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Hi all,
I live in a town in Connecticut. And recently this town has been giving
new property assessments. I have noticed that on the new Property
assessment my house has 4 bedrooms. To which it does not it has 3
bedrooms and I even had my house appraised independently by a state
certified appraiser that infact we have 3 bedrooms in 1997.Also When I
bought my house it said I have 3 bedrooms. This made me go into the
town and check the info they have. And it is infact wrong they have 4
bedrooms with 1 bedroom in the basement (I have a raised ranch 2
stories; no actual basement but the second floor is called a basement).
I went to the appraisal meeting and told them this information they
most likely will change it for the new assessment however, for the past
10 years(Bought house in 1994) I have been paying taxes on a 4 bed room
house because the town had the wrong information. How do I get that
money back? And what should I do?
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<kommie@gmail.com> wrote
I live in a town in Connecticut. And recently this town has been giving
new property assessments. I have noticed that on the new Property
assessment my house has 4 bedrooms. To which it does not it has 3
bedrooms and I even had my house appraised independently by a state
certified appraiser that infact we have 3 bedrooms in 1997.Also When I
bought my house it said I have 3 bedrooms. This made me go into the
town and check the info they have. And it is infact wrong they have 4
bedrooms with 1 bedroom in the basement (I have a raised ranch 2
stories; no actual basement but the second floor is called a basement).
I went to the appraisal meeting and told them this information they
most likely will change it for the new assessment however, for the past
10 years(Bought house in 1994) I have been paying taxes on a 4 bed room
house because the town had the wrong information. How do I get that
money back? And what should I do?
First, there clearly has to be some statute of limitations with respect to
10 years of tax payments.
Second, you have specific legal opportunities to challenge the appraised
value and tax amount. Those options have most likely lapsed months and years
ago.
So, with the exception of the most recent year, you are out-of-luck.
BTW: Is there some specific tax that is based on the number of bedrooms?
And if so, how did this impact the value of your house as assigned by the
county? And most importantly, why did it take 10 years for you to notice?
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
taxman at negia.net
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It took me ten years to notice because they recently started sending
out their new assement values with room sepcifications. I though
everything was fine till recently.
The value of the house is determined on the amount of rooms. So if they
added a room my value goes up and I get taxed more. We dont have a
county goverment in CT. Its all in the town. I challanged the new
appraised amount and they will change it back to 3 bedrooms with a new
value but what about my back taxes that I overpayed. Right now I left a
written situation with the assesor. I might have to go to small claims.
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I have now challanged the new assesment. It will be changed back to 3
bedrooms and the value of the house will be lower. Thus causing me to
have a lower tax bill.
However that does not make up for 10 years. I didnt notice this because
I always thought everything was OK. Now they started to send out
information about the new assessment and the house had 4 bedrooms
listed to my suprise.
The tax is based on the value of the house. If I have 4 bedrooms my
house has a higher value then If it had 3 bedrooms.
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I have now challanged the new assesment. It will be changed back to 3
bedrooms and the value of the house will be lower. Thus causing me to
have a lower tax bill.
However that does not make up for 10 years. I didnt notice this because
I always thought everything was OK. Now they started to send out
information about the new assessment and the house had 4 bedrooms
listed to my suprise.
The tax is based on the value of the house. If I have 4 bedrooms my
house has a higher value then If it had 3 bedrooms.
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<kommie@gmail.com> wrote
It took me ten years to notice because they recently started sending
out their new assement values with room sepcifications. I though
everything was fine till recently.
So you were previously happy with the values?
You didn't complain that it was "to high"?
The value of the house is determined on the amount of rooms.
I highly doubt it. A sixteen room 1200 sf house isn't worth squat. Neither
is a 23,000 sf one room house (I think it would be considered a warehouse
though).
So if they added a room my value goes up and I get taxed more.
Then tell them to build you a room and you'll gladly pay up.
We dont have a county goverment in CT. Its all in the town.
I challanged the new appraised amount and they will change
it back to 3 bedrooms with a new value but what about my
back taxes that I overpayed.
Ya snooze, ya lose.
Right now I left a written situation with the assesor.
I might have to go to small claims.
I doubt that is the proper venue for such an action.
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
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kommie,
I think you need to speak with an appraiser to find out how property
value is determined in your locale. Your belief that the number of rooms is
a major factor seems odd to me. Request a revaluation of your home for this
year, compare this figure to the old figure, multiply by 10, and ask
yourself if going to court will be worth the time and effort.
I hope I have understood your problem correctly and that the number of
square feet of heated space is not in dispute or the size of the lot.
Good luck,
Dave M.
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"David Martel" <marte005@earthlink.net> wrote
I think you need to speak with an appraiser to find out how property
value is determined in your locale. Your belief that the number of rooms
is a major factor seems odd to me. Request a revaluation of your home for
this year, compare this figure to the old figure, multiply by 10, and ask
yourself if going to court will be worth the time and effort.
I hope I have understood your problem correctly and that the number of
square feet of heated space is not in dispute or the size of the lot.
I would think there are many more variables in valuing a property. Clearly
any 1400 sf house with a 16 car garage is more valuable than say, a 1400 sf
house without even a carport. The construction materials (brick, wood,
metal, vinyl, etc) would also play a much greater factor than the number of
bedrooms. Under his statement, a 4500 sf, one bedroom brick house is worth
less than a four bedroom 900 sf metal siding house on wheels.
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
taxman at negia.net
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I would think there are many more variables in valuing a property.
Agreed, he needs to seek the advice of an appraiser.
Clearly
any 1400 sf house with a 16 car garage is more valuable than say, a 1400
sf house without even a carport.
Yes, he needs to seek the advice of an appraiser
The construction materials (brick, wood,
metal, vinyl, etc) would also play a much greater factor than the number
of bedrooms.
Yes, see my comment above.
Under his statement, a 4500 sf, one bedroom brick house is worth
less than a four bedroom 900 sf metal siding house on wheels.
I'm not sure what statement you are referring to, I don't think anyone
said this. My understanding was that the OP thought that the value of his
home was affected by the number of bedrooms. That is, if 2 houses were of
identical construction, on identical lots, and had identical heated sq ft.
then the one with more bedrooms would be more valuable, for tax purposes.
While I think this is unlikely I'm no expert and expertise is available. He
needs an appraiser. Once he has an appraisal he can decide whether he should
investigate possible legal remedies for any problems.
Dave M.
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