Georgia
Have your property taxes continued to increase while your property’s value continues to fall? Even though property values are dropping, the taxes on property are continuing to rise. 2009 was a critical year for Georgia taxpayers to establish their fair market value. Unfortunately, few taxpayers did, resulting in no property tax assessment reductions by the county and increased tax bills due to skyrocketing millage rates. (e.g., Gwinnett County, increased its millage rate by 21%.)
The county assessments may remain tied to 2007/08 prices, but the newspaper headlines tell a different story. “Atlanta home prices fall 4.8 percent” in 2007, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Atlanta home values drop sharply since last summer,” says Creative Loafing. These artificial assessment increases are the county government and school system’s way of increasing your property tax liability without holding a public vote of the county commission or school board to increase your value base. Given the declining market values and increasing millage rates, the county does not appear to consider the performance of the real estate market in determining your tax liability as these are back-door tax increases.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (ajc.com) running for eight consecutive days entitled “Why you’re paying too much in property taxes.” The articles stress inequalities between the stated and true fair market values; this is inequality is even greater among commercial and industrial valuations. According to the National Tax Payers Union, as much as 60% of the taxable property in the U.S. is over assessed.
While one may not correct the 2009 inequities in cases where the appeal rights have expired, we would urge taxpayers to file returns proactively asserting the proper values prior to the April 1 return deadline. If relying on the county Tax Assessor’s office to correctly assess values in 2009 was fruitless, relying upon them to do so in 2010 would be insane. Even if your property is assessed at less than market value, you could still be eligible for a property tax reduction due to an inequitable assessment. It is critical to retain professional help to make sure the returns are properly filed and that appropriate analysis is completed to establish a proper and defensible value.
February 2010
Paradigm Tax Group's entire team of Directors, Managing Consultants and Business Development professionals once again met at the prestigious Tubac Golf Resort and Spa in Tubac, Arizona. The biennial meeting serves the firm and in turn its clients, by providing regional property tax updates, numerous workshops and the sharing of best practices. Presentations included new approaches to obtaining property tax reductions via the Income Capitalization Approach, accelerating depreciation in a down market and discussions of the latest marketing methods used by our Business Development Group.
According to Eastern Region Director, Oscar Diaz, "It is imperative for such an excellent group of professionals to get together and share ideas and experiences. Paradigm is known for its local expertise, while at the same time sharing ideas and experiences amongst each other on a personal level allows our firm a certain uniformity and national perspective."
Paradigm Tax Group has seen marked growth since our last firm wide meeting in January 2008. As stated by Central Region Director, Bob Dunlap, "It is of the utmost importance to get the team together, introduce new professionals, share a meal and spend a little down time getting to know each other on more than just a professional level."
The three day meeting was emceed by Western Region Director, Del Kolbe who kept the discussions lively and on topic.
February, 2010
Kaitlyn Marchek joins Paradigm Tax Group's Philadelphia practice.
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce that
Kaitlyn Marchek has joined our firm as an Associate Managing Consultant
in our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office. Kait is a graduate of Penn
State University, State College, Pennsylvania and has a background
in business development.
Kate joins our Managing Consultants, Jack Nash
and Kurt Lieberman along with our Business Development Representative,
David Munroe in the Philadelphia office. Kait is part of our continued
growth and is a welcome addition to our existing nationwide network
of top notch consultants. Kait can be reached at (610) 409-9839 or kmarchek@paradigmtax.com.
January, 2010
Myrtle Faucett joins Paradigm Tax Group to open new San Antonio,
TX office.
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce that
Myrtle Faucett has joined our firm as a Managing Consultant in our
Texas Practice. Myrtle comes from a diverse property tax background
having served as a property tax appraiser with Tarrant and Johnson
Counties in Texas along with many of years of experience on the consulting
side of the business with First American and Assessment Technologies.
Myrtle will operate from our new San Antonio office
where she will have responsibility for expanding our presence in
the Central Texas corridor. She will be working closely with our
Dallas and Houston offices to widen the Paradigm footprint in one
of our most dynamic markets. Welcome Myrtle!
November, 2009
Ken Groesbeck has joined Paradigm’s Pacific Northwest Practice as
a Managing Consultant in the Seattle office. Ken has myriad experience
in the property tax industry having most recently handled complex
industrial and centrally assessed property valuation for the Idaho
State Tax Commission. Prior to that he held management level positions
with Real Estate Tax Services/Deloitte/Thomson Property Tax Group
for over 15 years. Moreover, Ken had his own property tax consulting
company for a period of time. He has extensive valuation, client
management and property tax appeal experience over his career and
we are extremely excited about the expertise and professionalism
he brings to the position. Ken will be working with Pat Howard, Jim
Buechler and Dale Farnworth on account administration, business development
and appeal work in the Pacific Northwest Jurisdictions.
November, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce that Bernice Dowell has
joined our practice as a Managing Consultant working out of our
Washington, D.C. office. Bernice enjoys a reputation as one of
the nation’s leading property tax consultants to the hospitality
industry where she specializes in all types of hotels, resorts,
golf courses and country clubs. With more than seventeen years
of national hospitality asset valuation experience, her particular
area of excellence is in accurately separating a property’s business
value from its real estate value for property tax minimization
and transfer tax purposes. Bernice is the author of a research
paper entitled, “Hotel Investment Analysis: In Search of Business
Value” and her work entitled, “Removing Intangible Assets and Rights
From the Appraisal Unit” was quoted in California’s State Board
of Equalization Assessor’s Handbook. She has also been a regular
contributor to several industry journals including Assessment Journal
and Journal of Property Tax Management. Prior to joining Paradigm,
Bernice was the former Director of Property Tax for Host Marriott
Corporation and for ClubCorp USA. She was also a Senior Manager
with KPMG’s national property tax practice and most recently, she
was the owner of Cynsur, LLC, a company that provided pricing analyses
for hotel acquisitions.
To contact Bernice directly, please call her at
(202) 641-0796 or email her at bdowell@paradigmtax.com.
October, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group welcomes Patrick Howard to our Seattle Office.
As Paradigm’s Lead Managing Consultant for our Pacific Northwest
Practice, Pat brings over 15 years of experience and expertise
in the property tax industry along with 5 years as a fee appraiser
and several years of asset review work in the banking industry.
Pat most recently headed the Seattle office of
Thomson Reuters. Previously he also worked for Assessment Technologies
and Deloitte’s national property tax practice.
As Paradigm’s national practice continues to thrive
and grow, Pat represents another significant and progressive addition
to our network of top notch consultants.
10/05/09
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce the hiring of John H. Meyer
as the Account Representative in our Chicago, IL office. John brings
with him over 5 years of investment sales experience at a large,
nationally recognized commercial real estate brokerage firm where
he specialized in representing a variety of commercial landlords
in the disposition process, including private investors, REIT’s,
corporations, private equity funds, and non-profits. John brings
with him extensive property valuation experience in addition to
relationships with various ownership groups based in Chicago. He
will be responsible for all business development activities in
the Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, & Nebraska markets. Feel free
to contact John at (312) 252-0324 or via email at jmeyer@paradigmtax.com.
September, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group welcomes Anthony Gormley to our Dallas, TX office
as an Associate Consultant where he is responsible for assessing
properties, filing appeals, and filing property tax estimates.
As a recent graduate of Cleveland State University (Finance), Anthony
previously assisted Paradigm’s Cleveland office with assessing
properties and appeal preparation throughout their tax season.
August, 2009
Leilani Lobo joined Paradigm Tax Group on August 17 from PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP’s Northern California property tax practice. She specializes
in both personal and real property tax services. Leilani’s experience
has included the creation and management of fixed asset databases;
preparation of multi-state personal property tax returns; audit
defense; assessment appeal valuation; calculation of tax projections
for local and national clients. Leilani has served clients in the
following industries: high tech, biopharmaceutical, hotel, entertainment,
retail, banking, transportation, property management, retail, and
personnel services.
Leilani earned her Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration, with an emphasis in Accounting, from the University
of San Francisco. She is a CMI with the Institute for Professionals
in Taxation. She also participates in seminars organized by the Society
of Auditor-Appraisers.
Leilani and colleague Alan Schultz will be part
of Paradigm’s Silicon Valley office in San Jose, California.
August, 2009
Please join the Directors in welcoming Alan Schultz and Leilani Lobo
to Paradigm Tax Group. Alan and Leilani will be opening a new Paradigm
office in San Jose to provide more robust coverage of the significant
client base in the Silicon Valley and South Bay area while continuing
to expand our presence within the assessment community.
Joining Paradigm from Price Waterhouse Coopers,
Alan and Leilani bring a wealth of property tax compliance, audit
defense, valuation and appeals consulting experience as well as other
related business expertise. Both Alan and Leilani have an extensive
history with commercial/industrial real estate, business personal
property and complex industrial properties. Over the years they have
developed a blue chip stable of clients that we are excited to be
serving going forward. We are delighted to have the opportunity of
expanding our operations in California with such experienced and
professional practitioners who enjoy a sterling reputation in the
industry.
August, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group is currently rolling out its new portfolio and
appeal management system; NPTS. This state of the art on-line system
will allow Paradigm to take its Superior Client Service to a new
level by allowing clients to access and download their portfolio
information on a real time basis. In today’s difficult economic
times, maximizing results and minimizing risk are critical components
in serving our clients “the Paradigm way” and NPTS
significantly improves our ability to do both.
Please contact us for
a demonstration of this important new tool and see how it can make
a difference in helping you manage your property tax function and
the results you achieve.
July, 2009
Jonathan Sanders has joined Paradigm Tax Group as a Managing
Consultant in our Houston, TX office. A Houston native, John attended
Texas A&M University where he obtained a BS in Economics and a Masters
of Land Economics and Real Estate. John’s diverse background of Big
4 consulting experience, and national retail development allow him
to apply a unique approach to exceeding client expectations. John
has experience with all property types and approaches to value. He
is co-manager of Paradigm’s Houston commercial real estate practice.
April, 2009
Sue Slayton has joined Paradigm’s Michigan office as a Practice
Administrator. Working with Managing Consultants Robert Fuchs and
Barbara Jones, Sue brings several years of commercial loan and mortgage
experience gained at a local community bank. “Sue’s versatility,
experience and commitment to providing excellent client service will
be a tremendous asset to both our Michigan office and to our clients.
We are thrilled to have her join us.” says Robert Fuchs, Managing
Consultant.
February, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce the addition of Brenda
Brown to our team of Atlanta based Managing Consultants. With more
than twenty years property tax experience, Barbara has previously
worked at some of the nation’s largest consulting firms as
well as in corporate tax for a major Fortune 500 industrial company.
Barbara’s principal area of expertise is in business personal
property; filing returns, abatements, freeport, pollution control,
appeals and audits in a multi-state environment. “Barbara
provides our clients with a unique blend of corporate property
tax experience, combined with a reputation for providing outstanding
client service gained from her several years of property tax consulting”,
says Oscar Diaz, Director of Paradigm’s Eastern Region.
February, 2009
Scot Casto has joined Paradigm Tax Group as a Managing Consultant
in our Washington, D.C. office. With experience gained in commercial
real estate data analysis, valuation, and underwriting, Scot brings
with him a strong valuation background including underwriting properties
for major institutional brokerage firms, and he has reviewed and
appealed thousands of properties including apartments, hotels,
office, warehouse, flex, retail, raw land, and golf courses in
MD, VA, DC, and WV.
January, 2009
Paradigm Tax Group is excited to announce the hiring of Tad Berry
as an Associate Consultant in the St. Louis and Kansas City offices.
Working with JP Rand, Managing Consultant, Tad’s responsibilities
include the preparation and execution of property tax appeals in
Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. Tad is a graduate of the University
of Missouri’s School of Business. He joins Paradigm with
internship experience in multi-family development, and state and
federal tax legislation.
07/01/08
The Directors of Paradigm Tax Group are pleased to announce the opening
of the firm's Boston, Massachusetts office, effective July 1, 2008.
Robert McNamara, CMI, will serve as Paradigm's Managing Consultant
for the Greater New England area. David Munroe will continue as
Paradigm's New England area account representative while Oscar
Diaz will continue as Area Director. Click
here for contact detail.
06/16/08
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce the planned opening of
our Boston, MA office effective July 1, 2008. This will solidify
our position in the New England market and enhance our position
as the true national property tax practice. More details to follow.
06/15/08
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce the addition of Jordan
Berg to the Firm. Jordan joins us as an Account Representative
based in the San Francisco office. He brings to the PTG eight years
of commercial real estate business development experience. With
a particular emphasis on retail projects, his responsibilities
have included land acquisition and joint venture transactions.
He has developed established relationships with tenants, brokers,
land owners and city development directors in both northern and
southern California and Arizona. Most recently, Jordan was President
of Berg Enterprises where he was responsible for raising capital
to syndicate commercial real estate development projects. Jordan's
territory will include northern California, as well as parts of
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. Please contact him at (415)
692-8514 or email at jberg@paradigmtax.com.
05/09/08
Paradigm Tax Group is pleased to announce the addition of John Hess
to the Firm. John joins PTG as an Account Representative/Managing
Consultant focusing on sales efforts in Washington DC, Virginia,
West Virginia, New York City and the northern counties of North
Carolina (including the cities of Winston Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh
and Durham). On a more limited basis, he will provide Managing
Consultant delivery work specializing in transfer tax work to the
hospitality industry. John can be reached in our Washington DC
office at (202) 965-1135 or jhess@paradigmtax.com.
05/09/08
Although PTG has been successfully performing asset Purchase Price
Allocation services for several years, the term is occasionally
assumed to refer to other federal types of products. To avoid
confusion, we have re-branded our service as A4.
Click
here to view the article
04/17/08
As Paradigm Tax Group continues its growth and strategic expansion,
the Directors are please to announce the following additions to
our team:
Managing Consultants: Clifton Woodman - Atlanta
National Sales Manager: Stephen Newman – St.
Louis
IT Specialist: Rex Miller – Phoenix
Property Tax Associate: Melody Bratton – Indianapolis
Portfolio Coordinator: – Bridgid
Maguire – Dallas
03/17/08
If you missed the deadline to appeal your 2007 assessment in Cook
County, or if your property’s condition has changed, you
can now take a second bite of the apple. Paradigm Tax Group can
help.
Click
here to learn how
01/24/08
The entire team of PTG professionals gathered this January at the
prestigious Tubac Resort in Tubac, Arizona. The meeting served
to provide the firm’s team with pertinent regional property
tax updates and included various speakers and workshops. According
to Paradigm Director, Oscar Diaz, “Given the growth and evolution
of our firm since its separation from KPMG in November 2004, we
saw a need for our professionals to assemble together to put a
name with a face, rekindle relationships and share best practices. Because
we are national in scope it is very important for our people who
communicate frequently via telephone and email to get together,
share a meal, share time and most of all share ideas and experiences. This
will go a long way toward enhancing an already cohesive team which
will go far in serving our client’s needs.”
