"Reduce Property Taxes" ???

January, 2012

Dear Residents,

Many of you may have received an offer through the mail from a company called Value Appeal, LLC or Tax Compliance Services LLC to assist you with the process of lowering your real estate tax valuation, thus reducing your taxes.  The fees they list range from $99.00 to $125.00, or up to 50% of the savings in taxes. I will stay clear of an opinion to the value of these offers, but I would like to advise you that the process of challenging the taxable value of your home with the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision is actually a simple process and virtually any resident can prepare the required paper work on their own with very little effort.  The use of these and other companies give you no advantage with the county in your efforts to have your property values lowered.

You can obtain the form for free by calling the County Board of Revisions at 216-443-7195 or going to their website at www.bor.cuyahogacounty.us to download the form and obtain helpful information as well.  County employees also offer free assistance in completing the paperwork.  According to an article in the Plain Dealer, in the last 10 months, 58% of the boards’ decisions resulted in a reduction of value, 39.5%, resulted in no change and 3% actually resulted in an increase in value.

If you have any questions, as always, please feel free to call me at 216-289-2751. I felt this was an important issue to bring to you attention, as we are almost daily being presented with deals that are just too good to be true.

Mayor Bill Cervenik