Go to Jeff Salisbury LWGate Home Page.From: Avrum Lapin <avrum113@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Property Tax Abatement Process
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 07:21:16 -0800
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At 12:57 PM -0700 12/8/98, persfin-digest wrote: >Date: 08 Dec 98 14:56:48 EST >From: Jacqueline.D.Richardson@Hitchcock.ORG (Jacqueline D. Richardson) >Subject: Property Tax Abatement Process Help Needed > >Just received my property tax bill and noticed that the assessment has >increased by $12,500. I called the Tax Assessor to find out why since we >hadn't been notified and apparently when we bought the property in July they >noticed an error in the land valuation and corrected it. > Property assessment for tax purposes is supposed to have some relationship to the real value (i.e the selling price) of the property. The relationship varies by state and sometimes within a state. Land may be treated differently than improvements and residential property might be treated differently than commercial. In general the tax assessor establishes a general value on property and then makes adjustments for such things as extra bathrooms, finished basements etc. In the normal course of events the assessment process is fairly rigorous (I did not say fair) and theres is a defined process for notifying one of a changes in assessment and appealing the new assessment. In many states assessment is a percentage of the fair market value and your appeal will be challenged by "well will you accept the assessed value for the property". SInce assessmements are published and publically available the best way of appealling a reassessment is to compare the fair market value of your property with similar properties and see if the assessments track. An experienced real estate lawyer or real estate appraiser can help here but get a fee agreeed to in advance Here in California since Prop 13 properties are only formally reassessed upon sale and then at the recorded sale price. There is an automatic upward reassessment of not more than 2% annually. You can force a downward reassessment if you can show that the neighbouring properties are selling below assessed value (it has happened). Last time I looked (before Prop 13) the assessor had a book with each property listed and notes such as "covered patio", "pool" etc. To protect us against greedy politicans and monument building administrators California requires a plebesite on all tax increases. Avrum Lapin Upland., CA - -
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