Valuation v. Privacy.

[Pilgrim]

Hello all, Pilgrim here.

In Connecticut there is a statutory detailed home valuation every 10 years for town property tax purposes.
They want to come through the INSIDE of the house. This is my fourth home and this is a new one on me.

Quit frankly, I’m less than comfortable with the idea. It’s one of those deals where your gut tells ya something ain’t right with the whole deal.

I’m not an anti-government type, but the government/town walking around the inside of my home with a clipboard taking notes seems, well, wrong.

I received a message on the machine tonight to call the town hall to arrange an appointment for the walk through. This is not a money thing, it’s a privacy issue to me. I’m thinking of just playing hard to get and see if they eventually just give up.

Any of you boys been through this or have any thoughts?

Best Regards and Happy Holidays,
CT. Pilgrim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

We here in Neuevo Hillapotomous were subjected to a "property inventory" 8 years ago.
The law allowed them to measure the house from the outside, count the number of rooms, toilets, fireplaces etc for valuation purposes only.
Town hired a bunch of retirees, and mistakes were common.
You might want to read your state's appraisal statutes. NY only allows assessors to view the property from the side of the road.
One of the purposes of these inventorys is to enable the town to compare your current property to the building permit, and levy fines and permit fees if the two don't match.
Here, they also hire a contractor to overfly and photograph the town every 10 years, and check for unpermitted structures such as decks, swimming pools and gazebos. The thing that really annoys the town is they have no authority over ag district farmers and their ag buildings. Gotta love that State Department of Agriculture.

 

[MikePA]

Here in PA, they assess property every now and then, not every year. Maybe every 5 or 10 years. In my experience, the assessor only asked questions while standing at the door.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I just sold our home in Mass and jumped bqack over the line into CT. If you do mot allow them to count rooms, bathrooms, etc, they automatically will measure the outside measurements, then comp those measurements by three homes of same footage. Problem comes in that when this happens, they'll comp millionaires homes and you get billed accordingly. You then have to fight and prove different. Costs you lot's of time that in the long run isn't worth it. Secondly, talking now as a past town selectman and deputy fire chief, if you've done major renovations without permit and then have a fire, you definitely lose. In the long run, let them in, they're at your home ten minutes or less. They look for obvious changes like adding a new fire place, or room addition, making rooms in the attic and such. If your home hasn't changed, then nothing is wrong. If you recently bought the home, don't worry about it. At least in Massachusetts, by law, they have to hire outside professional appraisers. Ours came form Providence RI or Albany NY. This, is the most reasonable way I think of an honest appraisal.

 

[DocHeb]

In Michigan you can refuse entry into your home, but that means they will make decisions based on their assumptions rather than fact. They do yearly percentage increases to the "State Equalized Value" that the taxes are based on for your city. That annual percentage is capped (much to the tax assessor's consternation). When the home is sold, the sale amount is then used to make a new State Equalized Value.

Five or six years ago they raised the Michigan Sales Tax from 4 to 6%. In exchange they lowered the property taxes. Now there are multiple new bond issues to raise the property tax for specific uses (library, public safety, etc.) They are becoming increasingly devious in how these are done. Last November in our township, instead of asking for an increase in the public safety millage, they combined the renewal and the new increase together. That way, if you rejected the increase you were voting for no police or fire protection. Needless to say, it passed, but it really riles the taxpayers.

I think you might get a few responses to this thread.

 

[bgott]

I think they do a flyover around here once a week. I figure with the computers they have now they can compare before and after pictures and it'll spit out anything that's changed. I know people that have started building sheds in their back yards and had the county on them three days later. We don't have any codes or inspections in Harris county, they just want that permit money. Folks around here like to snitch out their neighbors, also. It makes them feel important. But they don't like it much when the favor gets returned.

 

[Steven]

They do this to catch people that did internal upgrades or changes without getting proper permits and they will adjust your property taxes to reflect to the value added to the home by the improvements. If your not trying to hide anything, then by letting them in you will be valuated at a more accurate price better than letting them guess and paying more for taxes than you should be. We pay enough already. They did this at my home a few years back. I let them in, had nothing to hide, Have permits for all changes that were made and additions that were added, and I keep them in a folder in file cabinet. Just in case I may need them if I sell house some day.

 

[cowboydoc]

I think it's wrong and it's pure and simply a communistic act. It has nothing to do with getting a true value for your property. It has to do with big brother checking up on you pure and simple. Did you do something inside you weren't supposed to or have an unfinished project, etc. etc. Then if they see anything suspicious they report you to the auth. etc. etc. No I don't and have never had anything to hide but I still think it's wrong. Regardless of if you want to put in new carpet and paint some walls you shouldn't be penalized. Just go by the square footage of the house and base the tax base on that period. It shouldn't matter what you want to do with the place. Every year the govt. grows and grows and they need more and more money so just keep on raising taxes.

Around here they can't come into your place but what they do to get around that is value your house extremely high. Then you have to file a protest. Then they bring six people out and go over your entire place to make an evaluation. That is not right and is not what our country was based on. My gosh we fought a revolution over a penny tax and yet everyday we just let all of this go?

 

[gerard]

Ditto cowboydoc's sentiment. Evaluate me from the roadside and if I disagree I'll go through the grievance process. I'm a government employee myself but am not comortable with someone walking through my house with a clipboard. But then I have the radical thought that you should pay taxes based on the proportion of service you actually use. Never understood the logic of paying higher school taxes just because you had a more expensive house when a neighbor with 5 kids pays half what I pay with NO kids. Like cowboydoc said - we went to war over a penny tax on tea and now we give 25-35% of earned money to the government and they just want more. How about spending less!!!! (off of soapbox now.........../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[PitbullMidwest]

Cowboydoc,
Down here in Des Moines county they hire collage students to do the assessments and they do enter the house. You can refuse but as others have said, they will guess-timate your value. When Branstad froze property taxes in Iowa both Des Moines and Henry Counties re-valued property, if you can't raise taxes, raise the value of the property. My brother bought a home in Mt. Pleasant six months before the valuation and the only improvement he made was to paint the house. When re-valued it was worth $25,000 more and he allowed them entry, he fought it and the value was reduced $11,000. That's still a pretty expensive paint job.