Did you know that your property tax bill is based on the amount of assessed value? Are you at all familiar with what type of property assessment system exists in your city or town? Truly, the only way that you will ever know if your property assessment is calculated correctly and that you are paying the right amount of property tax is to give your local assessment office a call. Most people accept verbatim the assessed value that their local municipality has calculated for their property.
Generally, across North America, as well as in numerous places around the world, the concept being used market value based assessment. Property assessments are calculated on a mass appraisal basis and your local authorities analyze a specific time frame of actual market transactions that occurred in the marketplace. They delete sales that are invalid including family member transactions, special circumstance sales, foreclosures and numerous other types of invalid sales. For the most part, your municipality is quite competent in calculating a market value for your property that is fair. Having worked as an actual property tax assessor for over 20 years in one of North America's largest municipalities, I've had a lot of experience in calculating values.
Do you know how to calculate a value for your property? If you did, would you know there are easy steps on how to approach your local assessment office and dispute this value if you determined it to be in error? If you have opened your assessment notice recently, you may either agree or disagree with the value. If you disagree, there is the protocol that you must follow when it comes to filing a complaint. You must consult with your local assessment authorities and discuss or learn more about the procedure before you file a complaint. One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make when it comes to filing a complaint for their property assessment is to submit sales that are not within the analysis period used by their local assessment department. Another mistake that's made is that since most courts are addressing the fairness of an assessed value they are prepared to review only this actual item. A lot of people actually appear at assessment hearings to dispute the tax rate, which is disputable only when you approach your local town council or bylaw authority, not an assessment hearing.
Another very common error that homeowners make in their defense, is in submitting comparable sales or properties that are not actually comparable to their home, or quite simply, they are not comparing apples to apples. In other words, they may own a bungalow but they submit a sale from up the street of a two-story home. Generally, it's important that you first classify what type of structure you have and then find comparable sales with exactly the same type of structure in close proximity to your home. This will give a good foundation when filing a complaint on your property assessment.
Obviously, the best indicator of value is a property that is almost identical in square footage, the same structure type, two or three doors down from your home or located close by in the same block. Most municipalities use what they call a valuation date. Let me give you an example. Let's assume that your valuation date is July 1, 2006. The best indicator of value would be to find a home that meets the above criteria and sold in either June or July of 2006. Remember that property values change, sometimes dramatically over a month or two, and the closer you get to the valuation date, the more solid a case you will have. When was the last time you approached your assessment department to find out how they're classifying your home's structure type or what the square footage is?
The author is a regular contributor to www.propertytaxtip.com/ '>www.propertytaxtip.com supplying you with all the information and resources you need to know about your property tax, including an incredible new book entitled, “How to Lower Your Property Taxes”, loaded with inside tips from an actual property tax assessor.
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