Is PVSC Vindictive?

Imagine for a moment that you have appealed your assessment and PVSC told you they thought your assessment was fair but it is clear to you that they really didn’t give your property a fair examination (this is a common complaint. One person appealed and the assessor simply drove past stating later that he stood by his assessment) but that is a story for another time. 

For now assume you have decided to appeal further to the Assessment tribunal which is your right and, in fact what you should do. Anyone who accepts PVSC’s assessment without question is simply asking to have his/her pocket picked at tax time.

You have prepared your case well. You have comparable property sales that are all lower than your assessment. You present your case methodically and carefully. The chairman of your hearing compliments you on your appeal.and rules in your favour. Great you can sit back and relax – or can you.

Next year PVSC raises your assessment despite the fact that property values are dropping. It’s small increase so you let it slide.Next year, however, PVSC raises your assessment by a huge amount well over the Tribunal’s corrected assessment. What is happening here? One thing that isn’t happening is any semblance of fairness.

Here is an actual example.

In 2011 the land value of a property is assessed at $195,000. The owner appealed and received a judgement reducing the property valuation to $150,000.

In 2012 PVSC raises the assessment to $153,000. The property owner does not appeal figuring it isn’t worth the effort even though he knows similar land values are dropping.

In 2013 he is assessed at $165,000. He has still not had the hearing for his 2012 assessment and PVSC is happy with their valuation (and probably happier that no appeal has been heard).

Clearly the Tribunal ruling doesn’t amount to much if PVSC is going to raise the assessment the following year on a whim in what looks suspiciously like a vindictive action.

You can almost hear them,” We can’t allow this guy to get away with this so let’s stick it to him later.” And they do. But they don’t stop there, they raise his house value as well even though house values for similar houses are dropping like stones.

The lesson is that you must appeal, appeal again and again and again etc. etc.. PVSC doesn’t even have to get off their dead behinds to raise your assessment and probably laughs themselves silly at how they have stuck it to you.

Many people have written to me saying how courteous PVSC employees were but than followed up by saying they thought they had been screwed. Well, they probably were screwed. PVSC can afford to be nice because, by law you have to prove they are in the wrong. 

Meanwhile, your municipality  which owns PVSC sits by complacently reaping the benefits of high assessments while paradoxically, ignoring low assessments.

So much for a “Fairly valued Nova Scotia” 

How Good is Your House?

Have you read your property report? If not you might want to. What it says – or more importantly – what it doesn’t say – may have an important impact on your property taxes.

In this case the issue is the quality grade of your home.  On page two or three of your report  it will rate your house at a quality level such as  ”Fair” or “Good” or whatever.  There is a problem with this.

When your house is assessed it is first assessed as if it is “Average” quality. Then the assessor multiplies that by factor based on his/her “opinion” of the actual quality. There are 18  Quality levels (bet you didn’t know that). The following table shows them all with the right hand column showing the multiplier. So if your house is “Average” the value is multiplied by 1.0. If it is “Good” it is multiplied by 1.26. If it is “Fair” it is multiplied by 0.78  and so on. (This information was supplied by a reliable source in PVSC who said nothing about its being confidential.)

Under-assessments

In 2011 I gave the region a  work sheet of vacant ocean front properties along Shore Road from the Lighthouse to Bootlegger, a distance of roughly seven kilometres. I found 60 properties with questionable (excessively low market value assessments). Subsequently PVSC reviewed those properties and reassessed them.  Fifty-two were under assessed.  One was under-assessed by over

1923%.

Property Tax Appeals for Everyone

This post is in response to a comment by Dave on my post  ”Thank You” .

Many people do not have success with appeals because they are poorly informed on how assessments are done and how to present an appeal. The Diary is writing a manual (book) with detailed procedures based on PVSC’s own assessor’s handbook, court cases and appraisal experts. I would have had it done this year but legislative changes and PVSC’s internal changes left me with a lot of rewriting to do.

THANK YOU

Are you appealing your property tax assessment his year?

Probably not. Even though the odds are strong that you have been over assessed you will not appeal. For those of us who do appeal and appeal regularly that is a gift. It is a gift because if you pay too much we get to pay less. Why?

Because in its simplest form the mil rate is set by dividing the regional budget by the total assessment for the region. So, if assessments are higher  the mil rate is lower. Of course people who own properties that are under assessed pay even less. Why would there be under assessed properties? Because municipalities who could appeal under assessments rarely bother. They don’t have to if enough folks are willing to pay more than your fair share.

Yes, maybe you are capped and you think you are getting a great deal. What you don’t know is that the cap is tied to the inflation rate which increase every year and the capped assessment continues to climb while the depressed market we have in Queens may be driving the market value down. Didn’t think of that did you?

Meanwhile those of you who aren’t capped have the privilege  of subsidizing the every one else.  Not fair? Of course not but nobody ever said taxation was fair.

So thank you.

Your generosity whether through ignorance (you don’t understand the system),  sloth  (you can’t be bothered to figure it out), or you are pathologically charitable is good for me and those who put forth the small effort needed to keep our assessments fair by appealing.

Pay attention to  this month’s quotes. They are accurate. People really will pay up without question.  Even though there is little  connection between what you pay has to do with services you get.  If you don’t pay, no matter how unreasonable it is, the municipality will take your property.

So, Thanks again. You are good people (in my eyes anyway). Dig deep and pay. It’s not fair but it’s what you want.