          
          
          
                     Reducing Your Existing Assessment
          
               How would you like to put several hundred dollars
          in your pocket this year, and every year after that? 
          It's possible, if your real estate taxes are too high
          and you get them reassessed.  Thousands of taxpayers
          win appeals of their property tax bills every year, and
          in some areas about 50% of those who appeal their taxes
          win lower assessments.  Some experts estimate that 60%
          of taxable property in the United States is over
          assessed, so the odds are high that you are paying
          higher tax bills than you should.  Despite these odds,
          only about one taxpayer in fifty challenges their
          assessment.  
          
               If you challenge your assessment, you may not only
          cut your property tax by hundreds or thousands of
          dollars, but will do so for many years to come.  And
          you may be pleasantly surprised at how little time it
          takes to accomplish this.
          
               Please understand, as you read this report, that
          it is necessary to speak in generalities here.  Each
          state, and often different jurisdictions within a
          state, have different systems for tax assessments and
          appeals.  This report can provide general principles
          and guidance as to how to proceed and where to look,
          but you will have to invest the time to learn the
          particular idiosyncrasies of your jurisdiction.  Per
          hour, this time investment may be one of the best you
          ever make.
          
               The real estate tax system is one of the most
          antiquated bureaucracies around.  Generally each
          locality in the country assesses property taxes.  In
          addition to those that actually do assessments, there
          may be other taxing jurisdictions that use the same
          assessment figures.  For example, your tax bill may
          actually be a combined billing on behalf of several
          overlapping jurisdictions, with each showing as one
          line of the bill.  One of the most common is an
          independent school board, but there may also be special
          improvement districts, water districts, sewer
          districts, library boards, fire districts, soil & water
          conservation districts, and/or community college
          districts that use a combined billing statement based
          on that one assessment.  That means there are tens of
          thousands of taxing jurisdictions, and your one
          assessment may affect the amount you pay to half a
          dozen different taxing entities.
          
               The assessor's office usually is considered a
          political plum, which means that the chief assessor is
          appointed for political reasons (such as campaign
          contributions or campaign services) instead of for
          expertise related to the job.  Many top assessors have
          no experience and rely totally on their staffs.  The
          staffs usually are quite small, get no formal training,
          and are overworked.  The localities that have manuals
          for their assessors usually have outdated manuals, and
          in this age of personal computers, most records are
          kept on very antiquated paper systems.  Though some
          assessors now are computerizing their records, many
          assessors actually resist computerization.  The result
          is that records are old and inaccurate.
          
               In addition to the poor work tools, assessors face
          political pressures when making assessments.  There is
          political pressure to keep taxes in established
          residential neighborhoods from rising to a point that
          makes current residents uncomfortable.  There is also
          pressure to give some businesses tax breaks because
          they provide a lot of jobs or are otherwise deemed
          important to the locality.  (We're not talking here
          about legislated special tax reductions, such as a
          property tax break to bring in a new industry.  We're
          talking about low assessments through political
          pressure on the assessor's office.)
          
               All of this means there are likely to be errors in
          your assessment.  All you have to do is find out what's
          wrong.
          
          
          
