New app will help Detroiters assess property tax values
(CBS DETROIT) - A new online resource will assist Detroit homeowners in assessing their property tax values to help residents figure out if they're being fairly charged.
Having trouble assessing your property taxes?
Well, there's an app for that.
The Property Tax Appeal Project along with the Coalition for Property Tax Justice created the Search and Compare Tool to provide homeowners with evidence to appeal over assessments.
Lauren Thomas is a housing advocate with the Detroit Justice Center.
She says from 2010-2016 homeowners were overtaxed by $600 million, impacting more than 100,000 households.
"And then of course some homeowners who lost their homes because of over taxation, there's a lot of anger," Thomas said.
"You feel betrayed, and there's also a lot of shame that goes along with that because there's a part of you that might feel like you've done something wrong."
While some homeowners paid the inflated costs in full, the illegal prompted thousands of tax foreclosures.
Some homeowners were never made whole.
"It is as simple as writing a letter, writing an email to the office of assessor and you can say I believe I've been over assessed," Thomas explained about the appeal process.
"You can go down there they also do have forms there where you can do it and then it might deny you in that first round but that's ok because then you can offer additional proof after then so like, say no. I really do believe I was over assessed because of the homes near me were recently sold for this amount, my home might need, you know, this kind of work, maybe the home next to you is blighted or there's an empty lot."
The city of Detroit still hasn't provided full reparations for affected homeowners.
City council allocated $2 million for overtaxed residents for home repair grants, delinquent assistance, and access to landbank properties.
For more information on the Search and Compare Tool, visit here.