BAY MINETTE — Baldwin County property tax appealers total 14,388 for this taxing cycle and land owners soon will receive scheduling notification to argue their tax bills, according to Baldwin County Revenue Commissioner Phil Nix.

The Alabama Department of Revenue extended the Jan. 9 deadline to Jan. 16 to allow property owners to fill out an affidavit saying they didn’t know about the appeal deadline or did not  receive appraisal notices, Nix said.

Al Thompson, who chairs the Baldwin County Board of Equalization, said all appealers will soon receive appointment letters setting up informal meetings between appraisers who reviewed the properties and the owners.

Property owners have the option of discussing their case over the phone, sending written documentation or meeting in person.

Following the informal hearing, an “approve” or “disapprove” letter will be mailed to property owners who will then have the option to present their evidence to the BOE for consideration.

BOE hearings may begin in February. Thompson said the BOE  is capable of reviewing about 3,000 cases per month. An earlier, informal review indicated about 45 percent of the protests were generated by property owners at or near coastal properties.

The BOE heard about 12,000 cases last year, not including one appeal from the Fairhope Single Tax Corp., which combined more than 2,900 appeals. Nix said 19,074 appeals were keyed in last year, representing completed protest forms, calls or other documentation of dissent.

A review of those cases eliminated 4,483 protests by adjusting clerical errors or those who dropped appeals, Nix said. About 14,500 cases remained to be  reviewed in informal hearings or by the Baldwin County Board of Equalization.

While appeals are down from last year, Thompson said many property owners are experiencing “sticker shock.”

He said significant parts of the county were not appraised for six to 10 years and property owners may think values should have gone down as a result of a sluggish economy. He also said property owners may not realize tax bills  reflect the previous year’s value.

“The appraisal department got so far behind, and it was compounded by a stagnant economy,” Thompson said.

Nix said appraisals were not neglected for years and were completed on a timely basis. He said some mass appraisals involved factor applications, while adding dates required individual keying.

“We might be updating a whole neighborhood and apply a value over several parcels,” Nix said. “That might change a base number in the neighborhood, but didn’t change the appraisal dates.

“We would have to go to each record and change  it. What we were doing were hundreds at a time,” Nix said.

Property owners who filed appeals do not have to pay taxes until the BOE makes a ruling.