EDITORIAL: Foreclosures should weigh on tax assessments
One of the things that many local government officials are frightened of is that the county’s tax digest might go down in this economy. That would force local governments to either cut spending, or raise the millage rate — they are loath to do either.
But property taxpayers are asking a legitimate question: Why did property assessments go up on the county tax books during the boom times, but don’t go down when the economy is slow?
The answer is, state rules are stacked against taxpayers. The large number of foreclosures that are now bringing down property values are not allowed to be counted in valuing other property assessments.
In the real world, your property value may be hurt by a large number of foreclosures in your area, but state rules prevent county tax assessors from factoring that into your property assessment.
Sounds unfair, doesn’t it?
Well it is and state legislative leaders could quickly fix that problem with legislation that would mandate foreclosures and other distressed property sales be considered in property evaluations.
Of course, city and county officials oppose doing that because they don’t want their local tax digests to shrink.
But they didn’t seem too upset a couple years ago when inflated property values were driving up taxes on property owners. Many citizens in Jackson County saw their county assessments soar because of the real estate speculation during the building boom.
So it’s only fair now that the distressed property sales be treated the same way and factored into the assessment formula.
Property taxpayers should not have to pay higher taxes based on assessments done during the boom when everyone knows that most property has fallen in value.
What’s fair is fair and Georgia property taxpayers are not being treated fairly.
The answer is, state rules are stacked against taxpayers. The large number of foreclosures that are now bringing down property values are not allowed to be counted in valuing other property assessments.
In the real world, your property value may be hurt by a large number of foreclosures in your area, but state rules prevent county tax assessors from factoring that into your property assessment.
Sounds unfair, doesn’t it?
Well it is and state legislative leaders could quickly fix that problem with legislation that would mandate foreclosures and other distressed property sales be considered in property evaluations.
Of course, city and county officials oppose doing that because they don’t want their local tax digests to shrink.
But they didn’t seem too upset a couple years ago when inflated property values were driving up taxes on property owners. Many citizens in Jackson County saw their county assessments soar because of the real estate speculation during the building boom.
So it’s only fair now that the distressed property sales be treated the same way and factored into the assessment formula.
Property taxpayers should not have to pay higher taxes based on assessments done during the boom when everyone knows that most property has fallen in value.
What’s fair is fair and Georgia property taxpayers are not being treated fairly.
Can't we request a new assessment?
All of the financial programs make it sound like we can?
There is even a radio commercial for an agency that will request it for you, for a small fee.
I have my new appraisal and you can be sure I'll be appealing.
Jefferson raised water rates in a severe recession. What an outrage!
And while we're on this subject, the Arcade trash contractor (Waste-Pro) charged us an extra $3.00 per month fuel surcharge when gas was $4.00 / gallon. I haven't seen their price be reduced now that gas is $1.79. This is quite a windfall for them. Arcade politicians? Hello?!
I'm sick of it! Prices and taxes should go in both directions when indicated. Thieves, one and all! Throw the tea overboard!
I have found so far is the right on the bottom of the bill:
"Paid in Protest"
Have any of you started this process?
What if we can't afford a new appraisal?
How can we then appeal?
I did find this link on this issue:
http://www.thatonecaveman.com/2008/06/how-to-challenge-your-property-tax-assessment.html
If these foreclosures and distress sales that you mention are truly affecting the market (and in a lot of areas they are), it will be apparent when analyzing the arms-length transactions that occurred during the 12 months preceding January 1st of the tax year in question.
Also, your idea is fraught with several problems. The amount one pays for a property is reflected by reviewing the transfer tax paid to record the deed. This tax is charged at the rate of $1 per $1,000 of purchase price. Foreclosures do not pay this tax, so the amount owed on the property is not apparent by reviewing the deed under power of sale, which is the instrument used to transfer title when a foreclosure occurs. Even if an intangible tax amount is indicated, it has several limitations that can keep one from knowing the true amount of the taking. Also, the foreclosure probably does not reflect second and third mortgages that are not apparent by reviewing one deed under power.
The second problem, and the one that hurts your contention the most, is that most of the notes being foreclosed on today are fairly new mortgages. As such, thanks to the trend of 100% (and sometimes even 125%) loan-to-value mortgages that became so popular in the last few years combined with falling market values, many of the loans being foreclosed on now have an amount owed that exceeds the current market value. This is why banks are taking big hits right now. They are losing money even if they can sell the property at its current market value. In other words, your idea may actually make assessments go up, not down.
As someone who has worked in the industry for twenty years and has spoken to a number of Georgia’s Chief Appraisers recently, I can tell you that many county digests will be going down this year, not up (I have not spoken to Ms. Johnson lately and have no idea what will happen in Jackson County). Knowing this leads me to ask this next question, why are you spewing uninformed opinions that only serve to inflame the public that you purport to serve when you should be performing a good-faith investigation with the intent to understand the matters on which you opine?
As for the people asking about how to appeal, you have till April 1st to file a Real Property Tax Return with the county. Receiving these tax returns is usually a job that is handled by the Tax Assessors (I’m not sure who handles this in Jackson County. Check with the Tax Assessors or Tax Commissioner). Filing a tax return will cause the assessors to accept your declared value or send you an assessment notice if they do not. In Jackson County you'll have 45 days in which to file an appeal with the Tax Assessors (follow the instructions on the back of the notice). Please note that filing the return IS NOT THE SAME AS FILING AN APPEAL. When the Assessors send you an assessment notice, you must write a letter of appeal even if you’ve already filed a return.
I refer you to SB55 in the Georgia Legislature which does exactly what this editorial suggests. Perhaps we are not "spewing uninformed opinions" as you suggest?
Mike Buffington
Editor
I'm well aware of SB 55. The fact that a Georgia Senator (or in this case four Georgia Senators) has proposed such legislation doesn’t make it a good idea. Lawyers (as is the profession of most members of the legislature), like journalists, give the impression that they are experts on everything when in reality they usually know very little about subjects on which they speak (some even less than others). I remember a few years back that one member of Georgia’s legislature submitted a bill that would have stopped all police in Georgia from being able to write tickets for speeding. The fact that some legislator proposed it didn’t make it a good idea, and the fact that a few senators have proposed mandating the inclusion of foreclosures into the sales base doesn’t make that a good idea either.
I notice that you made no attempt to refute the substance of my arguments. Rather you only attempted to answer my rebuke by pointing at others who are equally misinformed. That said, let me rephrase my original statement that you’re spewing uninformed opinions; you’re parroting uninformed opinions.
Amused:
First, I had little doubt, knowing Mr. Buffington’s bias against paying property taxes, that he’d have some comeback to my post. Second, just what “carpet” are you referring to?
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980326 discusses the origin of this expression. It implies rebuke. I don't fear rebuke from Mr. Buffington; I wear it as a badge of honor. Lastly, it’s ironic that you are amused by Mr. Buffington’s rebuke because I’m amused that you don’t have the guts to use your real name. Amused but not surprised.
Guess we all have our opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.....
Cheers.
Mike
I believe quite a few changes need to made to fix the current system. I do understand that the system is the people’s system. If the people don’t have confidence in it (which virtually all our citizens currently do not), the system is broken; no matter if it does otherwise achieve its technical aims. However unlike the position I believe I’ve heard you espouse in the past, I also recognize the value of a fair property tax system and certainly do not advocate throwing the baby out with the bath water.
The attitude you expressed in your last post goes directly to one of the main reasons this problem doesn’t get better; you assume that I, an insider, do not want to make the system better, As your attitude is widespread, we are rarely consulted. When we are, it’s usually as an afterthought and everything we say is taken from the standpoint that we only want to take more money out of our citizen’s pockets. If you do not heed your doctor’s medical advice, are you surprised when you get sick? If you ignore your architect’s advice, are you surprised when your building collapses? Ignore the professionals here and you'll end up with bad tax law. Most of my colleagues of any real standing are open to reasonable solutions to what are some of the obvious problems our industry faces today.
Of course the real problem is that taxes are rising like a rocket ship. Assessors don’t have much to do with the amount of taxes you pay and have been telling you this for years. Freeze the digests or throw out property taxes out all together. Rising taxes will not stop till the people realize that the governing authorities are the ones responsible for this, and demand they moderate their spending. Until then, these governing authorities will continue to laugh while everybody shoots at the red herring you call the tax digest.
You obviously have the point of view of the taxer, not the taxee, Mister Kirkpatrick.
People with your opinions and point of view are typical of what is wrong with our government today. The "government is right and can do no wrong, tax-payers should just give and give and give" approach has hammered the average American tax-payer to the point that people have to, on average, work OVER 30 percent of their jobs just to PAY TAXES of one kind or the other!!!!
Think about that. People sacrafice about a third of their work just to keep the government funded, and there is STILL over a trillion dollar gap!
You know, there used to be a concept of truth, justice and "the American way" in this country. But it is painfully obvious that truth and justice no longer have a place in our government. And "the American way" has somehow been transformed into the "grab all you can get, regardless of the consequences" in far too many people's minds.
Just in case SOME people have forgotten, government employees (elected or not) are "supposed" to work for THE PEOPLE, not the other way around. So consider this: Where other than government does the employee get to decide where the employer spends the money? Want a raise? Sure, just do it and tell the tax payer "you MUST pay it, you have no choice...if you don't we will TAKE YOUR HOME FROM YOU!" Want to build a new goverment complex? Sure, just do it...then tell the tax payer "we're raising the apprasal on your home, so you have to pay more...you have no choice...if you don't, we will TAKE YOUR HOME FROM YOU!" Want to have a new softball field for the rec department? SURE! Just DO IT! And tell the tax payer "I don't care if you can't pay the electric bill, or feed your kids, pay the TAXES or we will TAKE YOUR HOME FROM YOU!" Hey...who cares about the tax payer? We NEED that new ball field, don't we! Need to waste a few more dollars! SURE!!! Just spend, spend, spend...and tell the tax payer "pay up or we will TAKE YOUR HOME FROM YOU!"
But hey chief, what are you going to do with all of those homes, since nobody can afford to buy any of them, and nobody has any money to pay those lofty tax bills?
When are people like you going to stop and realize that at some point there are not going to be ANY TAX PAYERS LEFT TO PAY ANY TAXES?!?!?!?!? Because you've taxed them right out of their homes!
YOU need to step back from your high horse and take a look at what the AVERAGE Jackson County TAX PAYER is already paying and realize that you've already gone to the well several times too many.
The government should have to do the same thing the tax payers have to do: Learn to make do, or do without! Stop treating tax payers as an unlimited cash cow and start remembering that tax payers are PEOPLE who have to find away to pay their bills in spite of taxes.
Oh that's cute. What am I protesting? A bad idea that could very well make assessments rise, not fall. If you actually had the ability to think (and from your recent post it’s obvious that you don’t) you would have read this and understood the reason why I believe this.
>>You obviously have the point of view of the taxer, not the taxee, Mister Kirkpatrick.
I’m both. As both a taxer and a taxee I also believe that we pay way too much in taxes. As I said earlier, shooting at the tax digest will not help this problem one bit. As long as the feds, the state, the counties, and the school boards keep spending our money like it’s going out of style, our taxes will keep going up. No matter what system you use to collect the money, keep asking the same group for more money and the bill will keep going up. Until we the voters come to realize this and address the real problem, this will not change. Elect people who realize this and don’t just pay lip service to the problem.
The problem is not just the fault of those we elect; it’s our fault. The money the government spends is usually at the request of some well-meaning interest group who is sporting the next great idea that government must fund. When it says no, Mr. Buffington and his fellow colleagues will run some sensationalized story documenting how someone is doing without because that big, bad government with all that money said no. Of course we’ll all read it and get incensed. I’m sure we all can think of things we could use in our personal lives, but that we do not buy them because we don’t have unlimited resources and can’t afford to. We as a society have to change our mindset and apply the same reasoning in our governments.
>>People with your opinions and point of view are typical of what is wrong with our >>government today. The "government is right and can do no wrong, tax-payers should just >>give and give and give" approach has hammered the average American tax-payer to the >>point that people have to, on average, work OVER 30 percent of their jobs just to PAY >>TAXES of one kind or the other!!!!
When did I express the opinion you’re attributing to me? If you had read my posts, you’d have seen that I expressed my belief that the system is the peoples system. I further expressed that the system has obvious flaws. If I thought governments were infallible, why would I believe the system has flaws? I’m not against fixing the system; I’m against taking ill-advised actions that are counterproductive to the goal of achieving and maintaining a fair taxing system.
>>Think about that. People sacrifice about a third of their work just to keep the government >>funded, and there is STILL over a trillion dollar gap!
Again, if you’d actually read what I wrote, I said almost the same thing. I also point out that the idea being debated here will not help that problem.
>>But hey chief
The name’s not chief. Unlike you I have the guts to use my real name, Mr. Mouse.
Ooooh, you got me. Did I hit a nerve? You sure seem angry, chief. Need some anger manament sessions, do you?
Cheap shots really make you look good in the public eye.
As I said before, its EXACTLY people of your calibre that cause the majority of the problems we are facing today.
You don't have any real answers for the problems but you sure do want your name out there for everyone to put a spotlight on. Why don't you sit down, shut up, get out of the way so MAYBE someone who isn't just trying to get some self-aggrandizing attention can try to actually make some progress on the issues we are all facing?
Have a nice day.
Angry? Why would bozos like you or Mike Buffington make me angry (maybe the same person)? Based on your lack of ability to operate a spell checker (that’s not fair because they haven’t yet built spell checkers into the brand of Crayon that you use), together with your obvious first grade reading comprehension level, I would be LAUGHING had my mother taught me not to laugh at the mentally challenged.
>>Cheap shots really make you look good in the public eye.
So you and Mike Buffington constitute the public now? I’ve received at least 10 calls from people I know who tell me how much they’ve enjoyed reading me make fools out of the two of you. Of course I tell them that I can take no credit for making you into the fools that you naturally are. I can only take the credit for helping to expose it.
>>You don't have any real answers for the problems but you sure do want your name out there for >>everyone to put a spotlight on. Why don't you sit down, shut up, get out of the way so MAYBE >>someone who isn't just trying to get some self-aggrandizing attention can try to actually make >>some progress on the issues we are all facing?
I don’t take advice from gutless, anonymous morons who can’t spell or read, sorry.
When you say "Cheap shots really make you look good . . ." and then you go on to call someone "Chief" after he politely points out that that is not his name, it only shows that you are a petty fool. Please Mr. Mouse -- your cheap shots are unwarranted, and your contributions to this discussion are banal.