Up and Down: DC Home Owners Receive Property Tax Assessments

• March 4, 2011

by Mark Wellborn

Residential building in Central DC

Earlier this week, DC’s Office of Tax and Revenue began sending out tax assessment notices to the city’s property owners, and the overall change for the assessed value of residential properties is a mere .12 percent. Thirty five percent of properties increased or showed no change in taxable value while 65 percent decreased by some degree.

Areas with the biggest drops were Lily Ponds along Kenilworth Avenue east of the Anacostia River (-10.1 percent), Hillcrest (-9.16 percent), Deanwood (-8.89 percent) and Fort Dupont Park (-7.87 percent). Last year, the hardest hit neighborhoods were Hillcrest (-15 percent), Congress Heights (-13.2 percent), Deanwood (-12.6 percent) and Randle Heights (-10.8 percent).

Some neighborhoods saw assessments rise, and the three leading the way were Garfield (+7.25 percent), Central (+5.35 percent) and Massachusetts Avenue Heights (3.92 percent). Last year, the top neighborhoods were Berkley (+5.1 percent), Kent (+3.51 percent) and Central (+2.09 percent).

The assessment notices that property owners receive include the proposed assessed value for a property and also the estimated taxable assessment. If an owner wants to contest the assessment, they must file an appeal with DC’s Office of Tax and Revenue Real Property Tax Administration by April 1st.

For the DC government’s full list of percentage change by neighborhood, click here.

* Garfield is a small subdivision just west of the National Zoo that is usually considered part of Woodley Park.
* Central is an area that includes sections south of Dupont Circle and the West End.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/up_and_down_dc_home_owners_property_tax_assessments/3099