Property tax question

I'd first suggest you find out the cycle your town uses for evaluation. It's likely less than annually. Even so, if the value of all homes in your town have dropped 30%, you are not likely to get a reduced assessment. If everyone's home were reduced that much, the town would then have to raise their mil rate by an amount to compensate and keep their revenue level.

If you wish to pursue this, contact the assessor's office and ask what their appeal process is. You usually have a certain time of year to request an appeal. JOE

Every jurisdiction has different rules. It typically works like this:

The county assessor annually publishes the roll of assessed values. The owner is notified and on the notice the assessor usually specifies the period of time that the owner can contest the assessment. Usually, this requires a formal application. In many jurisdictions, if one misses the deadline for contesting, there is an appeals process. This process also will have a filing deadline.

Best advice: contact the assessor's office and obtain information on the process and the necessary forms.

Executive summary: no.

Remember, the way your municipality sets the tax rate is to pass the budget which includes the total tax levy, then divide the levy into the total assessed value of the municipality, and that's the tax rate. What really matters is the relative assessment of your house compared to everyone else's. If everyone's assessment were cut in half, your taxes wouldn't change at all, since they'd have to double the tax rate to compensate.

As others have noted, by the time your tax bill shows up it is far too late to challenge your assessment, but if you want to do it for next year, what you need to do is to find some comparable properties that are assessed lower than yours, so you can argue that yours should be reduced to match theirs. If you just show up and say "My house isn't worth $565K," they'll say "Yes, we know. So what?"

R's, John

As a practical matter however, consider that even if it's not too late to request reassessment, I doubt the authorities would consider it, since to do so, in light of today's lower market values, would open the flood gates to people all over the county requesting revaluations. And that in turn would drastically decrease county revenues and produce budget shortfalls. Government workers would be laid off. they couldn't buy stuff and the local economy would collapse.

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

Nevertheless, it's a routine practice in California, and requests for reassessment are routinely granted when appropriate comps are cited.

Your state may be different: In Massachusetts, there are two reasons for abatement: valuation too high, and disproportional assessment. A

As a former tax assessor, we did have a few extra abatement applications when property values dropped. We rectfied this by reducing everyone's assessment by a fixed percentage. We have since shifted to a re-valuation annually so this is not done now.

Ah, good to have a former tax assessor chime in. If you get a chance, see my response just above and tell me what you think.

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

snipped-for-privacy@usenetserver.com ( snipped-for-privacy@heiNey.net) wrote in news:kln3j.11$eS6.3 @fe195.usenetserver.com:

I think just about every state/tax jurisdiction does it differently. But I think it is common that the proposed assessments are completed on a schedule and notice provided to property owners. Then there is a process and a time window you must follow to reclama the valuation. You should also be aware of any other special requirements, for requesting homestead exemptions or other special provisions. (For example, I have property in CA which is capped by prop 13). Things can be in flux, such as with "Save Our Homes" in FL.

If you used a real estate agent when buying and had a good experience, you might want to call him/her for any advice. Real estate uses networking and client referrals extensively, and agents keep on top of the real property tax situation so probably would be happy to discuss things with you.

scott s. .