Suffolk property valuation (tax) methods (Brookhaven, Huntington: sales, foreclosure, assessor) - Long Island - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

procfreq · 12-10-2010, 02:33 PM

Long story short--I purchased a house in January 2010 for >$100K less than its tax assessed value. I (personally, not through a service) grieved my taxes. I got a reduction from the BAR but it was less than half of what it should have been. I appealed and received a settlement offer in the mail from the town of Huntington.

The settlement offer reduces the value again by a small amount but is still not where I think the property should be based on the recent purchase price and appraisal. I emailed the town tax assessor for clarification and he responded that:

1. Because my purchase was in 2010, the 2009 RAR of .74 does not apply to my sale. Because they think (they don't know; it will be finalized in Feb of 2011) the RAR for 2010 will be higher, they are taking this into account when valuing my property

2. If I don't like this, they could back trend my property's value to what it would have sold for in 2009 and then use the .74 RAR

When I asked what the methodology would be for back trending (so I can calculate what the new value would be myself), I received a... let's just say inappropriate and unprofessional email in response--from the TAX ASSESSOR HIMSELF. I'm still sort of stunned.

In any event--there seem to be a lot of property tax gurus here. Does anyone know how a purchase price in 2010 would be back trended to 2009? Is there a formula they use for this or is it just a bunch of hand waving? Given that I don't/won't know the 2010 RAR before my acceptance/rejection of the settlement offer is due, how should I proceed? Is this worth taking to court? Can the court come back with a decision that would be HIGHER than the proposed settlement value?

JonnyTrees · 01-19-2011, 03:59 PM

What did you do to your grieve your taxes in Huntington without using a service? Do you go to assessors office and get a packet of info/forms to fill out? I assume you have to provide comp data or what do they ask for? Can you detail what steps are required if you attempt to do it yourself?

tewplanman · 01-19-2011, 05:40 PM

Your wasting your time with these grievences, havn't you figured out the game is rigged. They will play with you long enough to raise the rate applied. In the end they will charge you more even if your value goes down, which its gong to do in a big way. If you really want to reduce your taxes you need to sue the county in State Court under Article 78 CPLR.

Kbinspections · 01-20-2011, 06:43 AM

Go to court.....you will be fine. The Town just wants to make offers because you have the better hand in the situation.

alexei27 · 01-20-2011, 08:42 AM

I agree...take the time and file the for a hearing. It's all about the negotiations...assuming you file the paperwork correctly. I did mine (Town of Brookhaven) and filed for a hearing in small claims court. The day before the hearing, the town assessor called me and asked me to come in to talk . He basically negotiated a deal with me, lowering my taxes, and saving me from having to actually appear. What I settled on was more than I was asking for but still a significant reduction.

The key is to file the paperwork with the town...they have the exact steps to follow.

As far as the OP's response from the assessor, if you have ever been in the assessors office lately, it doesn't take long to realize why these people are on edge. They are bashed all day...every day with unhappy people.

procfreq · 01-20-2011, 12:31 PM

That's the problem--I'm more than happy to go to court (appeal has already been filed), but without the 2010 RAR determination or a documented methodology for back-trending 2010 sales prices to 2009 values, there is no way for me to quantify what my assessed value should be. Does that make sense?

I'm worried that the settlement offer sent to me by the TOH will end up being a BETTER deal than what I could get if I wait for the 2010 RAR to come out and apply that to my 2010 sale price. Clear as mud? Where's my crystal ball?

Edited to add: I don't care how many unhappy ppl the assessor deals with. I work a very high stress job myself, but I would never, ever send an email to a client--even on my worst day--that read like the one I received from the town assessor. Stress is not an excuse for lack of professionalism, IMO.

rockmusicalways · 01-21-2011, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tewplanman

Your wasting your time with these grievences, havn't you figured out the game is rigged. They will play with you long enough to raise the rate applied. In the end they will charge you more even if your value goes down, which its gong to do in a big way. If you really want to reduce your taxes you need to sue the county in State Court under Article 78 CPLR.

Tax rates will raise every year thats a given, by reducing your assessment youre still saving each and every year though. It is far from a waste of time so please dont speak on what you don't know.

To the OP... the 09 RAR was .0074 for 2010 its now .0083
So if that was your issue, problem solved.

For a 2010 Grievance the sales would go from 7/1/08 till present

You purchased your home in 1/2010 therefore aslong as it is a legitimate sale ( no foreclosure,shortsale,estate sale, etc...) Your assessment should end up being somewhere around your purchase price.

The towns negotiate to save themselves more money, it is possible that in the appeal you wont save as much if you dont know what youre doing. If youre confident in what youre doing though its much better to appeal in court.

Sorry for the grammar mistakes/typos im in a rush atm but felt the need to answer real quick.

JonnyTrees · 01-25-2011, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockmusicalways

To the OP... the 09 RAR was .0074 for 2010 its now .0083
So if that was your issue, problem solved.

For a 2010 Grievance the sales would go from 7/1/08 till present

You purchased your home in 1/2010 therefore aslong as it is a legitimate sale ( no foreclosure,shortsale,estate sale, etc...) Your assessment should end up being somewhere around your purchase price.

From Town assessor webpage:
In order to convert a current assessment/assessed valuation of a home to its current indicated market value, divide that figure by the Town's 2010 Residential Assessment Ratio/RAR (.74%) as of July 1, 2009 (valuation date). The RAR changes annually. The 2011 rate is not available at this time. The 2011 valuation date is July 1, 2010.

Rockmusic, where did you find the 2011 RAR of 0.83% ??

Tony V · 02-28-2011, 09:18 PM

The date of Tax valuation is usually the previous July 1,.
For further information about the process The NY State Office of Real Property Tax Services has several Videos on their website. These may help you understand the entire Assessment and Real Property tax systems. They are located at the page linked below.
http://www.orps.state.ny.us/video/index.cfm
Hope this helps...

procfreq · 03-01-2011, 10:38 AM

Woot!

2011 RAR set yesterday for TOH and is only .01 greater than the 2010 value. This is way off from what the assessor was using to figure my settlement--he had claimed that the rate would be much higher. Excellent news for those of us with purchases during this period. I have contacted the assessor re. revising my settlement offer based on this, and if they don't come through, I am definitely going to court now! Open and shut case