click below to open the browser. Then click on the Quick Start Guide located on the left side of the browser page to help you get acquainted with the browser's tools and controls.

GIS Data Browser

Neighborhood sales information is available on the GIS Data Browser. Turn on the layer through Advanced Tools > Display Manager under 'Parcel Data', then zoom in and use the 'i' button to get more information. (You may need to select the Neighborhood layer from the list.)

Please contact the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor's office at 770.822.7200 for any questions about property record information.