Everyone is out for a money grab. My assessment went up $75k over last year and I can’t point to a single thing that is better. The road is still crap and is 10 years past its useful life, no sewer, low pressure water. No fire hydrants in the entire neighborhood.

What is so much better now that they think they can swindle more money?

For the first time I am going to appeal it as excessive and unwarranted and point to the fact that they have been derelict in their duties to provide adequate services.

It is your tax for not being California

Is this for a house on a city lot or an apartment complex on a city block. If a house, that is outrageous. Criminal is more like it if a house on a lot.

Sadly, the services you receive have little to nothing to do with it. It's the "market value" that is taxed and that is what has deemed to be increased by $75,000.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

Sadly, the services you receive have little to nothing to do with it. It's the "market value" that is taxed and that is what has deemed to be increased by $75,000.

I could be off base here, but I'm guessing that the complaint is that the taxes are supposed to pay for this sort of infrastructure, so an increase in taxes with no improvement in these things is unwarranted.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

Sadly, the services you receive have little to nothing to do with it. It's the "market value" that is taxed and that is what has deemed to be increased by $75,000.

I could be off base here, but I'm guessing that the complaint is that the taxes are supposed to pay for this sort of infrastructure, so an increase in taxes with no improvement in these things is unwarranted.

Yes, you are off base as is the OP. The local municipalities that levy these taxes have zero accountability to the value they provide in exchange for the levies they extract.

Its as simple as value x tax rate = amount paid

There is no option to argue that you are not getting your money’s worth as the OP implies.

You can argue that he market value assessment is inaccurate but thats the extent of your options.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone ran for town/city/county council on a platform that they would cut tax rates by 20%, and permanently cap valuations unless a property turns over. They'd cut whatever they have to cut to make it work, but taxes would be cut. It would be interesting to see how that would play with the voters.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

Sadly, the services you receive have little to nothing to do with it. It's the "market value" that is taxed and that is what has deemed to be increased by $75,000.

I could be off base here, but I'm guesting that the complaint is that the taxes are supposed to pay for this sort of infrastructure, so an increase in taxes with no improvement in these things is unwarranted.

Yes, you are off base as is the OP. The local municipalities that levy these taxes have zero accountability to the value they provide in exchange for the levies they extract.

Its as simple as value x tax rate = amount paid

There is no option to argue that you are not getting your money’s worth as the OP implies.

You can argue that he market value assessment is inaccurate but thats the extent of your options.

Did the entire town get reassessed? My town went through that last year, and while assessments increased, our mil rate dropped.

Where I had purchased my house within the last 5 years, my overall tax dropped by $300. Most people saw minimum change, though a few had larger increases or decreases.

Of course, the town selectmen referenced the increase in valuation a justification to increase the budget the next year (though we did succeed in shutting most of the increases down).

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
It is your tax for not being California

It's your tax for all the Californians moving to AZ and driving up real estate prices.

I'm also in Arizona, and my assessment went up quite a bit also.

OTOH, the value of my house went up around $150K or more in the last year so.

Interestingly enough, some of the school bonds were paid off last year so my actual taxes will be $50.00 less this year.

Go figure.

There is likely a process to protest it in your jurisdiction, look it up. We did, established our differences and the department agreed with us, lowering the assessment 25K on our property.

Same with insurance, their idea of "replacement value" is "new construction costs" which is blatant BS. Push the actual value of your home into a real estate search engine and bingo, dozens of home that are suitable pop up.

It's a legalized scam by the county and insurance to increase revenues, you can petition for relief. We did, based on lowered fire risk with a change in roofing, the lower half of our property being in a flood zone - no possible way to build unless its Coastal pier construction - the intrusion of utility easements, on an unpaved lane not managed by the city, no outbuildings in comparison to the baseline properties, property slope issues, having an attractive nuisance which increases trespassing - a Rails for Trails borders the neighborhood.

Give your present property the stinkeye like you were going to buy it and be honest in your evaluation, use those points, approach the assessment folks with a nice attitude, and you get changes. Beats just sitting around and taking it in the shorts.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:

Sadly, the services you receive have little to nothing to do with it. It's the "market value" that is taxed and that is what has deemed to be increased by $75,000.

I could be off base here, but I'm guessing that the complaint is that the taxes are supposed to pay for this sort of infrastructure, so an increase in taxes with no improvement in these things is unwarranted.

Yes, you are off base as is the OP. The local municipalities that levy these taxes have zero accountability to the value they provide in exchange for the levies they extract.

Its as simple as value x tax rate = amount paid

There is no option to argue that you are not getting your money’s worth as the OP implies.

You can argue that he market value assessment is inaccurate but thats the extent of your options.

This is exactly right. My neighbor actually hired a lawyer to negotiate his assessment down. They gave him a $50k break but within 2 years it was right back where it was.

Large assessment increases are also occurring in my county.

One way you can try to control it - press your local Board of Supervisors to adjust the rate at which the property is taxed.

Frequently the property tax is so much per $100 of assessment.

So as the assessment goes up, fight to have the tax rate go down.

We are going to be so very screwed when the county catches up. Values have skyrocketed in our town in the last 2 years. We as retirees are going to be priced out fast.

Mine went up a bit over 20K this year, but went up 30K last year!! There is no end to what these people want from homeowners.

that's the flip-side to rising RE prices obviously

the government will get their pound of flesh

--------------------------------

Mine showed up today... a whopping 19.98% increase! They rate us at 80% of market value.

Last year and 5 years ago I challenged the valuation and received adjustments. But I fear this year it would be futile. Market values have skyrocketed here.

One of the services we perform is appraisals for property tax appeal.

I'm always surprised at how corrupt these assessment departments can be. I managed to get our last assessor fired for violating Alaskan statutes, but the new one is doing the same stuff.

In Alaska, property assessments are supposed to be at market value. A lot of states are done differently. I see a bunch of you assuming your state rules on other states. Some states even vary from county to county. In Alaska, though the rules are set by the state, we don't have a state property tax. Our counties are Boroughs, and only a couple of our Boroughs have property tax. In the couple of cases where our clients have won their appeals, the next year the Borough Assessor just jacks the rate back up again and they have to fight it all over again. I'm working on one for a client right now, she's paying our fees ($6,600)plus the Borough charges several hundred dollars per parcel to appeal the tax, all without a guarantee.

Look at the rules for your area closely, and hire the necessary professionals to do it right the first time. We advise everyone to get an attorney, and to dig in once you've got an appraisal. Take it all the way up the court system, and expose the fraud where you find it. We're a non-disclosure state and our assessors pull some pretty non-kosher stuff frequently.

Not all taxes are evil, but the property tax is evil. If you paid off the lone for your property, you shouldn't be able to lose it.

+20% last year … blistering; unreal

Housing prices are rocket fueled right now.