NH's View TAX (Derry, Plainfield, Washington: tax lien, real estate, assessors)

[nhkev]

I fought this fight a couple years ago and what I came out of it was this. There is really no such thing per the state dept of revenue as a view tax. Properties are assessed on market value only and must be levied proportionatley. like another poster said houses don't sell every couple years so an assessor has to determine market values based off houses that did sell, specifically between October 1st and sept 31st of the previous tax year. in this example say there were two ranch style houses similar in design and appeal one had a view and the other didn't chances are the one with the view sold for more so when the assess houses that didn't sell they need to "make up" this difference. And also like op said not all views are created equal that's why they came up with the view rating system. Now because it is objective view or no view, everyone has the right to an abatement hearing and if you can document that the home is not being assessed at fair market value they will make the change.. if a house is assessed at market value then a extra tax for a view is put on that is illegal per the new hampshire constitution. also most of the time when they look at the houses that have sold they historically are more than the tax assessments

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by BF66389

That's my point...it shouldn't be based on some "formula" it should be based on actual "what this home could reasonably expect to sell for".

What I was indicating is that typically a home with a view or on the water or some other special/desirable lot feature will sell for more on the open market; but this is a town-by-town, area-by-area situation and should be based on the recent sales prices of comparable homes in a similar situation.

Likewise, if someone has some undesirable feature (view of garbage dump for example)...value should be adjusted accordingly.

this is all accurate but consider this, the assessments are done by humans, an assessor has to look at thousands of houses with all the differences in size , land , views, age , components -granite vs laminate counters , hardwoods vs carpet, 5 acres of sloping land vs flat, busy street vs cul de sac and they have to come up with a number . When I worked in the mortgage business we would have appraisal come in by two different appraiser $100k difference people make mistakes owners sometimes have a good indication of what their homes are worth sometimes they don't the abatement process at least gets a second look and if you do your homework can really pay off , in 2005 the town assessed my house at 437k I put in for an abatement as was able to show that it wasn't proportionate with what other homes like mine were assessed for and they reduced to 380k which is a pretty big reduction .

[buck naked]

There is really no such thing per the state dept of revenue as a view tax.


when the tax bill comes it says "view tax $100,000." are you saying this is illegal?


also most of the time when they look at the houses that have sold they historically are more than the tax assessments

that has not been my experience - I've considered myself lucky if I can get a price that is close to the assessed value - assessed values are at 100% in most towns.

in Derry, my property was assessed at $363K - but I could not sell it for $325K and eventually sold it for $304K.

my current home is assessed at more than fair market value also - the rate is higher than it was 2004, but I have no doubt that I would be lucky to get what I paid for it in 2004.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by buck naked

[i]That's my point...it shouldn't be based on some "formula" it should be based on actual "what this home could reasonably expect to sell for".
.

I don't disagree at all with that assesment. The exact $ amount for any particular view is highly subjective and open to debate. It is not an equitable system.

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by buck naked

[/i]when the tax bill comes it says "view tax $100,000." are you saying this is illegal?

But it doesn't. The lady in question, had a tax bill that broke down the property value as:
Land: $xx,000
Dwelling: $xx,000
View: $xx,000
Total Property Value: $yyy,000
Tax is on property value. View is part of the market value. No view tax.

She does have a pretty nice view, but the house had to be wedged on to a hillside to see it. Seems like abatement is her recourse. That or political activity - don't like the law? Try to get it changed. Increase caps?

[rmcewan]

I wonder if you'd get a increased valuation if the the assessor happened to notice the neighbor's wife nude sunbathing next door?

[NHampshire]

The tax is real, and CNHT has been fighting it for years.

They did get the creator of the tax to resign from the Assessing Standards Board, because he is the owner of the company that does the assessing!

(Avitar)

The View Tax should be illegal in their view... and Governor Thomson's son Tom is fighting it all the time. There was legislation to nix it, but the Democrats blocked it.

You can read more about the View Tax here:


(I had trouble making a URL on here, so just go to www.CNHT.org and click on View Tax on the bottom right side to get to that section of the News blog)

[GregW]

I do not believe towns should be funded by a property tax, a sales tax or user fees. All of these taxes are regressive and not connected to a person's income and only partially connected to a person’s total wealth. The lady in question is a good example. She does not appear to be either wealthy or have a high income even though she has a "million dollar view". She has become house poor.

IMHO a fair way to fund town expenses is to have a graduated income tax applied to all the town's residents. This tax would apply to all residents and land owners in town and have a deductable that would equal the mean income of the town's citizens. The rate would be set to cover the town expenses including schools, fire department, roads, etc.

The major effect of a tax of this type is it would put the burden of paying for the town on the people using the town services and prevent older folks from becoming house poor as inflation devours their income. It would be a very fair tax as income is a direct measure of the good one is getting out of the society and the economy.

[buck naked]

Originally Posted by rmcewan

But it doesn't. The lady in question, had a tax bill that broke down the property value as:
Land: $xx,000
Dwelling: $xx,000
View: $xx,000
Total Property Value: $yyy,000
Tax is on property value. View is part of the market value. No view tax.

She does have a pretty nice view, but the house had to be wedged on to a hillside to see it. Seems like abatement is her recourse. That or political activity - don't like the law? Try to get it changed. Increase caps?

correct except for one thing:

Land: $xx,000
Dwelling: $xx,000
View: $XXX,000
Total Property Value: $yyy,000

[GregW]

As I do not expect the property tax to be replaced by a progressive income tax anytime soon, I suggest we all contact our State Reps and work to have intangibles removed from the property assessment process. Charging for the “view” is an absurdity.