The Governor and legislative leaders will hold a joint news conference this afternoon over property tax reform.  The Governor will sign HB 1001.    The bill does a lot but it does not directly affect the assessment process, except to the extent it eliminates township assessors in townships with less than 15,000 parcels and calls for a referendum for the rest and requires all have the highest level of certification.

This is important because I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail from people worried that while the plan may cut and cap their property taxes, it doesn’t do anything to prevent the government from raising your taxes by artificially inflating your assessments and get around the caps.

This is where you come in.  You as the homeowner are the first line of defense.  When you get your property tax bill you should check your assessment and compare it to the sales of comparable properties in your neighborhood.  If something smells rotten in the state of Denmark you should appeal.  If enough people do this you can affect some real change.

Everyone has a part to play in keeping property taxes down, make sure you do yours.

Posted: 03|19|08 at 6:28 am by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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