PROPERTY TAX - Must Read

[Trip McNeely]

no offense allen, but what does that really matter? they could set it at 20% and all theyd do is jack the mill levy up to get their final number. they know what they want so they tweek one side or the other. one year its appraises value the next its mills. then they take turns bragging about not raising values or mills but your taxes go up anyways. imo they take what they want anyways so market rate or mill levy what does it matter. the best part is some of these polititians think people havent figured out how they are fucking them.

 

[rapala_09]

I just moved into a new house in April. It was assessed for exactly what I paid for it..... Funny how that works.
So to answer Allen's question..... I probably wouldn't sell it, because I don't want to. But the price would be fair haha!

 

[Bfishn]

Silly question here, but who among us would sell our places for what they are assessed?

In Bismarck i don't think anybody is selling for what the city has the house assessed at. I think the city has mine at $270k but its worth around $300k. The question for everybody is who's place is assessed for a much larger value than what it would actually sell for?

I have had friends in rural Bismarck complain about their property taxes going way up and then i start asking questions and more often than not it had been assessed for about half its value, and now the county finally brought it up to a more current value.

 

[scrotcaster]

Bowhunter12,

I understand your frustration. I was a county assessor for 3 years and been on both side of this (assessing property taxes and paying property taxes). The increase on your property sucks no matter what. However IMHO You need to ask yourself one of two thing: Are you mad with your value or are you mad that yours assessment isn't fair and equitable? If its the value, was there ever a assessor who entered the home? if not request a reassessment on your property, happens all the time, maybe they thought it was nicer inside than it really was. If your mad because you think your unfairly assessed compairitivly to your peers for some reason, then thats a bigger problem and one typical of township assessors unfortunatly. Being "equitable" is the name of the game in assessing, doesnt matter if everyones high (110%) or everyones low (80%), everyone should be the same in regards to assessed value in relation to what market value is. Either way if your looking to win an assessment arguement, it isnt going to be getting mad about the increase (you very well could have been under assessed for years and paying an unproprtionate share of your property tax burden because of it). Its either going to be with the value or unequitable assessments. I would encourage you to make an appointment with your County's Tax Director (Amber G.?) and discuss your concerns with supporting documentation to further your concerns.

 

[guywhofishes]

yep - I only wanted that my ox be gored no worse than everyone else’s - I wanted equitable effing

 

[Trip McNeely]

the last few comments are exactly what i mean. the majority of valuations are set below market value. is it possibly so they have a trump card against complaints? how many complaints does it deter? nobody is going to go in to complain only to have someone point out your assessment is lower than your market value..... is it possible they keep this little nugget under their hat for damage control? just thinking out loud here. so most people feel like they are getting a "deal" or getting away with something. in reality they will just increase mills and get the money out of you anyways. pretty classic bait and switch imho. then you have a budget shortfall from out of control spending and they reserve the right to " bring valuations up to date". how is this a fair system in a market like bismarck or western nd where the propert values were high or over valued? should a person here pay twice as much for the same property than anywhere else because of an inflated market? call it what you want but its a game they play. they know the final number they need from day one. its up to the assessors and commisioners to work out how to get it there.

 

[Bfishn]

^^ I would agree that keeping assessed values lower than market value is definitely a way for them to limit complaints. It also prevents them from being immediately over-assessed in case of a market downturn. I would assume that anytime assessed values end up higher than market value the complaints come flooding in tenfold.

 

[Trip McNeely]

if a contractor walked into a home and said "this guy has money. im going to charge more" and then walk down the road and do the exact same work elsewhere for less wouldnt that be considered shady and bad business practice? how does it make it ok for government? afterall we are getting the same services....

 

[tikkalover]

Hey, hey, you guys your not supposed to be that smart as to be able figuring this out. ;:;rofl The people doing this to us, assume we are all a bunch of dumb bastards and we are not supposed to be able to figure this shit out. ;:;boozer

 

[eyexer]

Interesting, in my limited experience, the assessed rate always seems to be about 80% of market rate.

so not the case in the Williston area anymore

 

[scrotcaster]

the last few comments are exactly what i mean. the majority of valuations are set below market value. is it possibly so they have a trump card against complaints? how many complaints does it deter? nobody is going to go in to complain only to have someone point out your assessment is lower than your market value..... is it possible they keep this little nugget under their hat for damage control? just thinking out loud here. so most people feel like they are getting a "deal" or getting away with something. in reality they will just increase mills and get the money out of you anyways. pretty classic bait and switch imho. then you have a budget shortfall from out of control spending and they reserve the right to " bring valuations up to date". how is this a fair system in a market like bismarck or western nd where the propert values were high or over valued? should a person here pay twice as much for the same property than anywhere else because of an inflated market? call it what you want but its a game they play. they know the final number they need from day one. its up to the assessors and commisioners to work out how to get it there.

Only problem with that conclusion is that property assessment are set for the year, before mill leavy rates are set..So it couldnt go both ways.. As far as setting valuation below market value is more a function of mass appraisals than a "trump card" to deter complaints.. By state law the sales ratio (Sales price/assessed value) of a county needs to be withing 90% (if i remember correctly) or the state will increase all assessments in that juristiction to come in compliance.

 

[eyexer]

none of this blather really matters. it doesn't change the fact we are over taxed to the hilt here. Unless we have a major overhaul in the property tax situation we will no doubt see another initiated measure to eliminate property taxes and I'm guessing it will pass soundly this time. Everybody I've talked to that voted against it would like to poke their eyes out now.

 

[andyb15]

if a contractor walked into a home and said "this guy has money. im going to charge more" and then walk down the road and do the exact same work elsewhere for less wouldnt that be considered shady and bad business practice? how does it make it ok for government? afterall we are getting the same services....

In this case you could seek out a different contractor, we don't have any say as to who we pay our taxes to on our property.

 

[Captain Ahab]

if a contractor walked into a home and said "this guy has money. im going to charge more" and then walk down the road and do the exact same work elsewhere for less wouldnt that be considered shady and bad business practice? how does it make it ok for government? afterall we are getting the same services....

Obamacare in a nutshell.

 

[PrairieGhost]

none of this blather really matters. it doesn't change the fact we are over taxed to the hilt here. Unless we have a major overhaul in the property tax situation we will no doubt see another initiated measure to eliminate property taxes and I'm guessing it will pass soundly this time. Everybody I've talked to that voted against it would like to poke their eyes out now.

Not me. If your a poor sucker working on a salary you better reconsider eliminating the property tax. There are businesses that make a lot of money, but they have so many write offs that they pay little and sometimes no tax. When it gets close they add their wifes name to part of the property, their son's name, their daughters name, etc. Politicians will get their taxes, the schools will stay open, the roads you darn hunters wreck in the country will be built and repaired. The taxes will be paid to the piper, but simply a different type of tax. The only thing eliminating the property tax will do is let some people off with paying almost no taxes of any kind. If your on salary your the smuck that's going to pick up the slack. Remember some people wanting the Game and Fish to kick in money to pay for rural roads that us slob hunters tear up? Well somehow, someway, all that spending will continue. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

What is wrong is different people paying different taxes because they have different jobs. I live in the country. My house is worth about $250K. My neighbors house is worth about $750K. If he tells me the truth I pay more taxes. Why? Take a guess what he tells me. Oh, and we are neighbors one mile out of town.

 

[Bfishn]

In this case you could seek out a different contractor, we don't have any say as to who we pay our taxes to on our property.

We do have a say in the size of house we buy and where we buy it, therefore affecting our tax obligation. If you build a 4,000 sq ft house in NW Bismarck you've just signed up for a 7k tax obligation.

 

[Retired Educator]

Here's what I know about assessed value. According to the state laws, property is supposed to be assessed between 95% and 105% of true and full value. In most cases it is assessed a little below that. Most importantly the property needs to be assessed equitably. My 2000 sq. ft. house on a 100X150 lot should be assessed very close to a neighbor with a similar size lot and house. Walking in the house to check out the inside should have nothing to do with the assessment. ND has a property tax, not a personal property tax, there is a difference. My custom made walnut cabinets with granite counter-tops are should increase the ease of selling the house, but not the assessed value.

What you pay for your house is not necessarily the assessed value. What other similar houses in the area are selling for should have a lot to do with the assessed value.

If you think your assessed value is unfair, check out the assessed value of similar property. The info is available in the courthouse and is public information. That will give you some ammunition for your argument. Find other property and if the assessed value of those properties is close to yours you don't have much of an argument. If those properties have a lower assessed value, there is your case for a new assessment. You'll either have your assessed value lowered or you'll piss your neighbors off for increasing their valuation. If your assessed value is lower than your neighbors, keep it quiet, you're getting a good deal.

I don't have an argument with property taxes as there has to be a way to pay for the services to which we've become accustomed. The key is to make sure everyone is treated equitably and the way to start that is with fair and equitable valuations.

 

[gst]

The ideals of local assessors differs just as does the ideals of the county assessors do. Some love taxes others do not. Some push to get every dime while others do not. Some are liberal big govt types that see every little home improvement as a reason to increase ones taxes some do not.

The bottom line here is elections have consequences at every level. Yet roughly half the people don;t bother to vote.

 

[PrairieGhost]

That's interesting. They want to come and look in my house.

 

[bowhunter12]

Bowhunter12,

I understand your frustration. I was a county assessor for 3 years and been on both side of this (assessing property taxes and paying property taxes). The increase on your property sucks no matter what. However IMHO You need to ask yourself one of two thing: Are you mad with your value or are you mad that yours assessment isn't fair and equitable? If its the value, was there ever a assessor who entered the home? if not request a reassessment on your property, happens all the time, maybe they thought it was nicer inside than it really was. If your mad because you think your unfairly assessed compairitivly to your peers for some reason, then thats a bigger problem and one typical of township assessors unfortunatly. Being "equitable" is the name of the game in assessing, doesnt matter if everyones high (110%) or everyones low (80%), everyone should be the same in regards to assessed value in relation to what market value is. Either way if your looking to win an assessment arguement, it isnt going to be getting mad about the increase (you very well could have been under assessed for years and paying an unproprtionate share of your property tax burden because of it). Its either going to be with the value or unequitable assessments. I would encourage you to make an appointment with your County's Tax Director (Amber G.?) and discuss your concerns with supporting documentation to further your concerns.

In my original post I stated I didn’t have a problem with assessed value. Just how it came about and then finding out that the JACKWAGON that assessed it hasn’t increased his own property value for the last 4 years. That is the problem. How can a guy assess his own damn property. By the way my property is not a residential property it is an abondoned farm with a 30x40 garage on it, it is recreational.