“Viewpoint: It's property tax time; check for errors” plus 2 more |
- Viewpoint: It's property tax time; check for errors
- Realtors’ group offering Property Tax Appeal Seminar
- Property tax/rent rebate applications are available
| Viewpoint: It's property tax time; check for errors Posted: 07 Mar 2011 07:54 AM PST Published: Monday, March 07, 2011, 8:04 AM Updated: Monday, March 07, 2011, 10:41 AM
Property tax bills have been sent out in Portage and this is a good year to take a close look for past assessing errors. The key thing to watch for is an upgrade in the class of construction of your home during 2001-2007, if you did not structurally change anything. Your taxes may have gone up without a valid reason. You can check your property cards for free, so let me explain why you should look at them. As Portage citizens may recall, after Bob and Patricia Randall's highly publicized $20,000 property tax settlement with the city, she ran for Portage City Council on a platform of fair property taxes. She was elected in November 2009. Patricia Randall led efforts that resulted in Portage assessor's office customer service improvements. A referendum was also passed by voters giving council the ability to increase Board of Review membership and training. Portage sponsored a community educational event on assessment procedures and passed a State Tax Commission 14-point review. There was only one problem: Randall had a feeling the 14-point review did not look deeply enough into property assessments over time. She conducted an investigation using the city's own database. Randall used the Freedom of Information Act and self-financed a study over a 10-year period from 2000-2010. About 15,000 residential parcels in seven assessment categories, resulting in 4.2 million data elements, were reviewed. She gave her report to the council and staff four days before the regularly scheduled Jan. 11 council meeting. Then they buried it. So what was in the Randall report? It summarized unusual assessing patterns during 2001-2007 which were not addressed in the 14-point review. The report contained three items: 1) trend graphs outlining questionable practices of changing class of construction and effective age for homes, especially after they were sold; 2) a State Tax Commission memo from 2005 to local governments saying that some assessors were engaging in the practice of "following sales" (i.e., bumping up SEVs using questionable practices to match purchase prices that were soaring at the time); and 3) a legal opinion from Richard Reed, a property tax attorney advising specific actions to correct past assessing irregularities based on the new data. Full transparency is the best way for Portage citizens to know if their taxes are fair. The trend graphs and the full Randall report are located at www.Pearson4Portage.com. The Randall report contains a wealth of information for residential property assessment trends over the last 10 years. For example, it shows that the Portage assessor's office has been doing a good job since 2007, the year after the Randalls challenged their own home assessment. The problem is that many other Portage properties that experienced class of construction and other SEV enhancing upgrades without inspections during the aberrant 2001-2007 assessing period have not been fixed. So what action did the Portage City Council take? They voted to accept Randall's report and then voted 6-1 against Randall to take no further action. Just four days after receipt of the Randall report, the council acted on the advice of the city assessor and a private consultant hired by the city, Joyce Foondle of Southwest Michigan Governmental Consultants, to reaffirm its closure action taken on April 27, 2010, and not re-open the investigation. This was done in spite of investigator Alan Sawyer's presentation on the questionable assessment trends graphically illustrated in the Randall report. Citizens were not allowed to speak before the vote and I was one of several who voiced concern that the Portage City Council acted in haste to dismiss the new information. If you are wondering if your property tax is fair, the Board of Review season is here. The Randall report is a good start to learn what to look for in your own property cards to determine if you need to appeal your assessment based on suspect assessing trends. The 14-point review the city passed checked procedures, not practices. Less than a dozen property record cards out of 15,000 were randomly checked. Portage had 4,160 class of construction increases during the 2001-2007 period, but only 199 during 2008-2009. Check your property cards, if you have a feeling your property tax needs a closer look. Jim Pearson resides in Portage. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Realtors’ group offering Property Tax Appeal Seminar Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:33 AM PST DEARBORN — The Dearborn Area Board of Realtors is presenting a free Property Tax Appeal Seminar from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 7 at Park Place, 23400 Park St., Dearborn. The Tax Appeal Seminar will be conducted by Jumana Judeh, MAI, GAA, Certified General Appraiser, who will help you understand how your property taxes are calculated on your home or business. You know if you don't pay your taxes, there are serious and very expensive consequences including forfeiture of your property. Do you wonder? •How can market values drop dramatically while my property taxes keep rising? •How can I appeal my property taxes? •What is the process to appeal? •When do I appeal my property taxes? Answers to these questions and many more will be provided to you by our bilingual presenter so that you have an opportunity to possibly save thousands of dollars if your property is over-valued for tax purposes. Registration is limited. Please contact the DABOR office at (313) 278-2220 for further information. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. DEARBORN — The Dearborn Area Board of Realtors is presenting a free Property Tax Appeal Seminar from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 7 at Park Place, 23400 Park St., Dearborn. The Tax Appeal Seminar will be conducted by Jumana Judeh, MAI, GAA, Certified General Appraiser, who will help you understand how your property taxes are calculated on your home or business. You know if you don't pay your taxes, there are serious and very expensive consequences including forfeiture of your property. Do you wonder? •How can market values drop dramatically while my property taxes keep rising? •How can I appeal my property taxes? •What is the process to appeal? •When do I appeal my property taxes? Answers to these questions and many more will be provided to you by our bilingual presenter so that you have an opportunity to possibly save thousands of dollars if your property is over-valued for tax purposes. Registration is limited. Please contact the DABOR office at (313) 278-2220 for further information. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Property tax/rent rebate applications are available Posted: 07 Mar 2011 07:18 AM PST Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) has announced that applications for this year's Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program are now available in his district offices. "The Property Tax and Rent Rebate program serves a vital need for many seniors and disabled citizens in Delaware and Chester counties," said Pileggi. "Some residents who may be eligible are not aware of the program, so I encourage constituents to visit or call one of my offices if they have any questions or need help completing an application." Eligible residents are those 65 or older, widows and widowers 50 or older, and those 18 or older who are disabled. Annual household income may not exceed $35,000, although only half of any Social Security income and Railroad Retirement benefits count towards that calculation. The Pennsylvania Property Tax / Rent Rebate program provides property tax relief or rent assistance of up to $650 for eligible Pennsylvanians. A supplemental payment of up to $325 may be available for residents who pay more than 15 percent of income on property taxes. Residents who received a property tax or rent rebate last year should automatically receive a renewal application form in the mail. Those forms have a unique bar code that allows the Department of Revenue to process them more quickly. Applications for the Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program are due June 30. Rebate checks will be mailed beginning July 1. Senator Pileggi has three district offices: 100 Evergreen Drive, Suite 113, Glen Mills, PA 19342, (610-358-5183); 415 Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19013, (610-447-5845); and 305 Market St., Oxford, PA 19363, (610-932-2360). More information about state issues is available at Senator Pileggiís web site, www.SenatorPileggi.com. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) has announced that applications for this year's Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program are now available in his district offices. "The Property Tax and Rent Rebate program serves a vital need for many seniors and disabled citizens in Delaware and Chester counties," said Pileggi. "Some residents who may be eligible are not aware of the program, so I encourage constituents to visit or call one of my offices if they have any questions or need help completing an application." Eligible residents are those 65 or older, widows and widowers 50 or older, and those 18 or older who are disabled. Annual household income may not exceed $35,000, although only half of any Social Security income and Railroad Retirement benefits count towards that calculation. The Pennsylvania Property Tax / Rent Rebate program provides property tax relief or rent assistance of up to $650 for eligible Pennsylvanians. A supplemental payment of up to $325 may be available for residents who pay more than 15 percent of income on property taxes. Residents who received a property tax or rent rebate last year should automatically receive a renewal application form in the mail. Those forms have a unique bar code that allows the Department of Revenue to process them more quickly. Applications for the Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program are due June 30. Rebate checks will be mailed beginning July 1. Senator Pileggi has three district offices: 100 Evergreen Drive, Suite 113, Glen Mills, PA 19342, (610-358-5183); 415 Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19013, (610-447-5845); and 305 Market St., Oxford, PA 19363, (610-932-2360). More information about state issues is available at Senator Pileggiís web site, www.SenatorPileggi.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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