Assessor says recent appraisal has no bearing

[Vermonter]

Obviously different in different places. Locally a property owner can challenge his assessment yearly, re-assessment or no re-assessment.

Same here.

Gotta say, some property listers (assessors) around here infuriate me. Values are all over the map and appealing is a crap shoot.

 

[Elliott]

CAN,
My point was to give a viewpoint....I'm not condemning assessors and their work.
All states are different, and I imagine MN is still a more conventional ad valorem state. Does CA even do residential market value ? I thought it was purchase price or frozen values from 40 years ago. Oregon is a Son of CA fixed assessment state and my experience was pre-freeze during periods of rapidly changing values.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Sounds like a jerk for an assessor. Go before the board, if they go against it, appeal above them. Our state actually has a process. Hopefully yours does.

Assessor > Board of Equalization > County Judge > Circuit Court. I would go the full banana. A - present the appraisal B - Broker testimony that it isn't worth that C - historical sale price if possible. I cannot imagine such testimony not swaying someone down the line, but I have seen cases go past the County Judge level.

 

[CANative]

CAN,
My point was to give a viewpoint....I'm not condemning assessors and their work.
All states are different, and I imagine MN is still a more conventional ad valorem state. Does CA even do residential market value ? I thought it was purchase price or frozen values from 40 years ago. Oregon is a Son of CA fixed assessment state and my experience was pre-freeze during periods of rapidly changing values.

It's all about market value. Prop 13 (the tax revolt) set things up where property taxes are set by market value on the date of purchase or taxable transfer. This value factors up 2% each year. But we also have Prop 8 which states that a property owner can appeal their value each year and if the enrolled value exceeds the fair market value the value for that one year will be "corrected" and the taxpayer will be issued a refund or credit for the overpayment. It's a temporary reduction so each year must be handled separately.

The value, per Rule 2 of the RTC (Revenue and Taxation Code), is based on the "rebuttable presumption" that a market transaction is the market value.

BTW... I would never think you had that opinion about assessors and their staff. I just posted for anyone else who might think that... there are a lot of people who do.

 

[SnoValues]

I have successfully contested my property value a couple of times in MN. Most of the metro counties have web sites that outline the process to appeal values. Unfortunately, there are deadlines that must be met. One year I checked comps just before the deadline and there was nothing to support my argument. A month after the deadline ample comp data became available to indicate a much lower value. I had to wait until the next period to correct the improper value.

 

[seekingknowledge]

The owner will go in and go through the motions with the Board this month. I was able to help a homeowner several years back in another county with just a CMA, so hoping they will take the word of a professional appraiser and not the assessor! I have had some wonderful calls/conversations with a couple assessors from this board who were incredibly helpful, and want to thank you all for making yourselves available to help with your knowledge.

 

[CANative]

so hoping they will take the word of a professional appraiser and not the assessor!

The appraisers who work for the assessor ARE professional appraisers.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

The appraisers who work for the assessor ARE professional appraisers.

Not necessarily. In PA there is the CPE, Certified Property Evaluator, license for assessors. However, only first class counties have to have a CPE. I'm sure it's different in different States and jurisdictions.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Depending on the laws of each state there are different time periods to consider. Here in Arizona the effective date of the assessment value opinion is the middle of August each year. So the assessment value on the 2014 tax roll (lien begins 01/01/2014 but not billed until 09/15/2014) is based on market conditions as of August 15, 2013.

If your state has similar laws a fee appraisal with an effective date of opinion of value in after August 15, 2013 would not be usable to protest the assessment value for the 2014 tax year.

What are the deadlines in your state and what is the effective date of your opinion of market value?

 

[Mark K]

The appraisers who work for the assessor ARE professional appraisers.

Not in this state.

In my county, there are about 8-10 individuals working in the Assessor's office; none have an appraisers license and they seem to look down anyone that does. Generally just bunch of bureaucrats that report to no one, and act that way.

The assessor is elected and there are NO qualifications required other than to be a resident of the county. Usually the courthouse flunkies like the recorder, auditor, assessor, and others take turns, musical chairs more or less, since they can only serve two terms in each position. SOP thru out the state.