Property tax needs to be repealed / abolished NOW! (Morgan Co info here)

[sapper83]

Well, let me be the first to welcome you to America. We have these things called elections where we elect representatives to do things for us. You can work to help get people you think would do better elected. Volunteering, door to door, spreading the word, etc or, and this may blow your mind since you're new here, but YOU can run for that office yourself. Pretty awesome.

Now, there are some places, like chicago-lite or north louisville where you are completely outnumbered by people of opposing views. In those cases, its often better to get out when you can and find someplace that is more in line with your political beliefs.

Here we go again with the lets change the world speech...taxes are awsome. no matter who we elect they will never do what the voters want. It is an eleite class of entitled (cough) This isn't about voting, maybe you missed the thread heading?

Property tax needs to be repealed / abolished NOW!​

 

[snorko]

If the county is using the proper formulas how can an entire neighborhood be over assessed? I believe you, just doesn’t seem right.

Cause they may not be? As I posted earlier my duplex was assessed 50%-60% above market value for the current 2023 pay 2024 period. i filed an appeal last April. Just got the results which I accepted. I had suggested a value of $135,700, they concluded $145,000. It was at $218,000. Now my neighbor which is a virtually identical duplex is assessed at $135,000. So clearly something got kinked in the matrix to have a +/-$72,000 error.

I did an appeal years ago where (rough numbers) an industrial property on +/-25 acres was assessed at $175,000/ac for the land. Problem was it was in a neighborhood with lots of small 1-2 acre industrial properties. That value made sense for them but the large tract, mostly in the flood plain, was more like $30,000/ac. The Assessor had simply coded the land wrong. Land assessment went from $4.375 million to $875,000.

 

[bobzilla]

Here we go again with the lets change the world speech...taxes are awsome. no matter who we elect they will never do what the voters want. It is an eleite class of entitled (cough) This isn't about voting, maybe you missed the thread heading?

Property tax needs to be repealed / abolished NOW!​

and that is a fantasy. Every state in the union has property tax. Every. Single. One. I mean if you want to live in lala land I'm not going to stop you. But the rest of us live in reality. Minimalizing the tax is about the best we can hope for. It's never going away. Ever.

Now, I know you're already building your strawman here, so let me be clear: I do not agree with property tax in perpetuity. I believe it is paying the kings ransom to be allowed to live in your own home. The reality is, we have it pretty good here compared to literally 42 other states.

 

[Ingomike]

Cause they may not be? As I posted earlier my duplex was assessed 50%-60% above market value for the current 2023 pay 2024 period. i filed an appeal last April. Just got the results which I accepted. I had suggested a value of $135,700, they concluded $145,000. It was at $218,000. Now my neighbor which is a virtually identical duplex is assessed at $135,000. So clearly something got kinked in the matrix to have a +/-$72,000 error.

I did an appeal years ago where (rough numbers) an industrial property on +/-25 acres was assessed at $175,000/ac for the land. Problem was it was in a neighborhood with lots of small 1-2 acre industrial properties. That value made sense for them but the large tract, mostly in the flood plain, was more like $30,000/ac. The Assessor had simply coded the land wrong. Land assessment went from $4.375 million to $875,000.

Your situation makes sense, it is that “In my neighborhood most houses are probably over assessed” that is very puzzling. In your case your neighbor was properly assessed and you got close.

 

[bobzilla]

Your situation makes sense, it is that “In my neighborhood most houses are probably over assessed” that is very puzzling. In your case your neighbor was properly assessed and you got close.

There's the key. Probably =/ is. We're back to the feewings thing that we FEEL they are over assessed but don't actually know nor have the data to back that up.

 

[jamil]

This isn't the small corner church. This is big business. Look them up maybe.

They make money, lots of money and it shows up as profit after all their expenses.

But I am getting off the main topic. They pay property taxes on the properties they rent out. That's good as they make more money on the rentals. But they also have a lot of property that has been donated or purchased and they pay zero on it.

That is what I was trying to get to in my round about way. This is a college who happens to be religion based. If I have to pay property taxes on everything I own then they should as well. Again using them as an example not trying to vilify them.

I mentioned mega churches. Olsteens is probably about the biggest one. Can those be singled out without the neighborhood church being affected? That’s fine with me.

 

[WebSnyper]

Amen to that... you mean folks shouldn't just call into a radio show?!

For the record, I'm not a property tax complainer (even thought I'm one of the few on here who's had to pay 2%), but I might be an instigator here on INGO.


I wonder why so much butt hurt in this thread then? I've YET to have an assessment high enough to challenge...

Got my assessment changed last year for that and the previous year. Got my new assessment today and will be pulling comps again to review because it's headed back up, but not as much as it was erroneously assessed at previously yet. Of course it took them 2 years to get to my appeal (even though filed on time and legally they were supposed to get to it before that).

 

[WebSnyper]

I generally advise folks not to appeal unless the assessment is at least 15%-20% out of whack. Any less and the cost of an appraisal and time to appeal eats up the savings. Sometimes there are obvious errors, most likely arising from an input error. Remember assessments are derived by Mass Appraisal. The Assessor is not doing an individual valuation on each parcel. Multipliers and factors are calculated based on market data and these are applied to various property types and neighborhoods.

In Hendricks county, I just had to submit some info online with some comps, etc.

 

[snorko]

In Hendricks county, I just had to submit some info online with some comps, etc.

True for any county I am sure. Some folks can't or won't do that. Also more complex properties need something more. I actually don't like doing tax appeal work and usually try to council folks around the problem.

 

[jamil]

Welcome, comrade. All 50 states have it...

What's your fix? @bobzilla posted an article that says Indiana is one of the 20% lowest property tax states in the USA...

Bake sales. Maybe government can start hooking for cash. Selling crack is always lucrative.

 

[jamil]

Both those houses aren't in "normal" condition. They are virtually new with old bones. As in never lived in after complete gutting and remodel.

So property taxes should be based on potential value rather than actual value?

Actual value is the sold price. Potential value is a wild ass guess what it would sell at.

 

[jamil]

If the county is using the proper formulas how can an entire neighborhood be over assessed? I believe you, just doesn’t seem right.

Because it’s a wild ass guess and so they guess wrong sometimes. Maybe the neighborhood’s appeal is misjudged.

 

[WebSnyper]

True for any county I am sure. Some folks can't or won't do that. Also more complex properties need something more. I actually don't like doing tax appeal work and usually try to council folks around the problem.

Agreed on complex properties.

 

[WebSnyper]

Selling crack is always lucrative.

They already have a large part of the population totally addicted to handouts, let's not have them working harder at it.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

If the county is using the proper formulas how can an entire neighborhood be over assessed? I believe you, just doesn’t seem right.

For the past few years quite a few have been flipped. Along with from what I've seen around the others aren't being heavily remodeled. So frequently outdated. That and it is a sorta transition area between modest homes and high priced. One two blocks away sold for iirc about 1 mill, the one next door to it went for something like 650k. I live near river/lakefront but not on. There are other factors as well.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

If the county is using the proper formulas how can an entire neighborhood be over assessed? I believe you, just doesn’t seem right.

To add to my previous post, this house was posted earlier.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/318-S-Main-St_Monticello_IN_47960_M48989-08880

It's assessed at 260. I've got almost 3x land and a much larger garage. And 1k less sq footage. Mine is assessed at 195k. And there is no comparison between the two houses. As I mentioned upthread that house is gorgeous. If I could I'd jump on it in a heartbeat and have mine listed. It's about 3 blocks over and 3 blocks up.

 

[Ingomike]

To add to my previous post, this house was posted earlier.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/318-S-Main-St_Monticello_IN_47960_M48989-08880

It's assessed at 260. I've got almost 3x land and a much larger garage. And 1k less sq footage. Mine is assessed at 195k. And there is no comparison between the two houses. As I mentioned upthread that house is gorgeous. If I could I'd jump on it in a heartbeat and have mine listed. It's about 3 blocks over and 3 blocks up.

All I can say is no system will ever be perfect for every property. Overall, if we have a property tax, this is the best system Indiana has ever had. If they tinker with it there will be new winners and losers. I still remember when two people owned houses that sold for the same price and one was paying $1500 a year and the other was $4000 a year, which is what the Indiana supreme court ruled unequal…

 

[jamil]

All I can say is no system will ever be perfect for every property. Overall, if we have a property tax, this is the best system Indiana has ever had. If they tinker with it there will be new winners and losers. I still remember when two people owned houses that sold for the same price and one was paying $1500 a year and the other was $4000 a year, which is what the Indiana supreme court ruled unequal…

Different winners and losers, eh? Makes sense now.

 

[bobzilla]

To add to my previous post, this house was posted earlier.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/318-S-Main-St_Monticello_IN_47960_M48989-08880

It's assessed at 260. I've got almost 3x land and a much larger garage. And 1k less sq footage. Mine is assessed at 195k. And there is no comparison between the two houses. As I mentioned upthread that house is gorgeous. If I could I'd jump on it in a heartbeat and have mine listed. It's about 3 blocks over and 3 blocks up.

Do you have 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and almost 3500 sq ft?

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Do you have 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and almost 3500 sq ft?

Nope. As I stated about 1k less sq ft. 3 bed, 1 1/2 bath. With a strange layout. My house started as a roughly 6-700 sq ft farm house that has been added on to over the years. First addition was when they added running water, a furnace, and I believe electricity.