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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36193041/ns ... al_estate/

A LOT more home owners need to do this, cuz they're being ripped off every year. Of course, eventually the states will simply up the taxes to make sure they still get thier quart of blood on top of the pound of flesh they extract from us all, yearly.

The article leaves out some convenient facts.

They make it sound like counties don't want to assess any more frequently than 3-5 years because they want the money from the higher assessed houses.

But that's bullshit.

It's a convenient story because the market is DOWN right now. But when the market goes UP it's the COUNTY that actually loses revenue because they don't reassess houses more frequently. So in a booming housing market you won't see any stories about how the county is losing tax revenue because owners are paying LOWER taxes on their houses that would be the assessed value if they were reassessed more frequently.



I work for county government. We reassess every house every five years here. That's the fastest we can do it with our workforce.

To do so more frequently would require more assessors which would mean more people on the payroll which would mean more money spent by the Assessor's office each year. You can't assess a county's worth of houses every year. It's simply too much work. You'd need a big team of assessors to do it and that requires a bigger budget.


It's a convenient story for right now, but the fact is if you aren't reassessing every house every year then someone is paying too much or too little in taxes depending on the market.


In a market like this, absolutely - challenge your assessment if you think you're paying too much. That's your right.

But don't sit there and tell me that the counties are not assessing houses faster because they're greedy. That's just ignorant bullsh*t.

While I agree with everything you just said, CF , there's still the point that some ppl have been paying taxes on over 150% of thier home's actual value.

In no way am I saying that county gov'ts are being lazy by not assessing more frequently, but I will say that quite often the taxes are a bigger burden than they should be, for many ppl. Ppl on fixed incomes shouldn't be forced to sell thier homes because of taxes that are too high for them, or have them taken away outright & auctioned. There are also a huge number of ppl who've lost jobs & are unable to find work, often because of thier state or county's overtaxation on businesses. WV is a fine example of that, & Martinsburg is a fine example of unfair laws concerning buildings & businesses. (For example - if you own a home in Martiansburg, & the powers that be see a pidgeon simply land on your house's roof, you may be fined up to $200!)

Property taxes have gone through the roof in many areas of the country, & not being able to keep up with lower housing costs means the county gov'ts are basically fleecing ppl, & whether it's intentional or not makes no difference.

I posted this thread just to keep ppl informed of thier rights as citizens, not to accuse the counties for thier inability to keep up with market trends, although in some cases, an across the board reduction when trends like this are seen could certainly be called for.

Its not YOUR money... it is the property and legal tender of the United States of America.

You earned "Value" and Money is the way we account that value.

Property goes up and down in value... assets multiply (cattle breeding), and its really on the PROPERTY OWNER to assess value and pay taxes. The County/State/ Federal auditors on that sort of thing are VERIFYING the correct value is being assessed.

The initial burden is upon you if you want an accurate accounting of values and taxes. Inform yourself, pay for creditable inspectors to help you assess value... but don't blame the government for not hiring an army of tax agents.

While you're talking about "value,"Dewy, keep in mind the high cost of those appraisers, which wouldn't be necessary if the gov'ts in question kept up with the trends in the market.

You're right, though. the money isn't ours. It's the gov't's, & it can obviously do whatever the hell it wants to do with it, despite our hard work in acquiring its "value."

KLUGMO wrote:Not enough personel is not a good enough excuse.

That's because it's NOT an excuse.

It's a legitimate reason.

It's a simple fact man. There are only so many man-hours per year, and an assessor can only get so much work done in those hours. And assessing a property is NOT EASY. I've seen what these guys do. The formulas they have to use are COMPLEX.

If it were an easy job they could do it fast. It's not an easy job. It's complicated. And every time they assess a property they have a responsibility to get it right. I know our assessors - they work f*cking hard to get things right man.


You cheapen what they do - and they're citizens just like you.

You guys talk like the govt is not OURS.
It scares me when I see that kind of seperation.
We own the govt ,not vice versa.

I have a special prize for appraisers, come and get it.

(sound of gun being loaded)