It Property Tax Valuation Time -- Revisited - The below was posted back in July - It's old and new posts cannot be added to it:
It Property Tax Valuation Time Again - And once again my property is valued significantly more than for which I could sell it. In just three years they have raised the value of my property by 17.5%. I live in South Toledo near Detroit. The sad thing is that both properties (comparable homes) on either side of me sold during the last valuation and my home then was valued at $12K more than what those properties sold for. Neither owner was in a hurry to sell, so I consider their values to be closer to the actual value. That $12K more than my neighbors was after I argued them down from a higher valuation.
I also went online and the general home value tools show my house at about $7,500 less than what the county is saying.
Maybe it is time that the county has some accountability for it's property valuations. Possibly, home owners could get some refund for taxes (plus interest) anytime they sell for 10% less or more of the country appraised value. It just seems that right now, they are really sticking it to us.
My reason for bringing it back is that back in August, I went to one of the meetings that were scheduled if you had a question/issue with your new evaluation.
My property had gone up by $15K, and I didnt believe that was fair - #1, I dont think my bank would loan at the inflated rate, nor had any houses in the neighborhood sold anywhere near that rate. I checked the site they provided and saw that my neighbors (the ones with similar houses) were paying less than me.
So I jumped thru all the hoops, filled out the form and sent it on to Larry Kazala (sp?) and finally today I just got notice that they'd re evaluated my property, and instead of increasing it by $15K, they actually LOWERED it by $1,000!!! And yeah, someone will be quick to point out that if I try to sell the house that'll hurt me, but as of the moment, Im not selling, and because of this, my tax burden will actually decrease a tiny bit.
Woo Hoo!
posted by billy to politics at 11:23 A.M. EST
(5 Comments)
Comments ...
It is ridiculous... I have been looking to purchase my first house. I found one that I really liked but I had to turn it down because the Auditors' office had the taxes so screwed up ($96,500 for a house listed at $79,900 and still on the market since May). Also the city is overcharging for their street services ($353/6mo.) in specials because it is a triangular lot on 2 streets. A total of $1200/6mo. is way too much tax to pay when all the neighbors pay only $700-800.
I think Szollosi is correct; taxes are driving people out of the area. And I don't think our current Auditor is likely to do an about-face with his inaccurate "fair-market" assessment model.
posted by timault at 12:04 P.M. EST on Tue Oct 24, 2006 #
does that house happen to be listed? if so the realtor should go to bat for that.
posted by billy at 12:09 P.M. EST on Tue Oct 24, 2006 #
I'm sure if I was so inclined I could have pushed to get that adjusted, but I decided I'd rather not "fight city hall". Besides, I found a much better house in Harvard Terrace and the sale is now pending (yay!)
posted by timault at 02:30 P.M. EST on Tue Oct 24, 2006 #
I haven't recieved the paperwork yet but I am confident that after going through the procedure to review or valuation, ours will be lowered too.
I filled out the informal complaint on the internet (very easy) and an inspector called me back a few weeks later and came out to look at the property. He agreed that there were some errors and said that they would be fixed. He was a very nice person and very professional. I was impressed; I was ready for a fight.
Billy, I'm glad that things worked out for you.
posted by MaumeeMom at 10:31 A.M. EST on Wed Oct 25, 2006 #
Having long interacted with Larry's team, their strategy is to make "crude" statistical estimates that will be corrected by you, the squeaky wheels.
It's a less costly approach to them, but you have to put in your time & research. It does raise extra money from those not in the know.
posted by robertbrundage at 04:18 P.M. EST on Wed Oct 25, 2006 #
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