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Lebenz 06-08-2005 07:11 PM

Eek! Anyone appeal a property tax increase?
 
Holy cow! My property tax went up 36% in one year! Anyone know how to successfully appeal this looting? :eek:

A264172 06-08-2005 07:56 PM

Did it a few years ago. Most of the success I had was due to their errors concerning sq. footage, finished vs. unfinished basement and imaginary rooms. I would definatly research the taxing bodys rules concerning what can be used to demonstrate property value... I did not and the other property assesments comparable to what I was seeking that I gathered (based on sq. footage and being within a mile of my home) were not reviewable. In my county you cannot use the assesed value of other properties to demonstrate your own. If there were a next time, I would read a lot more before preparing my case.

06-08-2005 08:09 PM

Call an attorney...
 
I'm a Realtor in Oak Park, IL. We have high taxes (really, really high) and are re-assesed in Cook County every three years. My advice to my clients: call an attorney to do the protest. The money you save in property taxes will far outweigh the attorney costs. I do not consider this is a DIY process.

boneheaddoctor 06-08-2005 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lebenz
Holy cow! My property tax went up 36% in one year! Anyone know how to successfully appeal this looting? :eek:

Make sure the details are accurate....find out what your neighbors are paying......unfortunately if theirs went up the same you are SOL......welcome to the world of ludacris tax increaces.....Mine has gone up 300% in the last 7 years. And so has everyone elses.


A264172 Go to the Courthouse......taxes are a matter of public record....My mother did that in Fayette county....it should be the same in Alleganey, Butler, Westmoreland or Washington Counties depending on which you live in....

Botnst 06-08-2005 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lebenz
Holy cow! My property tax went up 36% in one year! Anyone know how to successfully appeal this looting? :eek:

Great balls of fire! I'd spontaneously evacuate my bowel if I got a bill like that!

Some states have laws protecting owners from such large annual increases, guess yours doesn't. 'round here we have the limit on change per year plus abou $100K homestead excemption--don't pay taxes on the first $100K.

I guess I'd take pictures of nearby shot-up pickup trucks, beer bottles and methamphetamine labs to prove how bad a neighborhood you life in. Plus you get attacked by herds of marauding elk, let us not forget.

I think you're gonna get a reaming. Psssst, Libertarians all got screwed-over before they became libertarians. It's a12 step political lifestyle.

H2O2 06-08-2005 09:33 PM

No doubt the tax RATE didn't go up (remember those Eyman property tax initiatives?), rather the property values surrounding Tracy's home have gone up due to market forces and the price inflation tacked on by Real Estate agent's 3-7% commission rates. Market forces and profit...aren't those very rightwing libertarian concepts?

boneheaddoctor 06-08-2005 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2O2
No doubt the tax RATE didn't go up (remember those Eyman property tax initiatives?), rather the property values surrounding Tracy's home have gone up due to market forces and the price inflation tacked on by Real Estate agent's 3-7% commission rates. Market forces and profit...aren't those very rightwing libertarian concepts?


Right Wingers would adjust the tax rate downward to compensate.....Left wingers would adjust it upward to take even more out of your pocket.

J. R. B. 06-08-2005 09:59 PM

The last time someone complained to the county commissioners everybodies taxes went up to meet the complainers. We almost gave the complainer a sack party.

MedMech 06-08-2005 10:08 PM

When was your last assessment? If you haven't had an increase or the increases were small you may be ahead of the tax game.

Lebenz 06-09-2005 10:26 AM

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Its unbelievable! The county office claims they sent out an “average” of 19.5% valuation increase. They claim the valuation is based on the fair market value. How can the county give themselves an “average” of 19.5% annual raise? That’s got to amount to several billion additional dollars given the number of properties in the county. Does anyone or any company ever get such a raise? According to my tax payment records the rate increase has been 9% and 7% and now 36%. A 54% increase in 3 years. Ridiculous.

I’ll investigate who to write. I might contact the news media. I'm sure I won’t be the only one.....

Jim Anderson 06-09-2005 10:38 AM

Vote the bums out. In California they had a state wide tax revolt (out locally famous Proposition 13), ended up cutting the taxes by about half. It was started by a guy names Jarvis and a group called the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Lebenz 06-09-2005 10:41 AM

Guess whats in the local paper

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/4922997p-4508605c.html

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Gosh i was wrong, there're only bringing in a few HUNDRED MILLION more.

Remind me: What does I-747 do?


It limits the growth in the amount state and local governments can collect in property taxes to 1 percent a year. Before voters changed it, the cap was 6 percent a year. The 1 percent limit, coupled with growth in the assessed value of existing properties, has driven down Pierce County’s tax rate over the past several years.

So if I-747 limits the growth of property tax revenues, how come I pay more each year?


Your property value is based on sales of comparable properties.

I-747 also does not cap your total property tax. If the value of your property increases, state law requires that your property taxes follow suit. Moreover, I-747 applies to “regular” levies, such as the state general fund, the county general fund and cities’ and towns’ general funds. It does not apply to levies approved by voters, such as school levies, rural library bonds, park district bonds or fire district levies.

H2O2 06-09-2005 11:40 AM

...in short, if you and/or your neighbors have been passing school levies and local bond measures, then you've effectively volunteered to raise your own taxes--by micro percentages typically. If you and your neighbors all agree not to sell your homes and property for hyper-inflated prices (and go FSBO if you must sell), then maybe you can keep those property tax bills low.

Once again, I'll make the case that this state relies far too much on both Sales and Property taxes precisely because it does not have an Income/Corporate tax. We are THE most regressively taxed state in the nation.

GottaDiesel 06-09-2005 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lebenz
Guess whats in the local paper

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/4922997p-4508605c.html

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Gosh i was wrong, there're only bringing in a few HUNDRED MILLION more.

Remind me: What does I-747 do?


It limits the growth in the amount state and local governments can collect in property taxes to 1 percent a year. Before voters changed it, the cap was 6 percent a year. The 1 percent limit, coupled with growth in the assessed value of existing properties, has driven down Pierce County’s tax rate over the past several years.

So if I-747 limits the growth of property tax revenues, how come I pay more each year?


Your property value is based on sales of comparable properties.

I-747 also does not cap your total property tax. If the value of your property increases, state law requires that your property taxes follow suit. Moreover, I-747 applies to “regular” levies, such as the state general fund, the county general fund and cities’ and towns’ general funds. It does not apply to levies approved by voters, such as school levies, rural library bonds, park district bonds or fire district levies.

Each state, and county for that matter, is slightly different but a few things always tend to hold true.

First, you want to pull your rate card and check it like your life counted on it.

Second, you need to find out what basis they had for the increase. Did they do a re-val, did they raise the tax rate, etc. What do they want to do with the extra money (big point).

Right now we're in a HUGE boom. You'll not going to have it too easy when you fight this one out.

Errors on the rate card, and assessed value (maybe) are your best bet. The problem is even if the assessed value is wrong, compared to OTHER houses (which doesn't matter in NJ and most other states, and this sucks!) because of the boom in prices, you are still probably UNDER assessed.
Find out what your TAX RATE *AND* VALUE/RATIO is for your town, then find out about your town's budget, pull your rate card and go from there.

On a side note, calling the news media and things like that are a good waste of time. They will do nothing but piss off the assessor and increase the friction. The best thing you can do is remember the golden rule in tax appeals. TREAT THE ASSESOR WITH RESPECT. If you come off as a pissed off bull, you're going to get screwed. Pull your rate card. 75% of the times there is an error (even if a small one) that can save you some money.

Post back, and let's here how you did... while you're at it, take a look at my signiature and post there. The place is dead, but I'll answer it, and there was an Esq. that would chime in from time to time on the old version.

Good luck,

Pete

Lebenz 06-09-2005 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da Nag
Do you have any acreage? If so, Washington has an open space classification that can help a bunch with taxes.

Four of our five acres are under this classification. The four acres under this classification are taxed at a miniscule rate. I can't build on these four acres, but this is fine - one acre is more than enough space on which to build a home, barn, shop and various outbuildings. Also, neither the buildable one acre or four acres of open space need to be defined, contigious chunks of the property; I'm able to have a home at one end of the property, and the barn at the other.

The downside to this approach - you can remove the Open Space classification if the need arises, but the penalty is stiff.

Another tip...not sure how King County does things, but in Clallam County, current valuation is determined by two methods. Recent sales are the big one, and there's not much you can do about that. However, the assessor also makes site visits every 6 years, and if you've got obvious improvements visible, expect things to go up even higher. So...if you need to make improvements that may raise your tax basis, the best time to do them is right after the assessor makes their visit; you'll get a free ride for a few years.

Thanks! This is excellent!!!. It also applies to Pierce (aptly named) County where the shack is located. I found a doc on the topic and will read it when the stuff I'm takin’ for my herniated and degenerating spine is outta my head. The covenants for the area prohibit building anything anyway, and since the property is carved out of forest land and is functionally wildlife habitat, you’ve earned major brownie & karma points and my appreciation for your comments. When I bought the place the land was considered to be of trivial value…..not anymore!

From what you wrote, the assessment means are the same in Pierce county as in Clallam county.

I think the core reason for the price hike is due to the ski resort a few miles away. Last fall the Forest Service gave the OK for the resort owners to dump about $100 m into the place with a goal of making it another 4 season destination resort. That announcement got them rated as the #7 resort in the USA by one of the ski magazines. As a result, most anything that can be bought has been bought and the prices climbed proportionately Add to that the general upturn in the housing market and….. while i didn’t think about it before, it appears that the ski resort isn’t going to be the only heavy benefactor of their investments.

The bad news is that I'm not sure if I’ll be able to ski again without getting a life-time pass for a wheel chair in the process.


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