Having worked in the assessor’s office and been involved in the property tax profession for 45 years, I felt it necessary to offer my thoughts on the current discussion about the state-required reappraisal.
The current economic crisis is real and it is true that many people cannot sell their homes. However, I know of no one willing to sell them at a steal. There is a current downturn in the market, but when talking to realtors they will
tell you the average price of homes have not gone down in value. They know, it is their daily job.
The staff at the assessor’s office with years of experience, and under the guidance of highly respected Assessor Bill Bennett, have reviewed the thousands of sales that have taken place over the past three years. These sales were used to arrive at the value you received on your blue card this past week.
When you are reviewing that value, you should simply ask yourself “ would I sell my property for that value?” If not, you have no complaint and the assessor’s staff have done their job. If you feel you cannot, then call the office. You will talk to someone, and you have 10 days to do so.
Now they have nothing to do with the taxes on your property. It is the law that they appraise your property at its market value. The County Commission will set the tax rate in July, and in all past reappraisals the tax rate has been reduced. The county cannot take in any more in revenue than it did before the reappraisal. Therefore, you may pay less than the prior year.
It is very simple - the County Commission is responsible for taxes, and the assessor's office is responsible for setting market value appraisals.
There are 180,000 parcels of property in Hamilton County that Bill Bennett and his professional staff have the awesome job of placing a
fair and reasonable value on. Of course, they will make mistakes and some areas may need to be reviewed. But please know they are doing their very best. Just hang on, you will be heard as soon as possible.
W.L. "Bubba" Ricketts
Bubba1771@bellsouth.net
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How arrogant, how absolutely arrogant and disingenuous can one person be as to make a statement such as "you have no gripe with the appraisal if you would not sell at that price" knowing full well that right now, today, or even tomorrow or next week or next month, and probably not the next several years, most people will not be able to sell their homes for what the Hamilton County Tax Assessor's office has appraised them.
Real estate isn't my bag. I fix stuff, build stuff, and sell other stuff. When I go to buy a piece of property I have to do a lot of research on the area in which I'm looking, as does anyone who would be doing so. That's reality, versus realty, and any realtor worth his salt is going to make every effort to maximize any commissions he may earn in selling a property.
I'll use "he" as a gender neutral pronoun.
Hamilton County has 180,000 parcels of land to be assessed? Does this include land and property owned by the more than 1,500 non-profit organizations in Hamilton County, Tn., who pay no taxes? Or would adding those to the mix increase that number to 181,500 parcels of land? Does that include all of the government-owned Taj Mahals we have sprinkled around the county or would that increase the number higher still?
Another reality is that any sale depends solely upon two factors, both of which must be present for the sale to become a reality for the realty, factors that can be boiled down to an equation. This equation will, and of necessity must, consist of three (3) variables, two (2) of which must be known or else we have what's more commonly known as a Drake Equation. A Drake Equation is one of those hinkies the greenies, and others, like to use to confuse issues when they're trying to convince the rest of us they're right and that everyone else, even with the empirical data we have in hand, is wrong. A Drake Equation makes assumptions based upon belief rather than fact and anyone who must work in the real world, the world of numbers and science, where people's lives may depend upon calculations being absolutely correct, knows their ciphering must be based upon measured, empirical values.
Math is my bag, kinda.
A "sale" must be based upon the fact, versus a belief, that there is a "willing seller" (hereinafter "seller") and a "willing buyer" (hereinafter "buyer"). With this in mind the equation would boil down thusly:
Z = X - Y
With these given values and limits:
Z = Sale
X = Buyer's willing purchase price, must be positive and non 0
Y = Seller's willing sales price, must be positive and non 0
Z must be equal to or greater than 0 for all non 0 values of both X and Y.
If Z is zero (0) or positive there is a sale.
If Z is negative there is no sale.
Another way of stating this is; the quantity Z must be a member of the set of all positive numbers, including 0, resulting as the difference of X and Y.
Perhaps a math teacher could check that last statement. I never had a real, or imaginary, problem with lambdas and omegas, pi (my preference is rhubarb or raspberry), dx's and dy's, dv's and dt's, those funny looking S hinkies, or sinh's and cosh's but those upside down U jobbers go in the same bucket with -j operators and Smith charts. They give me heartburn.
So with the above equation, Sale must be equal to or greater than zero (0). If Sale is less than zero (0), id est negative, there's no deal.
It's as simple as that.
The equation above doesn't fit the classical format of an algebraic equation but that's okay. It does fit the theorems and logical thought processes of that subculture of the mathematical gang known to study the theory of "sets." If anyone in the tax assessor's office, or Mr. Ricketts, needs a review, perhaps Dr. Scales at the Hamilton County Department of Education can fix him up mos skoshi. Um, sorry, there goes that foreign stuff again. That should be pur-dee-quick. Apologies for the Latin terms too. One of my lawyer friends really likes those babies.
It's all well and good to tell someone "When you are reviewing that value, you should simply ask yourself 'would I sell my property for that value?' If not, you have no complaint and the assessor’s staff have done their job." However, that's backward. There must first be a willing buyer. It's also only part of the equation. There may be a willing seller (a Y factor), but with no willing buyer (an X factor) there will be no sale (the factor Z) ... sort of like no ticky no washy. And this, too, is an extremely arrogant statement for someone to make about the property of another.
I submit that if a government functionary has assessed a taxpaying citizen with a property value exceeding that which the tax payer may expect to reasonably be able to sell his property, that government functionary has perpetrated a fraud upon that taxpaying citizen ... his ultimate boss. And to state that this assessment has no bearing upon the taxes owed by the property owner because the County Commission is the ultimate taxing authority? That's an out right and bold faced ... shall we just call that a prevarication? "Lie" is such a strong and obnoxious sounding word, really obnoxious, kind of like telling someone his property value has increased by 20% or 30% when there's no way he'll be able to sell it for that amount in the current economy or even in the economy of the immediately foreseeable future.
Time for another equation, a real algebraic equation this time:
T = V x F x R
Where:
T = the tax dollars to be paid each year
V = the property value as assessed by the Tax Assessor's office
F = the fractional portion of V upon which taxes must be paid
R = the tax rate
Do we have to send you back to sixth grade for a refresher in first year algebra? I think it's sixth grade. It was for me, but maybe it's 12th these days if at all. On its face, the equation above specifically shows that if either the tax rate or the property value increases, the taxes to be paid will increase. For you to sit in front of your computer and type away that taxes will either stay the same or decrease is nothing more than felgercarb, and an insult to the intelligence of the average Joe or Jane Schmuckatelli, citizen and tax payer. Who do you think you're going to fool? If one side of an equation increases the other side must increase proportionately. That's a mathematical fact just the same as 2 + 2 = 4, except that I keep forgetting about the calculus of government operations where it's more like 14.
I further submit that our county tax assessor is not performing his job as he's charged by the voting, taxpaying, and property owning citizenry of Hamilton County. If he was, he would be asking serious questions of his appraisers for having such hefty increases in property values. And this guy purports to be a Republican? One might wonder if he has ever read the published Republican philosophy, specifically; 8. Government must maintain sound money and reasonable economy. The rights of life and liberty are meaningless if citizens are deprived of their property through excessive taxation, inflation and government waste. ~Source: Republican National Committee, 1999. That last sentence, excessive taxation, that's the juice.
The tax assessor and his office are charged with ensuring that all property is assessed a tax based upon fair market value. That value must, by definition, be evaluated based upon what an average buyer has been willing to pay for a similar property, in the same area or neighborhood, within the recent several months, not two or three years ago when values were (as in the recent past) inflated due to availability of mortgage money.
A reasonable analog of real estate prices these past several years would be college tuition. I paid $7.50 per semester hour in a State school way back when, 30+ years ago. Back then we didn't have "student loans" that any 18-year-old could go apply for, and receive. We had to pay for it out of our own pockets, what Maw and Paw could ante up or borrow, or, as in my case, use our GI Bill benefits. Money wasn't as available. Now it is. Tuitions have gone through the roof ... of a skyscraper.
As an elected officer, isn't he, the tax assessor, charged with certain responsibilities by our Tennessee Constitution? He's required to take an oath of office. One might suppose that would require him to abide by the stipulations of that document, our Constitution. It is a pretty cool hunk of parchment.
And just to throw more up against the wall, or, as my late father was known to say a time or 3, to stir the kimchi pot:
One must wonder what relationship the following statement might have upon the instant situation with our county tax folks; That all courts shall be open; and every man, for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial, or delay. Suits may be brought against the state in such manner and in such courts as the Legislature may by law direct. ~Source: Constitution of the State of Tennessee, Article I, Declaration of Rights, Section 17.
It would appear the tax aying citizens of Hamilton County might be about to throw something into the cooling rotators, if they should wish to do so ... and the folks from the tax assessor's office, county government in general actually, are standing in front wearing white.
I hope someone can help me out with something. If I'm an engineer and a salesman does that make me a piddler instead of a peddler?
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
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As was indicated in the first response, any sale supposedly requires a willing seller.
When I met with a realtor last summer to sell my mother's home in Indiana, the lady told me, "Only one house has sold on this street in the last year and a half." Yes, sweetheart, and you know why? Because only one house on this street has been offered for sale in the last year and a half. That's hardly a buyer or pricing problem; it indicates this is a desirable street to live on, I believe.
I suspect there are plenty of folks who aren't willing to sell their homes simply because they love the house and like where they live. That has nothing to do with the drive-by appraisal of some supposedly impartial assessor.
The argument "you have no gripe with the appraisal if you would not sell at that price" sounds pretty close to a claim of eminent domain, doesn't it? Most of us suspect the recent 'appraisals' amounted to something like, "Gee, I wonder how much we can stick him for this time? Squeeze him till he hollers."
On a related note, someone has advised sending a certified letter, return receipt requested, to the assessor. That idea always seems silly to me, because ... all it proves is that the mailman handed So-and-so an envelope at such-and-such a time. The signature and the return receipt don't prove a thing about what was in the envelope; it could have been old cartoons or blank paper. How can that support anyone's argument about anything?
Larry Cloud
Chattanooga
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Mr. Ricketts,
We have not received the current assessment for our home by the county, so until I do I cannot speak intelligently about that subject.
What I would like to address is your comment, "When you are reviewing that value, you should simply ask yourself "would I sell my property for that value?" I think the question I hear people asking is "could I sell my property for that price"?
We have heard for the last few years that home prices and sales have dropped. That seems to be the concern of homeowners that are questioning the reassessment valves. Sure, any homeowner would be willing to sell their home for more than the appraisal. Wouldn't you?
I understand that you are correct in the fact that the state makes an adjustment in the tax rate according to the Truth in Taxation Act. However, I have found in the past that this does not mean that the dollar amount of my property tax will be less, only the rate. The dollar amount will not be as high as it would at the current tax rate, but may increase by a few dollars for the year. Some homeowners are probably not taking that into consideration, since we have no idea right now what the tax rate will be set at.
I am sure that the task of doing reassessments is overwhelming and not one that the assessor's office looks forward to. They are in fact only doing their job, and I commend them for that.
With that being said, no one is every happy when any bill increases; be it property tax, cable, water or sewage. Every four years this happens when the reassessments go out, maybe not to the extent of this year. So fellow property owners, know that whatever your assessment is, it will not be charged at the same tax rate that we have now. There will be a tax rate change, but I don't know if anyone knows what it will be yet. You might ask the assessor's office.
Frances Pope
East Ridge