There was a nice little notice in the paper this past week about property tax re-assesments. I was thrilled to find out that our property taxes were going up 21% on one house, and 19% on the other.
Last year we paid about $4,500 on the 2 houses. Looks like this year we could be paying well over $5,000. That’s a big bite on 2 houses with a COMBINED value of around $200,000. The notice says appeals must be filed in writing within 10 days.
So I’m inclined to appeal – Have nothing to lose. But I have no idea how to go about it.
What kind of evidence do you have to give? I have a feeling if they tell me the taxes suck and their momma wears Army boots it won’t do much good.
With such a wide variety of folks here, I’m sure many of you have done this before. But I don’t recall that it’s ever been discussed on BT.
So how about it?
The trouble with life is there’s no background music.
Replies
One is a rental, right? I'm paying over $4000 on one house, but it's a duplex and I live in the upper. Good thing I can deduct it.
courthouse, assessors office - -
I'd stop in, tell them I'd like to appeal, ask about the procedure - sign something if you need to, set up an appointment -
get a copy of everything they have in your file, check for accuracy - (square footage, # of bathrooms, etc)
you'll probably find out that some hired gun drove by, took a picture, filled in the blanks - - the appeal would most likely be talking to someone in the assessors office...
line up your ducks, plead your case - the fact that your house was on the market for quite a while argues for low valuation (at least to me...) - -
good luck...
I feel your pain. Our assessment went up 100%, and the rate went up a bit too, so out taxes more than doubled effective Jan. 1. I wanted to appeal, but the criteria here is 'fair market value', and they assessed the place at what we paid for it, so I'm obviously completely out of luck! They told me to be thankful that we got the first two years of ownership at very low rates (they reassess every three years).
There's probably an appeal form you need to use, or at least instructions. Ours is right on the county's website.
Based on what you're saying, the rate there is 2.5% of value. Here's it's about 1%, so you're on the high end... they're charging you California prices there. Hopefully you have better schools.
Based on what you're saying, the rate there is 2.5% of value. Here's it's about 1%, so you're on the high end... they're charging you California prices there. Hopefully you have better schools.
My office is in a semi-detached residential and I have to pay commercial rate for the portion that I use for the office. The way they figure the proportion is not by square footage of use but they automatically assign a minimun of something like 2/3 while by square footage it is only 1/3. The commercial rate is 4.474% which is more than I pay for my mortgage.
There are lots of variables between the way that assements work.
In Mo properties are "re-assested" every 2 years. After re-assements then the tax rates are adjusted. The amount of taxes collect can't go up more than some index (CofL?) plus the amount of new construction.
So if ALL of the properties had gone up 100% then the rates would be adjusted down to 50% of what they where.
Then there is how they figure the assesments. Here is is based on resale prices in that area and then adjusted for the size of the house.
They know nothing about what is in the house or the condition.
But there should be a file that gives information such as sq ft and the type of siding, etc.
So I would start checkingg what information that they have if there is a mistake in it. Also check what the prices of other house have been around the area.
And for you current house collect the documents about what you had it for sale as.
It's not easy to do it yourself and it'll cost you an arm and a leg if you have "professionals" do it for you.
I (actually DW and I) have done it both ways. She's in real estate so she has access to all kinds of info such as assessments on similar properties, assessment of the houses in the neighborhood, historic transactions at the time of the assessment etc.
Just when she thought she was more than prepared for the adjustment officer (and indeed she had more information than the other side and a reduction in assessment was a sure thing based on those information), after listening to both sides the judge ruled in favor of the adjustment officer. The judge didn't even let her finish presenting her case because she was taking up too much of their time.
From then on we just suck it up as long as the increase is not outrageous.
Another time it was a condo unit where my unit had the exact footage and layout as the other units in that block but we were assessed higher. We found out the assessment was based on a larger square footage than the other units. After complaining to the adjuster and showing him floor plans of our unit and the others he admitted that they made a mistake and supposed to correct it and send us a refund.
About a year after we sold the unit and had never seen any refund check.
I'll tell you if you and I run our business like that we would have been out of business a long time ago.
Boss,
You should get a lot of details and suggestions about the techniques of arguing your case so I'm not going to go into that much.
Get the info in your file and make sure it's correct. Find out the deadlines and the process and FOLLOW IT.
Your tax office or appraisal office should have all the data for comparables on a computer and they can actually help you slice it and dice it. Remember, you get more flys with honey. Find a clerk in there who will help you and be very nice.
Look for the neighborhood comparables and recent sales. Are they the same type and size of house as yours? Landscaping, age, any functional obsolecence? Fireplaces v. woodstoves? Large master suite v. a bed room/bath? Fences, outbuildings, etc.?
They usually go by a per square foot price and a 'type' or 'grade' factor. Make sure yours are actually compared to others like it.
Now, this is usually important. Try to get it resolved with the appraiser if you can. If you have a decent case an informal discussion with the appraiser will usually eleminate the hearing. But be preparing for the hearing.
This next step can be crucial. Most taxing enties need to have their tax rolls certified by a certian date, by law. They need to know the amount of tax money to expect to collect the next year and the appraisal amounts will be a big factor. They can do that with a lot of protest hearings pending but they really prefer not to. It puts the appraisal review bord under some pressure to resolve them.
You want to find the time, prior to filing for a protest hearing, but within the time allowed to do so, when they have a lot of protests already scheduled and close to when the tax rolls need to be certified. Within that sweet spot the appraiser is your best recourse. He doesn't want to add additional protests to the appraisal review board's docket and they need to get the cases moved so the tax entities can get the rolls certified.
Remember the appraiser works for you, too. Remember the honey and the timing but have your case prepared. The best is when you can find a much newer, nicer home with a lot of amineties at the same square footage rate as yours. Then you can argue disparity. Closer they are to you helps, too.
Good luck. You can do it very well on your own. I have done it a lot and have always reduced my value buy at least as much as I felt was reasonable. Only one time I had to go to a hearing. That one came out as a split the difference between my alue and the appraiser.
Watch the procedure of some other folks before you go. The protest hearings are public.
"I was glad that when everything finally hit the fan I was holed up in a little beer joint in Robstown, Texas called the El Gato Negro."
http://recenter.tamu.edu/tgrande/vol10-2/1616.html
Here is an article you might be interested in.
It deals with Texas protests but it might have some info that would be helpful.
"A hard head makes for a sore a$$."
Edited 2/2/2005 3:54 pm ET by intrepid_cat
Ask for an informal meeting with your assessor and ask what comparable properties were used to determine how they valued your properties. That would be your first step. Hope your assessor is more honest than our assessor is. If you get blown off at that level the next step is usually tax grievance day scheduled after the tax rolls are posted. If that does not work there is usually a small claims process.
The assessor is assumed to be correct in all these hearings, it is your burden to prove your case to them. You need to find like properties to yours with lesser values. An appraisal of your properties by an independent licensed appraiser would be helpful, these services run about $300.00 per parcel around here. You may find the market value is more than what you are assessed for, which won't help your argument for lower taxes. Either way they should tell how they determined your values so you know how to base your arguments.
I would be happy with your tax bill ours is about double yours after fighting to have it lowered. Wife had to go back to work full time in addition to other work she does just to pay our tax bill.
Good luck this can be as easy as a conversation with your officials or as in my case a long painful ordeal because of corrupt officials. The same officials also have assessments considerably lower than comparable properties owned by other people in our town.
It's generally a fairly informal process, at least until it's appealed. Our property skyrocketed in value a couple years after we purchased it in a newly built subdivision. I think it was because neighbors did some improvements such as finishing out basements and increased their value. We didn't, but the value rose along with everyone else. We went to county website and looked up property info for other houses in our cul-de-sac and compared them to our house. I also pointed out that even though we have the biggest lot of the group, steep slopes to either side of the house and it being in 100 yr flood plane decreased its value. Just be prepared to distinguish your property from others to justify lwer assessment. Make sure your arguments pass the "bull" test. No sense making an outrageous claim and destroying your credibility.
Good luck. Different areas obviously have different procedures, in this neck of the US appeals are willingly heard, problem is, no one is listening. We had a revaluation a few years back and I talked to at least a dozens residents that went to appeal route (school meetings/get-togethers are great to learn the most recent gossip : ), all to no avail. Our reassessment was completed by an independent contractor that would walk down your property and inspect the interior of your house. If you weren't home, tough noogies.
Seems high though. We're paying >5k for a 2500 ft2 house worth about 325k, but that's in the northeast. I thought yours would've been lower. A lot lower, actually.
Good luck in the appeal process, I'd like to tell others that I knew someone who actually had his assessment appealed...
edit, spelling. what a twit.
Edited 2/2/2005 6:51 pm ET by NickNuke'em
Ron, this has worked for me in the past. Admittedly, didn't work this revalue. Can't win 'em all.
First step, an informal review. You can request it, and here if they take it up..........they refigure at their office using the available data. About all you can do with this type is point out recent selling prices in the immediate neighborhood and perhaps similar rates on similar dwellings.
If that don't work..........a formal review where the man comes to the house. When I did this one I asked them to show the data they were using. In our case, square footage. Seems they doubled the footprint of the outside dimensions to get the two story footage. All well and good but there's no ceiling in the living room (at first floor level) and hence no floor above it. They subtracted 224 sq ft. Another was the stair well. No "livable" space there........and somehow the tax law here states livable space. So, another 49 sq ft times 2 floors. Also, the two porches one atop another, so an additional 175 sf. This knocked down the total footage I guess 17 percent.
The "I'm not done yet" tale didn't work.
Best of luck.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Good luck in the appeal process, I'd like to tell others that I knew someone who actually had his assessment appealed...
Me, me!
Admittedly our house is a little unusual, with 2' of dirt on the roof. And the steep ½ mile driveway was 4x4 in mildly inclement weather...
We were moved in, CO and all, nearly a year before the assessor figured it out. Their office is all of 75' down the hall from inspections, but never mind. I was actually looking forward to seeing what they came up with, considering no comparables. I'd read the rules and didn't bite when they tried to slide a $45/ft appraisal past me.
I was ready with a real estate broker's informal assessment. They groaned and asked what his idea of what the average buyer (who sure as hell didn't want to live on top of this mountain in a house with no apparent heating system or ac) might pay. We settled at $30k (well under $20/ft), plus the land. 10 yrs later we're almost up to the original price.
Here, it's comparables to sold houses. And not one, but many. I've been told that there's no way to fight the system, but that's wrong. The burden of proof is indeed on the HO, but twice I've fought the assessment here and won both times. The second was over a land assessment which was clearly wrong. I'd angered the assessor and he tried to get back at me. Thoroughly burned his butt with his supervisor and he's now very respectful when he comes up every year.
Seems they don't normally bother to consider factors such as utility installation or driveway costs into their assessments. I was looking at costs about equal to the land itself. Which just might be something the "average buyer" would consider important.
You might think that assessment is something they'd be good at, considering it's the only thing they do. But they didn't apparently notice when I fixed the driveway, even though the same guy mentioned what a great improvement it was. Then there's our 2 acre unimproved parcel on the other peak. Costs us $1.94/ yr for taxes in our convoluted system. Real market value in excess of $200k.
My original efforts are still paying off. They trap they usually try is to ask "Well, would you take $X for your place?" Which has nothing to do with it. Gotta know the rules.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Get all the people around you to complain to the property taxmax. Your not the only one getting screwed. If few complain they got away with it.