View tax and purchasing a house (Washington: sales, real estate, assessor)

[eswrede]

I have been reading posts about the view tax. Sounds a bit screwy to me. Can anyone tell me how I would find out if a property I am looking to buy is subject to a view tax? We will be moving up to NH from TX and I am a bit concerned. I don't want to be blindsided later with this tax.

Thanks!

[BF66389]

Each town has an assessors office. Just call and ask! Better yet- get it in writing! It's not THAT common and in most cases is not as unreasonable as those that make the news. For example- in some cases it is indeed added value to the homes worth...and is therefore a legitimate assessment. But that's something you need to find out from the town.

[eswrede]

Thanks!

I am glad to hear that it doesn't seem like a check box item. i.e. Look there are a bunch of pretty trees over there. check off the view tax.

I will check with the local assessor's office once we decide on a place.

[potatosoup]

I hope you'll work with everyone else to voice strong opposition to this idiotic tax. Glad to see you're moving here, from one freedom loving state to another. Let's do our best to communicate in a civil but passionate manner that these types of excessive taxes are anti-thetical to the spirit of this great state!

Welcome!

[dognh]

In general this isn't something to worry (from a practical perspective. As a philosophical matter it sure is) about unless you are clearly looking for a hilltop or lake view property. In any case, your realtor will show you all the docs, tax docs for the property and you'll clearly see what the property taxes are.

[buck naked]

Gary Roberge and Avatar, the company involved with the assessments, is proud of the fact that he has assessed more than 50% of the towns in NH re: the view tax.

BTW, we are not supposed to call it that, even though that is what it says on the tax bill.

Astonishing as it may seem, in NH a barber must have a license to cut your hair, yet an assessor evaluating real estate, sometimes valued in the millions of dollars, does not. Furthermore, there is no ethics board to reprimand or discipline assessors who make bad value decisions, whether deliberate or not. Given the importance of property taxes, New Hampshire owners should demand that assessors be required to be licensed by the state.


if you are purchasing a property, you can look at previous tax bills to see if it has been assessed already. the easier way is, if you have a view, you will probably get hit for it. If not today, then sometime in the near future.

[PCSingtoNH]

Our realtor had told us that he thought we could get our property taxes lowered since my husband is active duty military and since the house didnt appraise as high as the original owners had it appraised at, but now I am scared that if we go in and try to get our taxes lowered we are going to be hit with a view tax, and since I havent yet "viewed" the house, thats a bit scary. Does anyone know if in fact its true that we can possibly lower our taxes? And should we be afraid of this view tax since we are on 5 acres and back up to conservation land?
I also want to thank everyone that post on here, this site has been very informative for me as we prepare to make NH our new home. So, Thank you
Tracy

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by PCSingtoNH

Our realtor had told us that he thought we could get our property taxes lowered since my husband is active duty military and since the house didnt appraise as high as the original owners had it appraised at, but now I am scared that if we go in and try to get our taxes lowered we are going to be hit with a view tax, and since I havent yet "viewed" the house, thats a bit scary. Does anyone know if in fact its true that we can possibly lower our taxes? And should we be afraid of this view tax since we are on 5 acres and back up to conservation land?
I also want to thank everyone that post on here, this site has been very informative for me as we prepare to make NH our new home. So, Thank you
Tracy

The town clerk will tell you in 5 mins if they offer tax discounts to active service members. I don't think it is that common.

With the market as it is, you may find most of the houses in your town appraise higher than market value. If that's the case, prepare for a long fight for abatement. Look, if EVERYONE went in and said that their house is overvalued (which is probably the case), then the town would lose the same % of tax per property. That would just mean they'd have to up the tax RATE for the town to ensure they had the same revenue to pay for services. I'm not saying you won't get an abatement, I'm just saying: be realistic.

View "tax": Two things - 1. does this property really have a view? We're talking mountains, lakes, sweeping valley vistas and the like. If you look out the window and can only see lawn and trees, or the farm meadow next door you're not going to get a specific assessment related to view. 2. If Mt. Washington is just over the street, and you don't have a view assessed yet, then you can bet it will be assessed at some point in the future. Just avoiding talking to the town will not stop that. Only legislative action will stop the sudden, and unfair tax increases that these view assessments have created.

[GregW]

If we are dependant on property tax to fund our local town government and that tax is based on the value of a property and the view from the property adds sales value then why is a “view tax” so unfair? If the property is worth more with a view than a similar property without a view why should the second property owner subsidize the first? Property values are based on the value of the property. If your property is worth more you pay higher taxes.

I think property taxes are improper because the amount and value of property is not linked to current income. You have all pointed out the difficulties of folks that inherited an old farm and when the farm is assessed at current value (enhanced by a view and the numerical value increased by inflation) they, because their income has not grown with the inflation, are unable to meet the tax bill. The problem here is not the tax bill but the inflation. These folks are, like many of us, getting hurt by the system. In many cases their only solution is to sell to the highest bidder and move to a place in town they can afford.

More later.

[NHampshire]

Originally Posted by eswrede

I have been reading posts about the view tax. Sounds a bit screwy to me. Can anyone tell me how I would find out if a property I am looking to buy is subject to a view tax? We will be moving up to NH from TX and I am a bit concerned. I don't want to be blindsided later with this tax.

Thanks!

Go to the town hall of the home's location and have the assessment card pulled and make a copy of it.

You will see a charge on it that says VIEW or VU.

That's the extra charge that Gary Roberge from Avitar (once a member of the State Board of Assessors until forced to resign over this) arbitrarily attached onto your property tax bill.

Read more about this situation here:
View Tax | Coalition of NH Taxpayers Blog