Disputing a Property Tax increase. Does anyone know the best method? My meeting is next week?

Question

I bought my home in 2003 and had my first tax increase in 2004. The taxes went from $1200 to $2300.

The following year my taxes were increased again by $1800.

This year I received a notice stating that the taxes were to go up again this time by $2900.

I live in a small 1000 square foot home on a small plot of land and don't understand the continous tax hikes. The first year was expected, year two okay but up $2900 in year three has me wondering if I am being taken to the cleaners.

Anyone who has faced this issue previously and won or if you know how to fight this issue, please give me suggestions. My meeting with the city is next week and I'd like to be as prepared as possible.

Answer 1

you need to understand the 2 drivers that affect prop taxes: the rate and the value.

did the rates increase dramatically? if so, there isn't much you can do other than vote the big spenders in your county out of office.

did your value increase dramatically? if so, you need to understand why. did you get a building permit to make substantial improvements to the property? that usually triggers a re-assessment of the value. if you think the assessed value increased too much you will need to support for your opinion other than your emotions. for example, get comparable assessed values for the past few years for your property and your neighbors. (you can usually get this from county web sites.) calculate the percentage increases in your property and the neighbors and if yours is up much more than theirs in percentage terms, you will have a strong argument.

Answer 2

Well usually tax increases happen because of property value increases...sounds like you might have some prime property. But you can dispute it by getting someone else to appraise your property and sometimes the appraisal district will accept another appraisal. The appraisal district usually just assigns values based on placement, they dont usually go out and appraise the property. Hopefully that works! It worked for a friend of mine so it may work for you. Good luck!

Answer 3

Sounds like a lot of increases, but that depends on property values where you live. Have house sale prices in your area gone up a lot in that time?

When we appealed our assessment, I took pictures of various parts of the house that were in disrepair. I also went to the courthouse to get the assessments of every house in the plan (about 35 of them). We live in a housing development in a rural area, and "comparable homes" aren't easy to find.

We did get our assessment lowered about 15%.

If your assessment is around what it would probably sell for, and other houses in the area seem to be also, you might not have much success, but you might as well try. Good luck.