I Just Sat Through The Appeal Your Home Taxes Thingy!

Pretty interesting get together with about a dozen complainants, 3 independant adjudicators and the "Hated City Assessor"!
Seemed extremely fair process, where by the asssessor comments on the 4 comparable sales of similar houses, sold in your area, and then you get a chance to present your evidense and discuss your property. You get a chance to ask any questions of the assessor.
Most people brought evidense of how they thought their house was worth less.
The assessors haven't been into these homes, so any thing tht would make your house worth less, merely has to be shown, and pictures and estimates for repair become very important.
I did not realize that, and simply told of the repairs that were needed, and luckily I had a picture of DeanK lying on my back yard grass, as they immediately wrote my house down to $1,000! lol

I went through the process about 10 years ago. The way I figure it, our house should be no higher than the 2 highest value and no lower than the 5th highest value on our end of the street. We go an assessment bill that was substantially higher than anyone elses. I went to the hearing, and before I could even appear, I was given a revised amount by the city based on other property values in the area. I agreed to that amount as it was substantially less than I expected.

What struck me as really strange was that even though I live in a cookie cutter development ( about 5 homes with the same floor plan on our street, so it would be easy to find comparisons), the city compared our house with houses in the area of different square footage and different floor plans to arrive at the revised amount. Strange.

Heh...the city eh? What a joke the assessment department was.

I once had them compare my side-by-side on Langside street to one on Red Oak Drive.

Fcuk. There was $40K difference for the street name alone. (Of course they reduced my numbers dramatically after my appeal.)

"DeanK lying on my back yard grass, as they immediately wrote my house down to $1,000! lol"

For all those that want I am willing to be plied with the same food and booze and will pose for the same picture for anyone's yard.

Cost beneft?

If I ply you with $25 work of colt 45 or club and a bag oc chips will that work? Or am I looking at spending $1500 in boes and munchies for a $1000 assessment break?

$25 worth of beer probably aint going to do it....

but even if it were 1500.. thats a $1000 assesment break over 5 years. so 5000.

AND... you can resell your assesment break your neighbours who wont enjoey nearly the same break as you.. but will get a substanial benefit as well.

3 years ago we arrived at an agreed upon evaluation, without taking up the board of revision time. Same argument then, repairs that were needed at the assessment date.