Two-bill plan emerging for reassessments (Lebanon, Washington: student loan, construction, calculated)

[Scott2187]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Sorry, but I am not excepting your idea.

I believe the correct word would be 'accepting'...

Originally Posted by CaptainPittsburgh

I just want to be clear that I'm not trying to be an alarmist or anything. I think there is a very sound argument here for waiting for the dust to clear. Granted, if you're closing on a house and are fine with the hassle/uncertainty of appealing should it come to that, then I don't think you'd be crazy to buy now either.

If you're in the process of closing, and hold off on it due to the appealing process, what are the odds the current owner will appeal the assessment? Do you think they'll care a whole lot since the are trying to sell the house?

[juniorv130]

I just don't know what to do. It seems like the safe move is to withdraw the offer and see where the assessment goes. However, our closing isn't until March, so we may know before then.

Further, i have relatives in Washington County saying "this assessment mess is annual" It ALWAYS happens.

Can an actual resident elaborate and let me know the TRUTH?

Thanks!

[squarian]

Compliance of School Districts with anti-windfall provisions in Allegheny County

In 2003, the Allegheny County Office of the Controller released a report on its "School Board Millage Watch Program". At this date, prior to the passage of Act 1 of the Special Session of 2006 (Act 1), school districts still operated under the anti-windfall provisions of Act 146 of 1998, since replaced by the provisions of Act 1. No reports of this program appeared to have been compiled subsequently.

In summary, four districts (Duquesne, Steel Valley, Mt Lebanon, South Fayette) exceeded the windfall restrictions applicable at that time without voting for a tax increase as Act 146 required. One (South Fayette) later issued a tax refund. One (Mt Lebanon) subsequently lowered its millage rate. Of the remaining two, Steel Valley disputed the county's calculations while Duquesne appears simply to have ignored the law.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

What are people going to do? Move? Go to court and pay as you are waiting for a court date? What do you do if you get smacked

But alas we have to do things this way else hordes of people will be paying fully in cash for houses despite the low interest rates and then be recording the sale price as $5 & the county will go broke

[gg]

Subject Property:
(last) Sale Price: $209,550
Sale Date: 6/28/2010
Prior Assessed Value: $143,600

Value increased 60+K in 1 1/6 years


Comparable 1:
(last) Sale Price: $218,000
Sale Date: 10/10/2007
Assessed Value: $150,000

Increased 68K in 4 years

Comparable 2:
(last) Sale Price: $90,000
Sale Date: 8/6/1999
Assessed Value: $88,800


Decreased 1K in 12 years?

Comparable 3:
(last) Sale Price: $158,000
Sale Date: 10/9/2000
Assessed Value: $161.800

+2K in 12 years?

Comparable 4:
(last) Sale Price: $181,600
Sale Date: 11/15/2004
Assessed Value: $154,000

Decreased 30K in 8 years?

Comparable 5:
(last) Sale Price: $125,000
Sale Date: 7/16/2002
Prior Assessed Value: $139,600

What is the new assessment?

[gg]

Originally Posted by UKyank

But alas we have to do things this way else hordes of people will be paying fully in cash for houses despite the low interest rates and then be recording the sale price as $5 & the county will go broke

Too funny. You will see plenty of homes going through at $1 from one family member to another, but they obviously don't assess them that way. Come on, use your head a bit. If a home runs through at some silly low price, it will be reassessed on value. Those are so rare, it isn't a consideration. Lets say a homeowner is trying to really pull it off. They have a home worth $100K and figure they will try and get away with $80K. Transfer tax, closing costs and then the risk of it not flying are all built in deterrents. It isn't going to happen and not worth it. The $1 sales are already out there. No one is assessed at $1, they are assessed at a determined figure, many times it is higher than a home would sell for because it is harder to prove by the homeowner that it is worth X amount.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Subject Property:
(last) Sale Price: $209,550
Sale Date: 6/28/2010
Prior Assessed Value: $143,600

Value increased 60+K in 1 1/6 years

....

The assessed value used with the comparables for calculating the new assessment were their 2002 values, not the new values

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Scott2187

If you're in the process of closing, and hold off on it due to the appealing process, what are the odds the current owner will appeal the assessment? Do you think they'll care a whole lot since the are trying to sell the house?

Personally speaking, if I were in the process of closing I would be concerned about this issue since I don't know enough about the appeals process to gauge the probability of winning versus losing to a degree that makes me comfortable. That's the only factor I would be considering, and it would be a big deal to me because I tend to be rather conservative with my finances.

While I might be able to afford paying an extra thousand or two or three or whatever a year in taxes, I certainly would have planned out in advance what I was comfortable with in terms of that expense, and I would be unsettled by a potentially large change that I couldn't determine the certainty of resolving...if that makes sense, haha.

[UKyank]

How about rather then the sale price you use the appraisel at the time of sale. While I'm not a fan of penalizing someone for getting a good deal, using an appraisel for the base tax amount would eliminate any if the feared fraud. 99% are going through a bank anyways that requires an appraisel, for the remaining 1%, they could be required to get an appraisel through a list of county approved appraisers to eliminate an fraudulent appraisers.

How's that?

[greg42]

Your closing is in March? What kind of deal is that? New construction? Or you just made the offer this week? Normally there's only 60 days between offer and close.

FWIW, yeah, I don't live in Allegheny County myself. But don't expect to find any kind of "the truth" on here. It is just not possible to have that level of confidence, especially with this issue that brings out lots of emotions as well as misinformation or rumors.