New Tax Assessment Got you down?

If you are anything like me, you had an emotional moment when you opened your “Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes” form recently. Mine changed from the jubilation of having that much equity in my house to a “wait just one second; I am getting gypped” feeling. To come clean, due to my profession, I went straight to the, “I am getting gypped” feeling, and I am sure several of you did too.

Long story short, we are being subject to the lag effect. Sure, my house, may have at one time in the summer of 2005 resembled the value indicated on this new proposal, but I can assure you, that if I could get that offer on my house today, I would run, not walk, to the title company with bells on my toes. One of the reasons why this happens, is the county breaks us up into 46 different “tax areas”, that are all statistically looked at annually, but are mandated to get re-appraised every five years. Hence, about every five years you can expect a change in your tax assessment, and it usually is in a direction that takes some bread off the table. I guess year five was up for me, and I do not like the results.

What can we do about it? I know my assessment is too high, so I am going to appeal it. I am all about paying my fair share, but in this case, the share I am being asked to pay, based on the county’s assessment of value is unfair. My proposed increase is well over $500 dollars per year, and if I did not go through this process I would automatically be agreeing to over $2,600 in ADDITIONAL tax before my next assessment. That is a lot of money, and we have not even had a presidential election yet. (Excuse the jab, all you agents of “change”). Sure, I probably will not get it back where it was, but even some adjustment would be helpful.

So this is what I am going to do. I am going to go and file an application with the County Board of Equalization. I can get these forms by either going there personally at 87 N. 200 E. St. George, (August 1-31 from 1:00-5:00pm) or I can call them at 435-652-5875. For those a bit more techno savvy, www.washco.ut.gov will get you the forms too.

If you choose to download them off their site, make sure you read all of the instructions. There are three sheets that need to be filled in and one instruction sheet. If you want, just email me and I will send them to you. joe@joelangston.com, (put “tax assessment forms” in the subject line).

To have your appeal considered, you are obligated to provide some proof. You can do this in one of three ways.

Current appraisal, by a professional fee appraiser
Closing statements, if you recently purchased the property
A minimum of three recent sales of properties that are similar, found on the MLS. (It does not say the MLS part exactly, but since Utah is a non-disclosure state, where else are you going to get the information?)

Once again, the altruistic and magnanimous Joe can help. I will need to know the following:

The name the Title to the property is being held in
Address
Parcel number located on “Notice” form
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Your best guess of size in square footage
Your previous assessed value, and proposed assessed value


If you will email me the information above, I can find these comparables for you. Some of the comparables will be better than others, and it all depends on what has sold in or around your area. I would love to do it for free, but I am anticipating a pretty big load, and after all, I need to feed the kids. So if you use my services, and you would like to make a “donation” for my time, it is not necessary, but would be appreciated.

Checks should be made out to ExSell Realty, and sent to 1251 S. 100 E. St. George, UT 84790 and should contain several digits of differing quantity and should impress the receiver significantly when opened. (Just kidding of course, a modest donation would be appreciated).

The appeal deadline is Sept 15, 2008 4:00pm, MDT. All appeal applications and evidence must be received prior to that time. You can choose to request an in person hearing, or let them make an adjustment, or not, based on your evidence. You decide. I bet you will do better if you show up.

I hope this helps! I look forward to all of our tax implications being closer to what they ought to be.