Abatement Procedure
Abatement Procedure
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59 Section 59 - link regarding abatement law
If you believe the value of your Real Estate or Personal Property is incorrect (not if you feel your tax bill is too high), there is a process by which you may apply for an abatement. An abatement application may be filed by the person to whom the property is assessed, or the person who became the owner of the property after January 1. By state law, applications for abatements can only be received during the month of January for the current fiscal year, no abatements can be granted unless the application is filed by the deadline. Per M.G.L, you cannot retroactively file an application for abatement on prior years of property taxes. The assessor’s department then has 3 months to approve or deny your application. The burden is on the aggrieved taxpayer to prove your opinion of value. Supporting documents such as comparable sales that occurred in the relevant time period for that fiscal year and any income and expense information for commercial/industrial properties are needed. An interior and exterior inspection of the entire property is also required by the Assessors in order to be granted an abatement.
There are several reasons you may apply for an abatement, including:
- The assessed value is not in line with comparable sales
- The property is improperly classified or exempt from taxation
- There is an unusual situation on the property which would affect its resale value
- There was a computational error on my tax bill
- "tax bills being too high" is not a sufficient reason to grant an abatement. An abatement is only contesting the value of the property!
The Board of Assessors review the required proof of information provided by the property owner and data collected during the inspection to either grant or deny the application. If granted an abatement, it is reflected on your third or fourth quarter tax bill and an abatement certificate is sent in the mail. If denied, we will send a letter informing you of the denial. You may appeal the decision at the Appellate Tax Board if you feel the decision is not satisfactory to your opinion of value. In some instances, your taxes must be paid up to date in full without incurring interest or penalties to appeal at the ATB. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59 Section 64 - link regarding Appeals law.
Abatement applications do not stay the collection of your taxes!
It is important to remember that the overall Salem budget is determined by City Council before the fiscal year begins involving in the process the Mayor, Finance department and all other department's requests including the School Committee. The budget determines how much tax levy is necessary to support the City's functionality. The Board of Assessors only determines the fair market assessed valuations which are the basis for apportioning the tax burden equitably. If your property has the same assessed value as the previous fiscal year yet the budget goes up, your taxes could in turn increase. This is why "tax bills being too high" is not a sufficient reason to grant an abatement.