Has anyone every had any success appealing the property value for their car??

Today I got my New Hanover County tax bill of $196.70 for my 2007 Audi A4 with a value 24420. The thing is over the summer my car was flood damaged. Clearly this would greatly depreciate the otherwise expected value of my car; when a potential owner looks up the history. Would this be a valid reason for appeal??

The stupid part is you have to "submit your payment in full" with your appeal.
While i guess I have nothing to lose, but I do not want to waste an hour just to have the tax adjuster send my letter directly to the trash can.

12/1/2009 6:04:41 PM

you can always move

12/1/2009 6:16:45 PM

Last time I did this was in person in Johnston County. Met with the tax collector with a letter of declared value from a car dealer, and he cut my taxes almost in half. The key is proving the devaluation if you can. Mine was easy; my truck at the time had a metric shit-ton of miles on it and the paint was all scratched up.

12/1/2009 6:54:29 PM

Yes, you can arm yourself with an apprasial from Carmax.

12/1/2009 10:33:31 PM

I appealed my property tax bill successfully in Mecklenburg a couple years ago.

To appeal, you had to send in full payment and also a copy of a service receipt with mileage listed. Every county is different. I got a check back for about $20-25. There really isn't a reason not to appeal. I doubt they would raise your tax liability.

Flood damage could be tricky. Read the appeal details on your bill very carefully. Clearly your car is no longer worth that much. Good luck.

12/1/2009 11:05:57 PM

make sure to check the date of the value also. although I just got my tax bill, the value is determined at the beginning of the year (wtf?). therefore, i couldn't really argue anything until the next year by adhering to the dates that they use.

12/2/2009 12:02:32 PM

is it worth the bureaucratic hassle to save 50 bucks?

12/2/2009 7:32:45 PM