| Author |
Message |
    
Face
| | Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 6:57 pm: |     |
It would seem only logical, that if so many mistakes were made assesing home values too high, perhaps others were assessed too low. Maybe the whole reval thing should be subject to "a do over." |
Melidere
| | Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 8:17 pm: | |
"Do Over" till you drop as long as the results are retro-active.
As a delaying tactic, however, it's unacceptable. |
Townie
| | Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 8:22 pm: | |
It's a reasonable question, but so is: Would it really be worth it? I think more information will come out at the Tuesday meeting, provided there isn't just shouting, but delaying tax relief to the thousands owed it and costing the town another half million bucks to do another valuation may be costly and pointless -- just reinventing the wheel. I would think any revaluation would need to be reviewed and adjusted by the County Assessor, no matter how many times it is done.
If it appears that huge numbers of individuals still claim they haven't been given a realistic assessment at the end of their administrative appeals with the County Assesssor, then the town has to weigh whether it would be cheaper to re-do the whole process or face lawsuits.
But I would think that the County Assessor faces this problem all the time: adjusting for errors in town revaluations on the basis of whole wrongly valued neighborhoods, too high and too low. And hearing appeals from individual homeowners who still have complaints.
I think homeowners are right to stay alert, but that they should be open-minded to the possibility that the present admistrative course to right any errors in Certified's original result will produce an accurate result for everyone.
It might really help if people went to some real estate offices and found out from professionals what appears to be the market value of their home. A lot of people are telling stories about how houses on their block sold for less, but there could be any number of reasons for that. People should check out their own individual situations with a realtor rather than relying on gossip about whose house sold for what where when! |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 9:55 am: | |
Keeping in mind that housing values are dropping due to the higher taxes, especially in certain sections of town, I don't know how we could ever get a real estate agent to give an accurate market value as of October 1. |
Townie
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 10:18 am: | |
Njjoseph,
The problem always is, no matter when a re-val is done, that it fixes a moment in a fluid market. Anything can suddenly affect the selling price of your home -- favorably or unfavorably. You put your house on the market and the very next day so do three of your neighbors, you may not get as much as your asking price. Contrarywise, if somone overpays to live on your block, all of you will benefit from the rising market value of your homes.
A market is a market, whether we are talking houses, baseball cards or artworks. What's your house worth? What someone is willing to pay for it. A real estate agent who knows this town who has been through a few market ups and downs will be able to tell you what your asking price should be and what you realistically can expect to get in today's market. If you ask 3 agents and their figures all match, and compare it to your assessment, you've got a pretty good indicator of whether your property was accurately assessed by Certified.
Having prolonged uncertainty about the tax bill isn't going help market values in Maplewood. This is something those pushing to re-do the reval as a delaying tactic don't consider. And a new re-val isn't going to come up with a different figure -- unless we induce a housing depression in Maplewood with our own shennanigans! |
Ffof
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 10:28 am: | |
Townie-
there are not taxes paid out monthly on baseball cards or artwork so it seems fair to say that "a market is a market is a market" does not exactly applyt here. I don't know what the reval law actually says, but it seems logical that if you are going to assess a house accurately, you need to know what the taxes are on that house. That's what buyers do when coming up with their bid for any given house. If you assess without consideration to the fact that the taxes may rise 50%, then this would not be what the fair market would bear. |
Ffof
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 10:29 am: | |
Likewise for a house that would see a decrease in taxes. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 10:54 am: | |
Townie and Ffof have illustrated my points further.
Obviously, a valued at $600K on October 1 may be valued at $525 today. Which number should be used for purposes of the assessment? The $600K, of course! The fixed point in time is October 1, and the revaluation must be done without regard to its own effect on taxes. Unfortunately. But those are the rules. |
Townie
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 11:25 am: | |
Well, NJjoseph, I don't know if I agree entirely. I think an assessor doesn't used a "fixed point" in time to take the snapshot. He or she looks at a three-year time frame and takes an average. One of the bones of contention in this fight is that Certified may have, in certain numbers, used only 2000 figures. But it appears the assessor can correct that.
I know this has been said before but revaluations are supposed to occur at shorter intervals than 19 yeaas to avoid the problems Maplewood is encountering. |
Townie
| | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 11:28 am: | |
Ffof:
There is no fair market value that is fixed or a price "that the market will bear." Increased taxation may be offset by a stock market boom. Lowered taxes may be offset by a cessation of service for the midtown direct (or trouble in the schools.) The fair market value is determined by analyzing recent house sales and housing trends in the area over the 3 years. It assumes the market is sufficiently stable to permit such analysis. Another bone of contention in this fight.
The state apparently issues guidelines. Did Certified follow them? The County Assessor should be able to tell us. Could you sell your house for what Certified and the Assessor said? If several real estate agents tell you no, you have the right to appeal. |
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