I live in a row house, between 2 identical units on each side. Someone want to explain to me how, with major renovations and cosmetic work to BOTH of the units on either side of me in the last 2 years (and ZIP done to mine), there is a disparity of $7,000 and $4,500 respectively for the units ATTACHED to my house?
Why is my run-down middle unit assessed as MORE valuable than these two clearly worked on homes? Why is MY property tax set to go UP by over $3,000 this year while theirs is the same?
Now I have to spend time and money to fight the assessments, but I am still expected to pay in until it’s resolved. —They Shouldn’t Make This Shit Public if They Don’t Want People to Fight It
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2012.
take pictures o.p., before you submit any claim. i had to do this when i ran my construction business years ago, for some people. seems the tax office just go by numbers, not actual places. i see this quite a bit in big dumb corporations, and the city is the biggest, dumbest one of all.
I feel your pain, OB. My assessment took a huge jump this year for no apparent reason, yet my attached neighbor (I live in a semi-detached) remains relatively unchanged. Neither of us have done any renos, aside from a fresh coat of paint on the interior. I called PVSC to get some clarification and after waiting a week, I had to track them down again to get some answers. They informed me that because I had purchased the house in 2010, by legislation, they have to do a full assessment. Ok, fine. But that still doesn’t explain why my assessment has gone up 13%. They then went on to explain that prior to me purchasing the house, the last full assessment was done in 2003. The previous owners had replaced all the windows, built a deck, replaced the roof, among other renos, prior to the sale. So, because the last assessment was in 2003, all those “upgrades” were not assessed until my puchase in 2010. And since your current assessment is based on the value of your house 2 years prior, there was no significant increase in my assessment until this year. So, because the previous owners MAINTAINED the place, it somehow increases in value and I’m on the hook for it. It’s a fucking joke. I’m super choked about this. I could see if they had built an addition or added another level or something but not replacing windows and a roof. Hello?? You NEED those things, otherwise you may as well be living in a tent. Where’s the incentive to do ANYTHING to your property, when all their going to do is increase the value and thus, increase the amount they tax you. The whole system is antiquated and doesn’t even factor in the actual COST of the services you’re being taxed on. No where do they factor in the cost of fire service in your area, the cost of garbage collection or plowing, etc. It’s all based on speculation. What someone THINKS your house is worth and what they THINK you’d be able to get in a sale. Legalized robbery.
In your case OB, I’d say either your neighbors didn’t file permits for their renos, (something else they base your assessment on), or they are fairly recent renos and won’t show up until 2 years later. Secondly, if you purchased your townhouse within the last 2 years, that might explain why yours has taken such a jump because by provincial legislation, they have to do a full assessment at the time of sale. I wish you the best of luck contesting your assessment. I hope you win but, I wouldn’t hold my breath. They don’t even provide you with the basic information to back up your appeal properly and thus set you up to fail before you even start.
The whole system needs to be seriously and objectively examined and overhauled. It’s seriously fucked.
Thanks Avast – they did file permits, both of them. One side was sold last year after 2 years of permited renos. We bought back in ’06, and the other side’s owned for over 10 years, so the whole “value cap until it’s sold” thing is total BS.
We haven’t even painted since we bought because it was done before we purchased. In ’07 it was valued at $23,000 less than this year, while neither of my ATTACHED neighbours has gone up by more than $2000 at time.
you can dispute the assessment. the problem is that sometimes they raise the rate, after inspecting your property. we have done very little to our home, but based on what we might sell it for, the rates are crazy. it has little to do with the structure, it’s the land it’s on
assessments are also based on building permits on file. If your unit has electrical or building permits that show a significant improvement like a remodeled kitchen or an extra bathroom, you can be expected to be continually assessed at a higher value.
Don’t pay the bill until after you fight them.
I fought the city when I lived in Dartmouth about 15 years ago. I refused to pay until they figured out what I owed them & it was a fight I was prepared to take them to court.
THey don’t want to end up in a court room any more than you do…but its way past time someone was taken to task for this travsty they call “tax assessment” !
Also OB, my problems were caused by 2 other homes built the same as mine the same year selling & the price these places sold for up the value of mine…. like fuck it did & I fought & won…but you can’t let them railroad you & when push comes to shove, you have to be prepared to shove back even if it costs you a lawyers time.
It’s row houses. Ours is in the middle – not even an end unit with the “extra” land the other two have.
Building permits registered for external and internal improvements/construction done on the other two.
I’ll fight, it just pisses me off. Hence the bitch.
I call Bad Math.
If your taxes went up $3,000 in HRM then your assessment must have risen by almost $250,000 and you know that is not the case. Back to math class for you.
wow, this is a phenomenal endorsement not to buy land…