| Author |
Message |
    
John
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 11:53 am: |     |
In a previous thread I suggested that a way to challenge the new assessments may be to put your house on the market at the assessed value. If you get a bidder you choose whether to sell or pay the taxes. If no one is willing to pay the price it would seem you have proof to challenge the assessment.
I'd like to ask the question from a different angle. Is there anyone out there, who is getting a reduction in taxes, who would be willing to sell their home at the new assessed value (or slightly higher)? And, is there anyone getting an increase willing to buy one of these homes?
Maybe people can even post in the Classifieds on this board. |
Tracks
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 12:17 pm: | |
You hit the nail on the head John. Everyone thinks their house is worth much more than it is... until it is being assesed for tax purposes. |
Margu
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 12:37 pm: | |
We purchased our house in July and our re-evaluation was almost very close to what my house was valued at (with a variable of about $1,000). It's really too bad that the time has come when the tax burden will fall evenly upon the entire town. I'm sorry for those new people who've moved to Maplewood and calculated their expenses/mortgage expense, etc. based on the old valuation, only to find that their taxes will be brought up to snuff with the other side of town who've been carrying more than their proper share of the burden. When we made the decision to move here back in March, we had absolutely no idea that a tax re-evaluation was taking place. I only thank goodness that the expenses we calculated on have stayed in line with the actual re-evaluation numbers. We were pretty anxious for a while that our original numbers would go up. |
Nakaille
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 3:50 pm: | |
I wouldn't be willing to sell my house (I'm one getting a reduction) because I couldn't buy anything else in town for what I'd get for my house. And despite my current and obvious aggravation at the way some residents are approaching this whole issue I like Maplewood and its people very much. I think my house was valued somewhat higher than I could get for it but not enough to challenge the assessment.
Bacata |
Buck
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 8:42 pm: | |
I will. I moved here in August, and am being reassessed $17k more than I paid, which was way too much to begin with. I have mixed feelings about this whole reassessment. While I'll pay more than I should, and more than I expected, there is a bad taste in my mouth with jumping on the bandwagon that this whole process is evil. Everyone who is paying more is mad, and everyone who is paying less is silent. I'm just interested in paying my fair share. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the real culprit here in the absurdity of having property taxes finance this town and its schools. |
Tracks
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2001 - 3:43 pm: | |
Buck has it right... it is absurd to have propery taxes fund local schools. So let's keep yelling at our state senator, assemblyperson, and governor to once and for all ... fix the system. |
Leaf
| | Posted on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 11:25 pm: | |
If that is the real problem then why aren't many of the towns rated as having top schools by a number of publications facing tax burdens such as ours? Face it, we're paying a huge increase to fund a mediocre school system. In fact many of those on the hill that are complaining don't even dare to send their kids to the local school. It's fine if you are naturally gifted or at the bottom of the pack and have lots of special help but it takes alot of effort on the part of parents if you have kids any where else in the spectrum. If SO/Maplewood was ranked #1 or even in the top 10 some of the griping would go away. |
Eb1154
| | Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 11:31 pm: | |
Leaf,
Just one correction in your statement. The children who need extra help in the schools don't get it. Ask any parent who has a child in the Special Ed. Dept. They have to fight, and fight hard for everything they get. And to be quite honest with you they still don't get what they are suppose to get. This is a fact!!! I'm going through it right now. I've gone so far as to contact a lawyer to go after the schools. It's sad that with all the money the BOE gets you still have to fight them concerning your child's education. |
Nakaille
| | Posted on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 9:40 pm: | |
Unfortunately, as I understand it, there is a financial disincentive to helping kids who need special ed. It does, in fact, take more money to educated a child once she or he meets the criteria for special ed. So, there may be a de facto reluctance to do the CST evals and then to actually classify (apart from some parents' reluctance to have their child "classified - a separate issue altogether.) I admit I am speculating some here but I have seen in happen in other districts, have had friends go through a lot of misery trying to get help for a kid who clearly needed it right here in M-SO, and have been advised by friends that the same difficulty exists in Montclair. With everyone up in arms about the school budget, the atmosphere is not especially supportive of spending extra for kids who may need more one on one in specific skills or due to cognitive, behavioral or emotional problems. I think the school people are between a rock and a very hard place. I do not envy them any more than I envy our elected officials at this point.
Bacata |
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