03-15-2008, 09:44 AM
I don't know if the Assessor is elected.
What we are seeing now is based on 2007 values, not current market (per the office).
If you speak to Marilyn in the Hilo office, she is intelligent and clear and willing to explain. (hopefully she won't be swamped because I said that).
As she explained, a property is locked into a rate with a 3% increase cap, until it sells, at which point it gets reassessed.
My house is now valued at less than I paid for it last year, so of course I have no grounds for appeal, even though the taxes doubled in spite of my having twice the exemptions of the prior owner. In spite of the fact the prior owner bought it in 2006, so it was not at some artificial low because it hadn't been resold.
Proposition 13 wouldn't help, because it too only keeps rates low until the property sells. I would be fine with a 3% increase.
What we are seeing now is based on 2007 values, not current market (per the office).
If you speak to Marilyn in the Hilo office, she is intelligent and clear and willing to explain. (hopefully she won't be swamped because I said that).
As she explained, a property is locked into a rate with a 3% increase cap, until it sells, at which point it gets reassessed.
My house is now valued at less than I paid for it last year, so of course I have no grounds for appeal, even though the taxes doubled in spite of my having twice the exemptions of the prior owner. In spite of the fact the prior owner bought it in 2006, so it was not at some artificial low because it hadn't been resold.
Proposition 13 wouldn't help, because it too only keeps rates low until the property sells. I would be fine with a 3% increase.