Who elses property taxes/appraisal went up?

[Dolomite_supafly]

Curious as to why my county feels that my house is worth 13% more this year than last year when almost every house across the nation lost value. Especially when I have made absolutely no upgrades.

Called and spoke to a state assessor who said I had an upgrade of central heat and air in 2006 and that was the reason for the increase even though it has been on my tax records since that year. I was explaining to him that there was no way a supposed upgrade done 5 years ago that was 2.5% of the value of the home raised the actual value 13%. His reponse to my rebuff "quit being a smarty pants".

I also explained to him my place hasn't sold or even had an offer when my asking price was 15% under their appraised value. His response was that in order for them to know the proper appraisal value of my house I have to sell my house first. Then he can determine the actual value.

It all seems kind of crazy. I have letters ready to go out next week if they don't seem to get the fact everyone's house values have tanked.

Dolomite

[analog_kidd]

I've got a rental house that, due to taxes and insurance, the mortgage payment went up $20 a month. My personal residence went up about $15. Both are in Oak Ridge.

I have another rental house I bought for $45k, and I have an official bank appraisal for that ammount (even though it really is worth a lot more). The county/city appraised it for $75k. When I went to the county to bring to their attention the fact that the house is not what it once was and should be appraised for less (and lower my tax burden), they said "we'll take it under consideration", then they promptly forgot about me. Guarantee if I said "I just added a swimming pool, maybe you should increase my appraisal" the paperwork would be done by close of business.

[DWARREN123]

It is one way they get more tax money! That is why the taxes went up.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I would love to see a two fold increase in sales tax in lieu of any property taxes. That way those who use the services of the state also contribute. It will make those who do not pay property taxes be held accountable for their share of state programs as well. After all it is those who do not own property who probably use the lion’s share of the services that my taxes go to support.

Dolomite

[Mike.357]

mine went up last year IIRC. They are bulding 250,000 dollar homes in the hayfield adjacent to my property so now they say my house is worth near 140,000 bucks.

There is no way I could sell for that much, no way. 110 to 120 max.

They pass tax increases on property owners because they know that we will pay. Freeloaders who only suck on the gov't teat are not an option for taxation.

[Raoul]

There is usually a way to dispute the new assessment. If you have a friendly realtor or appraiser that can provide some sales of properties similar to yours in the area that show a lower value that usually helps. A full blown appraisal showing a lower value is probably the best way to fight it.

[DMark]

Yup, mine went up also.

Where they killed me was the land value. There is a new retirement community 3-4 miles away from me and those Yankees from NY & Mich think that a postal stamp size lot is worth $75K.

Of course the county is using sales data from 2008/2009.......

[daddyo]

This is only the beginning of the government's plan to tax us out of debt.

[Raoul]

This is only the beginning of the government's plan to tax us out of debt.

or tax us into debt

[Electric B]

My property taxes went up according to the Goverment, but when I am trying to borrow money to buy property, the bank appraisal went down. Explain that!!

[Raoul]

My property taxes went up according to the Goverment, but when I am trying to borrow money to buy property, the bank appraisal went down. Explain that!!

The tax man is an optimist. Appraisers are realists.

[BrasilNuts]

Mine went up 22% with no upgrades of any kind. I'm gonna have to go have a talk with them when I can make time.

[D3vo]

I was pleasantly surprised my assessment value has gone down by 14%. Its back down to 2006 levels.

[StPatrick]

Up 12%, despite the fact that the actual sale price would be exactly what I paid in 2005; just got the letter Thursday. Thanks, Government!

[Volzfan]

My house has been reappraised 3 times since I've been in it and all 3 times I have been able to get the appraisal reduced. There is an identical house across from me and they have not fought their appraisal and are paying taxes on about $50000 higher value.

I've decided that they will just jack everyone by a certain % knowing that most will not take the time to object. If you do and have a decent argument then they will reduce your appraisal to something closer to the real value.

[peejman]

The tax man is an optimist. Appraisers are realists.

The government tax man's continued employment depends on tax revenue. It's a self-serving job in that regard.

A private appraiser gets paid a flat fee regardless.

Determine how much your taxes went up and how much you're willing to spend to fight it. Gather the appropriate data (recent sales of similar, nearby homes, a bank appraisal, etc.) and go plead your case. Be polite but persuasive. Ask them to show you the data they used when they appraised it. Go through it point-by-point and illustrate their errors. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

[Dolomite_supafly]

So I figured I would update everyone.

I did have my taxes reduced but only to the previous years tax amount. Which is only about 30% more than what the actual property value is worth. After some research I found out that most properties in the US are lower now than in 2006, on average 21% lower than their 2006 assessments. I took that to the board and they agreed I was over assessed.

Now the real fun begins because now I know who is on the board that determined my reduction.

One in particular owns propety that he bought in 2005 that had a greenbelt value of $795,000 dollars at the time. Since then he has cleared it and turned it into commercial property and it is 203 acres (yes I said two hundred plus acres of commercial property). Sitting on the property is a LARGE office building that was built withint the last 2 years. It also houses a local EMS station. The EMS building appraised at $71,800 on its own.

The fun begins when I look up his tax records. His 200+ acre commercial site that has been cleared, has power and water and with the large commercial building appraises for less than my 1 acre lot and 1,400 sq foot home.

When he bought the property he bragged about he paid one million (1,000,000) dollars for the propery yet now it is now valued at less than $100,000 according to public tax records.

It only gets thicker when you realize that the assessor of property bears the same last name. I really need to move but I suspect it will be the same anywhere else I go. That or quit playing by the rules, which will never happen.

Dolomite

[peejman]

The good ole boy system hard at work. Gotta love local politics.

[G27]

Mine has increased the last three years, though it is still appraising well below market value, so I dare not have it reappraised - one of my neighbors did that last year when their taxes increased and upon reappraisal, the value was more accurately assessed, which meant their taxes actually climbed even higher.

But yah, in this time of budget short falls everywhere (not just on the federal level - revenues are down and expenses are up almost everywhere) they're going after folks in every possible way. And it's going to get much, much worse...

[TGO David]

The tax man is an optimist. Appraisers are realists.

Exactly. I'd like it if those two clowns would get together and agree on a figure so that I could sell my house soon without totally losing my ass in equity.

[kckndrgn]

A couple of years ago when Memphis did their "blanket evaluations" mine went up. I went to the tax assessors website and filed a dispute. About 2 weeks later I get a notice that the evaluation was wrong and that my new value is LOWER than it was before, so the city is getting LESS tax from me.

I think in response to so many people disputing the assessments the city raise the tax rates

[bajabuc]

The Feds are always looking for corruption in government...give them a call

[Guest nicemac]

Mine increased 13% in May. I called and disputed it (citing a news article in the paper THAT DAY claiming 9%-12% decrease in TN property values). After three weeks, they lowered it back to where it was.

When asked why not decrease it to reflect current conditions, I was told that they could drop it back to the previous rate in this manner, but if I wanted further reduction, I would have to petition the county with extensive documentation to prove my position (I gave them the only two comps anywhere close to me over the past year when I called originally).

[Guest db99wj]

Exactly. I'd like it if those two clowns would get together and agree on a figure so that I could sell my house soon without totally losing my ass in equity.

The tax man has a vested interest in higher values due to political pressures to increase income for the gov. The appraiser ethically should not care. We look at what active sales are occurring with comparable properties in comparable areas when looking at the Sales Approach. There are two other approaches, Income and Cost, but that's not important here. I don't do houses, only commercial properties, but the basis is the same, I could do houses, I'm appropriately trained, but we just don't do them for the most part. (Long story).

The market we are in should theoretically be good for our tax assessments, due to decreasing value of our homes, but should be bad for resale and equity building, in many cases. Also, foreclosure sales may or may not have an impact on your home values, depends on what your area is doing. Some of these discounted rates in a foreclosure sale will kill the value of your home. I would argue this point if the value was influenced heavily with bank sales.

Regarding your board guy with the 1mill dollar property worth less than 100K. I'm not disputing, but just asking, is that the assessed value or the market value? A lot of taxing authorities only publish an assessed value, which is a percentage of the "market value" typically 15%-25% and even up to 40% with commercial properties, but vary's by market. I have noticed this, the publishing of assessed value, in smaller towns when I am looking up tax information.

If it is as you say, which I have no reason not to believe you, that's some crazy stuff that's going on up there! If you would have said the market values have dropped on average of 25-35%, then maybe, but 90%+....wow.

[Guest db99wj]

A couple of years ago when Memphis did their "blanket evaluations" mine went up. I went to the tax assessors website and filed a dispute. About 2 weeks later I get a notice that the evaluation was wrong and that my new value is LOWER than it was before, so the city is getting LESS tax from me.

I think in response to so many people disputing the assessments the city raise the tax rates

Mine increased 13% in May. I called and disputed it (citing a news article in the paper THAT DAY claiming 9%-12% decrease in TN property values). After three weeks, they lowered it back to where it was.

When asked why not decrease it to reflect current conditions, I was told that they could drop it back to the previous rate in this manner, but if I wanted further reduction, I would have to petition the county with extensive documentation to prove my position (I gave them the only two comps anywhere close to me over the past year when I called originally).

The tax assessor is in somewhat a tough position to be completely accurate on all properties. They have to take a sample of the properties in a given area and many times put a blanket factor to come up with values. This may or may not be fair to you individually, but when looking at the whole, might be "fair". Sometimes, they are just wrong on their overall increase. This is why most authorities have the system like these. You have two options, you can do a quick dispute, where it is done by phone,fax,email,internet and many times, your value will be decreased to some point between the new assessment and your old assessment. These are quick and are fairly easy. If you believe that there was a significant drop, lower than your previous assessment, then more steps are needed in order to prove your case, which include, but not limited to, and not the same in every case, hearings, presentation of comparables, photographs, sales data, and even a full appraisal.

Regarding raising the tax rate, I believe it is State Law, that a taxing authority can not raise property values and increase the tax rate in the same year, it would have to be one one year, than the other the next year. This helps keep you from getting bent over double and spreads it out....Also less people are likely to complain, because of short memories and will have forgotten that their values went up the year before and the rate is going up this year.

This is mostly my opinion and the way I understand it, my experience is from disputing my own home value and learning about that process. My appraisal work, while taxes are involved, are typically not the area that I work in (tax appeal work). In the commercial side of tax appeal work, we do the appraisal and let the companies attorney's fight the assessment value with the taxing authority.