Assessed property value goes up?

[Spanky]

Just received the assessed property value from the county. It says that my house has gone up in value by 10%. They must be kidding!

 

[megacorp-firee]

They're not kidding ... they are just setting up the higher tax base.
Get ready to have your pockets picked (some more).
...best use your spare time (if you are FIRED already) and start squeaking your wheel ...

 

[chinaco]

Challenge them on it. The assessment is against values that are old.

 

[Walt34]

I called the assessor's office about that too. Their response was that they were working with data from the year before when prices were high, that it would go down as prices changed. We'll see. Yesterday's paper said they're going to rate tax rates. They probably have to if they want to keep employees.

My perspective is a little different since I worked for local government. If you want high quality people you're going to have to pay for them since every other potential employer wants that too. As long as my assessment is in line with others nearby I'll pay it.

 

[mathjak107]

just watch, if they lower the value they almost surely will raise the tax rate

 

[retire@40]

just watch, if they lower the value they almost surely will raise the tax rate

Exactly. As long as the assessed values are similar to similar properties in the town, then there is no problem whether they are ALL assessed high or ALL assessed low.

It doesn't make a difference if the house is assessed high with a low rate, or assessed low with a high rate.

The bottom line is what the actual real estate tax paid is.

 

[jazz4cash]

Very quietly and efficiently learn everything you can about the assessment process and the appeal process. Get your up to date comps and appeal the assessment. We just went through this and by the time I did my homework, it was too late. We only had 45 days to appeal and I blew it. dont make the same mistake I did. In my own defense, my tax bill is actually going DOWN even with an increased assessment because of the convoluted way they impose the caps. The increase is phased in over 3 yrs. Its all part of how they keep the masses appeased....works too.

 

[Spanky]

Exactly. As long as the assessed values are similar to similar properties in the town, then there is no problem whether they are ALL assessed high or ALL assessed low.

It is apparent that the assessed values in the neighborhood have all been raised by about the same percentage.

 

[Spanky]

just watch, if they lower the value they almost surely will raise the tax rate

It's no doubt that they will.

 

[jazz4cash]

just watch, if they lower the value they almost surely will raise the tax rate

They can't raise the tax rate on an individual, but they can lower an individuals assessment. If assessment was from last year and a current comp shows the value should be lower, I say go for it. Even if you save just save a few dollars, it could save you x dollars every year as long as you own the home if you have assessment caps like we do. Even though I missed the deadline to appeal, I am going through the exercise to better prepare myself for next time. In our area, they use a 'worksheet' that has similar homes that sold in our area which are based on recorded data at the taxation dept. Guess what...thier data is full of errors for things like sq ft, # beds, #baths, etc. I have ordered a copy of the worksheet used to assess my home to see if I can find anything to base an appeal on.

 

[jazz4cash]

It's no doubt that they will.

that's what I meant about appeasing the masses....you're right, forget the appeal and just pay the damn tax

 

[LOL!]

It is apparent that the assessed values in the neighborhood have all been raised by about the same percentage.

So what? That's the way it always works. The folks who prepare a successful protest will end up paying lower taxes. A couple years ago we successfully protested an assessment increase with data from actual sales of comps. In doing our research, we could see which households were on the ball with protests (lower assessments) and which were not (the higher assessments). Over years, the wimps end up paying higher taxes and believe their homes are valued more than their neighbors.

We even heard of one strategy where they always protested because the assessor would always lower the assessment by at least 1%. That doesn't sound like much, but if done every year, you end up paying less taxes than your neighbors. You know, the power of compounding.

 

[Tadpole]

In my district assessments are done every three years. So everyone takes turns being the highest assessment in a 3 year rotation or at least that was the way it was supposed to work until values started falling for the first time. Ours is naturally (black cloud over head) assessed at the top of the bubble and goes up in increments to that value until the next assessment. The housing is down in my area if the latest selling prices are right. Everyone says that it is OK because BRAC will bring the housing values back up. I'm in a "wait see" mode since BRAC is also affecting current residents as they need funds to "prepare" for the "giant" influx of population and jobs.