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Learn How Property is Assessed and How Tax Grievance Works

Learn How Property is Assessed and How Tax Grievance Works

How Property is Assessed

The initial step in property assessment is to determine its actual market value. In order to estimate the market value, it is the work of an assessor to learn and get familiar with the real estate market in a given location. In most cases, there are three major ways in which the property assessor can estimate its value. These are:

  1. The market approach

The market approach is where the assessor takes property comparison into account. The assessor compares one property to the similar ones that had previously been sold. This method is applicable to find the value residential, vacant as well as farm assets.

  1. The cost approach

When it comes to the cost approach, an assessor calculates the cost of replacing a structure in relation to another similar structure using the current labor and the value of materials to be used. The appraisal in the cost approach entails the market price of the property, which is normally equal to the cost of the land added to the cost of construction and then subtracted from the depreciation. The results come out to be the accurate market value especially when the property is new.

  1. Income approach

This is where the assessor makes an analysis of the income expected from the property when it is finally rented out. The income approach takes into account the following factors:

  • Operating expenses
  • The insurance
  • Costs of maintaining the property
  • Financing terms and conditions
  • Expected income

Sometimes, the assessor can choose to use the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal technique to perform an analysis of the sales coming from the property and then estimate the values for various properties at the same time.

From the Market Value to the Assessment

After the estimation of the market value for a certain property, the assessors proceed to calculate the assessment. For instance, in a city where the assessment is 100% of the market value, then the market value, in this case, becomes the assessment. For example:

Take the market value of the property to be $ 100,000 and the level of assessment at 27%, it will yield $ 27, 000 in value.

 

Property Tax Grievance - How It works

 

Tax Grievances

Once you get to know how the property value is assessed, the next step should be to understand how filing a tax grievance can help.

Perhaps you are one of the homeowners in Nassau and Suffolk County who feels the pain of the rising property and school taxes, despite filing for the STAR or any other exemptions. Whichever the case, one thing you should know is what a Tax Grievance is and how it can help you get out of your current situation.

To begin with, Tax Grievance is the formal complaint filed to contest the town’s assessed value of a particular property. In as much as we cannot change the calculations and rates used to determine the property taxes in your town, we can only challenge and have your taxable value for your current property reduced considerably. That is why you need a tax grievance consultant to help you in lowering your property taxes so you may pay less due to lower assessment.

Are there any risks involved?

There are no risks involved when filing a tax grievance because your assessment cannot be increased only decreased, plus no one visits your home. In fact, a reduction does not have any effect on your other exemptions namely, the STAR.

Additionally, there is no cost incurred to you if no Property Tax reduction is obtained for your property. Once you complete and submit your Tax Grievance Authorization, we handle the entire process for you. In the end if we succeed in obtaining a Property Tax Reduction, your fee is half of your first years’ savings.

Nassau County’s Carry Forward Policy Found To Be Unjust

Nassau County’s Carry Forward Policy Found To Be Unjust

The Carry Forward policy in Nassau County allows property owners to enjoy annual tax reductions continuously.

Nassau’s Assessment Review Commission gives settlement offers to people who appeal against the tax assessment on their houses. Those who repeat the appeal every year get reductions that are automatically carried forward in the group of people who negotiate for reductions each year.

However the gravy train is halted in case the property is to be sold or the owner makes an application for a permit when building or when, in addition to other issues, the property owner misses an appeal.

While the group getting reductions continue moving ahead, the homeowner together with the annual automatic reduction remains behind.

A Sunday report in the Newsday newspaper reviewed Nassau’s Carry Forward policy and declared that it was as discriminatory as the whole assessment system in the county.

Why discriminatory?

In the first place, the normal property owner who got a settlement during the initial year of the assessment system reforms carried out by Edward Mangano (Republican County Executive) in 2010 and then filed successive annual appeals up to 2015 eventually saved 20% of the taxes they could have been required to pay during that period.

In case the homeowner dropped from the Carry Forward group at least one time during that time, the tax reduction came to 17 %.

On the other hand, homeowners who postponed filing their annual appeals after the year 2010 did not enjoy the full benefits that came with the automatic reductions.

But let us assume that all homeowners accepted settlements from the commission from 2010 and that in addition, they wished to make sure that they did not drop from the Carry Forward group.

Was it possible to do that?

According to the report on Newsday, the answer to this question is no because the commission did not publicize the basis for remaining in the group and, equally important, the acts that could lead to the disqualification of a home from the tax assessment policy.

It was therefore not possible for the owner of a house to be aware that simple actions such as selling or listing a property, applying to get a permit when building or missing an assessment appeal would ultimately affect potential reductions.

That is unjust and unfair.

From the time that the assessment overhaul launched by Mangano got underway in 2010, taxes amounting to $1.7 billion have been moved from homeowners who contested their assessment to those individuals who did not. The end result of this has been the creation of two separate and unequal tax systems.

Next January, Laura Curran, a Democrat, will be the new county executive and she will need to craft a solution to the problem. Throughout the campaign, Curran frequently stated she would engage a properly-qualified assessor to take the place of the acting assessor appointed by Mangano.