Published on: Thursday, February 02, 2012

By Jessica Yarvin

Former Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo launched a web-based tax business aimed helping Maryland homeowners who seek to appeal their property tax assessments and prevent them from overpaying.

Giammo, who served as Mayor from 2001-2007, began the business in early 2011 with Jason Bulson. The company, Property Tax Pros, serves customers solely through the website, and charges a modest fee of $59 for their services. 

Giammo says it is especially important in the current economic climate to have accurate assessments so homeowners are not overpaying in taxes. He said property value has greatly decreased in the past few years; however, very few property taxes reflect the devaluing. 

Giammo decided that the business would be necessary when he found that there “appeared to be some issues” in the way the state handled property taxes. He and his colleagues completed a detailed analysis of new property tax assessments for homeowners in Maryland’s six most populous counties, including Montgomery County. According to the reports, 53,500 Maryland homeowners will pay $41.71 million too much in property taxes in 2012. In addition, after examining homes reassessed that were reassessed as of Jan. 1, 2011 and then sold within the next six months, he and his colleagues found that one third of the homes sold for 20% more or less their assessment value. 

"This left us wondering about the accuracy of the state government's approach for determining assessments,” Giammo said. Property Tax Pros only focuses on residential properties, excluding condominiums and apartments. 

Giammo says his company uses a different system to appraise property taxes than the state’s current method, instead looking at each individual property to determine the most accurate assessment. The state uses a mass appraisal system, based off of “averages and generalizations,” Giammo said.

The state government reassesses property values every three years. The most recent reassessments were mailed to homeowners a month ago. Homeowners can appeal their assessments up to 45 days after the “notice date.” The deadline for most homeowners this year is Feb. 10.