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Deadline is today for Douglas County tax appeals

Douglas County residents hit hard this month by a huge property tax hike have until today to file appeals that might ease their pain.

The Douglas County Commission last week boosted property taxes almost 24-percent. There's not much residents can do about the millage rate, but there is something they can still do to lower their tax bills.

They can appeal the county's property assessment.

"The deadline, if you're going to bring an appeal to the office is 5:00," said Douglas County Tax Appraiser Benny Waldrop. He won't accept faxes or emails and appeals sent through the US Postal Service must be postmarked July 29.

"There are a lot of properties that are valued more than 30-percent higher than what they should be," said Douglas County building contractor Roy Sparks. He said he has developed a side business helping people appeal their property tax assessments.

Sparks says that's especially important in the face of that big tax hike.

"You're going to be paying a large portion of tax that you shouldn't have to be paying because you're overvalued," said Sparks. "That, on top of a 24-percent tax increase, is a lot of money."

You don't have to use a service like Sparks' to file your appeal. Sparks pointed out you can initiate the appeal yourself by using this form: CLICK HERE FOR FORM.

Surprisingly, Chief Appraiser Waldrop said the number of appraisal appeals filed so far this year has been surprisingly low. In 2011, his office received 4,800 appeals. Last year, it was 4,000. So far this year, Waldrop said his office has only received 1,500 appeals.

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