In February 2013 Daniel Hershkowitz, Esq. of Vanguard Properties was appointed and confirmed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee to serve as a commissioner on the City’s Assessment Appeals Board. His service will commence in March and continue through 2015.
The Assessment Appeals Board is an independent agency, separate from the Assessor’s Office, established to hear disputes between the Assessor’s Office and property owners. It is the duty of the Assessment Appeals Board to “equalize the valuation of the taxable property” within the City and County of San Francisco “for the purpose of taxation.” Mr. Hershkowitz, with his nearly 20 years experience in real estate law, sales, and risk management, will arbitrate these disputes. It is the Appeals Board commissioners that decides the value of the residential properties for purpose of taxation.
Now more than ever, and in the crush of the recent housing downturn, the people of the City and County of San Francisco depend upon a fair and neutral body to arbitrate their property valuation (property taxation) claims. It is estimated that more than 1 in 5 homeowners will seek to appeal their current or past property tax valuations – all seeking to reduce/lower the assessed value, and thus lower their property tax burden. As a result there is a crushing and unprecedented back-log of assessment appeals. Fortunately the appointment of Mr. Hershkowitz and his 2013 class of Commissioners is intended to relieve the back-log, and to restore balance and fairness to the property assessment process.
For additional information: http://sfbos.org/index.aspx?page=3696