This horrible picture was taken a mere 10 minutes before the beginning of one of the most miserable days of this year! See me smiling…well that smile was gone in the matter of 20 minutes tops.
Here in the lovely state of Texas they have this so called law that the assessed value of your home for taxing purposes is based upon the market value of your home. When you buy a home they use that purchase price as the new assessed tax value for the following taxable year. Drew and I decided to protest this since as of January 1st, 2008, which is the date at the official assessed value is determine. Well hello Tarrant Co and Texas, we didn’t have a kitchen as of January 1st, 2008!!! Our realtor and the district both encouraged us to protest the assessed value and go before a non partisan board to have our taxable rate lowered.
Drew and I spent months gathering information and taking pictures to backup our protest. The district even provided us with a list of homes sold within 2008…what we found is that three of the homes on their list did not comply with the “law” (which isn’t really a set in stone law per someone at the district) about assessed value being based upon the sales price of the home. We were thrilled because we finally had solid factual proof that demonstrated that not all homes are being assessed based upon the sales price of their home.
Long story short, we were called into the hearing. There were 3 elder retired gentlemen sitting at the table….these were our nonpartisan group of guys who supposedly have no affiliation with the county. On the other side of the room was the representative from the district….he didn’t even look-up or acknowledge our presence so I knew we were in trouble from the get go. Drew and I presented our case and clearly demonstrated all of our factual points….including the fact that the district was not concise with their own “law” which really isn’t the law. It was then the districts turn…..only think he said as he pointed to the back wall is “Texas state law says that assessed value is based…..”….well, you get the point. He had NOTHING!! Didn’t argue our points, didn’t give any reasons for why other homes less than a mile from ours didn’t see the same % of increase!!!
It gets better. After we made our closing statements and restated our argument it was the panels turn to decide our fate. I kid you not…those three guys said not a word to each other. There was no deliberation concerning the FACTS that we presented. One mumbled something and the other guy shook his head. That was it!! That was their level of interaction!! Before we knew it the guy in the middle said assessed value to remain the same…one of the guys seconded it and the protest meeting was over.
I can’t even begin to tell you how angry Drew and I were!!! Those guys had already made up their mind prior to us even arriving in that room. There was no attempt to discuss our points or question the district for their lack of valid reason as to those homes that didn’t see an increase. What a joke!! Thanks for wasting my time and money on a fight that was over the day that they sent me my 2008 tax forms! I have 0% respect for the system right now. Needless to say, I didn't leave with a smile on my face!
Here in the lovely state of Texas they have this so called law that the assessed value of your home for taxing purposes is based upon the market value of your home. When you buy a home they use that purchase price as the new assessed tax value for the following taxable year. Drew and I decided to protest this since as of January 1st, 2008, which is the date at the official assessed value is determine. Well hello Tarrant Co and Texas, we didn’t have a kitchen as of January 1st, 2008!!! Our realtor and the district both encouraged us to protest the assessed value and go before a non partisan board to have our taxable rate lowered.
Drew and I spent months gathering information and taking pictures to backup our protest. The district even provided us with a list of homes sold within 2008…what we found is that three of the homes on their list did not comply with the “law” (which isn’t really a set in stone law per someone at the district) about assessed value being based upon the sales price of the home. We were thrilled because we finally had solid factual proof that demonstrated that not all homes are being assessed based upon the sales price of their home.
Long story short, we were called into the hearing. There were 3 elder retired gentlemen sitting at the table….these were our nonpartisan group of guys who supposedly have no affiliation with the county. On the other side of the room was the representative from the district….he didn’t even look-up or acknowledge our presence so I knew we were in trouble from the get go. Drew and I presented our case and clearly demonstrated all of our factual points….including the fact that the district was not concise with their own “law” which really isn’t the law. It was then the districts turn…..only think he said as he pointed to the back wall is “Texas state law says that assessed value is based…..”….well, you get the point. He had NOTHING!! Didn’t argue our points, didn’t give any reasons for why other homes less than a mile from ours didn’t see the same % of increase!!!
It gets better. After we made our closing statements and restated our argument it was the panels turn to decide our fate. I kid you not…those three guys said not a word to each other. There was no deliberation concerning the FACTS that we presented. One mumbled something and the other guy shook his head. That was it!! That was their level of interaction!! Before we knew it the guy in the middle said assessed value to remain the same…one of the guys seconded it and the protest meeting was over.
I can’t even begin to tell you how angry Drew and I were!!! Those guys had already made up their mind prior to us even arriving in that room. There was no attempt to discuss our points or question the district for their lack of valid reason as to those homes that didn’t see an increase. What a joke!! Thanks for wasting my time and money on a fight that was over the day that they sent me my 2008 tax forms! I have 0% respect for the system right now. Needless to say, I didn't leave with a smile on my face!
1 comment:
I hate the system here in TX. In our county they bump up your value and then say it is easy to protest. All you have to do is fill out a thing online...well later you get an email saying your case is too complicated and can't be resolved without a hearing. Then they give you a random date and time that you have to be there. If by chance you can make it there at that time there is probably little chance of winning your case. I think it is messed up that there are so many "hoops" to jump through just to thin out how many people actually make it to the hearing. Have you guys heard anything about hiring an attorney? We always get those things in the mail but never try calling. Sorry guys...that is super frustrating!!!!!
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