Experiences appealing property tax/ current use? (income, live, versus)

[goat1of2]

Does anyone have any recent stories about appealing their property tax assessments? Any luck? Also, has anyone tried to put property into current use lately? I would imagine that either of these things would be difficult to do with towns so strapped for cash these days.

And yes, I do realize that even if you get your assessment lowered, the town will only raise the tax rate! The idea is not to get unfairly taxed versus your neighbor with similar property.

[sjwaste]

Probably a tough proposition. I'm in VA, which I realize doesn't help, but I'll share my funny/sad story. Our tax assessments happen annually here. Most of us saw a decrease last year, with no action on our part. And just like you said, the rate went up. It's a pretty big deal at least in my city because our rate is now 0.965%. That's an increase over 0.89 the year before, and we're about to break the 1% mark. Pretty awful - remember, it might sound low, but we've not had rates that high as long as I've lived here and we get taxed on sales, vehicles, income, etc.