Baldwin County property owners who disagree with tax bills received in December must file appeals by Friday in order to have their assessments reviewed by the Baldwin County Board of Equalization, according to Revenue Commissioner Phil Nix.

Property tax payments are due Jan. 26. Property owners who appeal do not have to pay until the BOE has reviewed the complaint.

Nix said appeals must be postmarked by Friday or delivered to one of the Revenue Commission offices in Bay Minette, satellite courthouses in Fairhope and Foley or the Central Annex Building in Robertsdale. Tax appeal forms are available at all offices.

Monday afternoon, Nix said he has received 6,309 appeals and is expecting that number to significantly increase before the deadline.

The appeal process should begin in February.

“Taxpayers can go ahead and pay their taxes before the BOE hearings, but we are encouraging them not to,” Nix said.

Nix said more than $27 million in tax payments were processed by Monday. Staffers were sorting through about a dozen trays of mailed payments Monday, representing a flurry of year-end mailings allowing taxpayers to report payment on personal taxes.

Nix said tax bills total about the same as 2007. Last year’s dramatic $35 million increase in property values and an August 2007 Alabama Department of Revenue report critical of assessment procedures in Baldwin County helped fuel the filing of about 18,000 appeals in 2007.

About 9,000 appeals were heard by the Baldwin County Board of Equalization, while the other protests were dropped or cleared through informal hearings before reaching the BOE, Nix said.

The ADOR report listed numerous deficiencies in Nix’s assessment procedures, and the state took control of the assessment procedure.

Nix countered that the ADOR report was prompted by state officials who said properties were undervalued. He also said he followed all state guidelines for property valuation.

Voters on Nov. 4 approved a local amendment to add BOE hearing officer appointments in anticipation of a flurry of appeals this year.

To download a tax appeal form, go to co.baldwin.al.us, click on revenue commission, then forms.