Silver Oak Advisors professionals have been providing corporate property tax

services bringing a total of more than 40 years of combined experience.

We have the experienced property tax subject-matter specialists. They have

gained the trust of clients, assessors and peer groups by exercising quality

judgement, unimpeachable integrity and unabated persistence in effectively

managing property taxes.

Silver Oak Advisors LLC

Communications Industry

Financial Solutions that impact your bottom line

400 Galleria Parkway Suite 1500

Atlanta, Georgia 30339 info@silveroakadvisors.com

(877) 352-8616

State and local governments continue to seek new revenues to offset

federal government funding reductions, to balance budget shortfalls,

and to expand local services. Increasingly, they view businesses as a

prime source for new and increased tax revenue. Pitfalls for business

regarding property taxation include:

New valuation procedures

Inclusion of intangible assets as assessable property

Increased assessments due to transfer of ownership

Keeping up with the changes in taxation policies requires constant

vigilance. Regular communication with the appropriate authorities

also aids in solving assessment problems at an early stage. Many

property tax controversies develop because the assessing official

receives inadequate assistance from the taxpayer and bases

assessments on inappropriate data. This is often a result of the

taxpayer not being able to address assessment issues in a timely

manner.

While business owners need to be vigilant in reviewing their tax

assessments to determine if they are being treated fairly, keeping

abreast of developments can be a time-consuming distraction from a

company’s primary business mission.

How Silver Oak Advisors can help?

Silver Oak Advisors provides monitoring, compliance and control

services to help clients manage property tax issues effectively.

Our services fall into two types, recurring and project-based.

Recurring Services

Recurring services include the monitoring and compliance activities

annually required of all taxpayers. These include:

Tax Law Review: We monitor the tax laws in each state

throughout the year. When property listings are prepared each

year, we re-analyze the tax law to ensure that applicable changes

are taken into account. In many instances, the taxpayer or his

agent must actually educate the assessor regarding recent changes

to law that benefit the taxpayer.

Filing Property Listings: Most states require an annual

listing of taxable property. We generally review the current fixed

asset ledger and the previous year’s filing to determine if any

property has been removed, what capital expenditures have been

incurred in the current year, and what adjustments need to be

made for changes to the definition of assessable property. We also

discuss with the assessing authorities appropriate methods for

completing any new listing forms that may have been issued. At

this stage we also complete whatever filing extensions may be

necessary.

Retirement and Obsolescence Analysis: We review annual

capital expenditures for indications of the retirement of older

assets. When a client’s fixed asset reports do not reflect

retirements, we work with the client to identify properly those

items that are no longer in service and no longer assessable.

Similarly, we look for obsolescence factors associated with idled or

excess capacity to find additional savings for the client.

Financial Reporting: We prepare estimates of the taxes for

accrual and/or budgeting purposes on a scheduled tailored to meet

our client’s needs.

Recurring Services cont’d

Assessment Review: We seek to review all assessments

before they are entered onto the roll. It is our experience that

assessing officials are more likely to change assessments at this

stage, rather than after they have been entered on the tax roll. In

some states, the assessing official has limited power to change an

assessment after it has been placed on the tax roll.

Tax Bill Review: We establish a clearing process for all tax

bills. By having tax bills sent to us, we can verify that the assessed

value agrees with the previously supplied assessment. We then

schedule delivery of the bills to the client for payment.

Project Services

Pre-acquisition and post-acquisition due diligence: W h e n

a client acquires a property, we can assist with due diligence review

and incorporate the new property into our property tax tracking

system. Among the items included in our checklist are:

Pre-acquisition review of seller’s property tax records to

ascertain compliance and proper recording of historical

expenses.

Communication with assessing officials about change of

ownership, appraisal methods, and applicable penalties.

Creation of appropriate values for tangible personal and real

property, where historical rendition and assessment records

may not be available from the seller.

Tax Appeals: In instances where an equitable agreement with

assessing officials cannot be reached, we prepare a cost benefit

analysis for proceeding with an appeal. We provide analysis and

recommendations for proceeding with appeals, generally working

with a network of local tax consultants, but avoiding immediate

use of legal counsel in order to avoid escalation of adversarial

relations with tax officials.

Project Services cont’d

Appraisals and Litigation Support: When a property tax

dispute requires the use of legal counsel, we have successfully

provided appraisals in support of our client’s position and assisted

legal counsel with valuation consulting and expert witness services.

Our Experience

Silver Oak Advisors has experience with handling property tax

matters in more than 40 states. We have saved taxpayers millions of

dollars over the years and have successfully supported our findings

before local and state tax authorities and in court.

Fee Structure

Silver Oak Advisors fee structure is based on the complexity and risk

taken with each engagement.

Our fee types are made up of the following:

Contingency-this fee is deducted from tax savings. If no savings

are provided, no fee is due.

Time & Expense-this fee is based our standard hourly rates

($100-$250) plus reasonable and customary out-of-pocket

expenses.

Flat Fee-this fee is based on an all-inclusive on-time charge.

Please contact us with any questions.

Silver Oak Advisors, LLC

Brian T. Scully

400 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1500

Atlanta, Georgia 30339

Toll-Free (877) 352-8616 x701

Mobile (678) 848-2893

eFax (404) 506-9266

Email brian.scully@silveroakadvisors.com

Blog http://silveroakadvisors.wordpress.com