Hey, Mr. Steiger!
<> Ouch. You should definitely fight that.<>
Gathering ammo by the minute!
<> I'm assuming your area just went through a reval where they adjusted
everybody's assessment?<>
Oh, Yeah...First time in 29 years for the Town of Sand Lake...
<> Even with a reval, you can go to the board of appeals to try to get a
lower
assessment. (Sometimes you don't have to go in front of a board, you
can talk to the assessor directly and they may drop the amount on
their own.) Do your homework before you go before the board, either
by finding comparable properties to yours with lower assessments, (or
market values lower than your assessment). It would probably be worth
your while to have a (good) local real estate agent do a comparative
market analysis on your home. It might cost you $100-200, but if it
helps to drop the assessment, it will pay for itself many times over.
You may want to check around to see if you can find a local real
estate agent who has experience helping people to challenge their
assessments. <>
LIke I said above, I'm gathering the info on the similar
dwellings/properties that they
indicate are comparable...So far, nothing is close to what they valued us
at...
'Course we might have the only A-Frame on the lakes around here...
<> If the town just did a reval, then they probably adjusted
their equalization rate back to 100%, in which case there should have
been a corresponding drop in the tax (mil) rate. If they did indeed
go back to a 100% equalization rate, then your assessment should be
equal to the current market value of your home (which is where the
comparative market analysis comes into play). If the rate is less
than 100%, then your assessment should be the current market value of
your home multiplied by the equalization rate.<>
The rate is now at 100%. The down side ids that my combined property/school
tax doubled!
My monthly tax is higher than my mortgage!
<>Even if your current assessment is "fair", I'd still try to reduce
it, every little bit helps. Keep those dollars in your pocket instead
of letting the government waste 'em on stupid crap.<>
Fair? I guess the town thinks so, but we'll see what the general concensus
is...Folks round
here are up in arms...there are a lot of older, fixed-income residents, who
are essentially going
to be evicted because they can't afford their taxes. Rensselaer County
recently approved a reduction for Cold War
Era Vtes, so that's another angle I plan to attack from...
<> Also, assuming your home is your primary residence, make sure you
are getting the STAR exemption. (It drops $30K worth of assessment off
the school tax portion of your property taxes.<>
Took advantage of that one...dropped to $307K..still WAY high
<> People 65 and older who also fall below a certain income requirement can
get enhanced STAR
which does the same thing as regular STAR, but the reduction is just
under $57K instead of $30K). How much STAR is worth to you will
depend on your local school district's tax rate. In our area, the
basic STAR exemption is worth somewhere around $800/year.<>
I think the figure here is around $650/yr...
Anyhoo, lot of good info here, Jon, & I owe ya one IF we ever get back out
to the dreaded Steigermud-pit!
Thanks, Bud!
Bob (DAKSY) Smith
DAKSY2K on AIM
2K SY Dakota Sport +
V-6 4 x 4 5 speed
2K08 HD Softail CrossBones
http://home.nycap.rr.com/daksy/
Averill Park, NY
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