Silver Oak Advisors provides corporate property tax services and helps clients manage their property tax issues. They offer both recurring monitoring and compliance services, such as reviewing tax laws and filing annual property listings, as well as project-based services for acquisitions, appeals, and litigation support. Their team has over 40 years of combined experience saving taxpayers millions of dollars in negotiated assessments and successful appeals cases. Fees are structured based on the complexity and risk of each engagement on either a contingency, hourly, or flat-fee basis.

1. Silver Oak Advisors LLC
Financial Solutions that impact your bottom line
Communications Industry
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.
400 Galleria Parkway
Suite 1500
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
info@silveroakadvisors.com
(877) 352-8616

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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