Property Taxes Too High in Bucks County? What to do about it.

I recently saw an article in a Mercer County, NJ newspaper, about the number of commercial property owners in Mercer County, who are unhappy with the property taxes they are paying. Given the challenges that municipalities are facing with budgets right now, the last thing they need are property owners trying to lower their taxes.

Property tax appeal

The article raised an intersting point, as it relates to property taxes specifically in Bucks County. With regards to property taxes in Bucks County, there are often relatively large differences between the property taxes that are paid on similarly valued properties. I often refer to this as inequities in property tax base. Theoretically, 2 houses that are worth exactly the same, that are in the same area, meaning that they are in the same County and Township, should pay the same property taxes.

In fact, in Bucks County communities, we often find that the above is not the case. The reason for that, is that there has not been a County wide reassessment, in decades. As a result, assesments on individual properties, can be skewed. As a general rule, they are unfairly biased against newer construction. That means that relative to value, newer houses generally pay more in property taxes, than older houses of comparable value. So the question is, are your taxes fair, relative to the value of your house, and if not, can you do anything about it?

In fact, it is relatively easy to appeal your property tax assessment, if you feel that it is unfairly high, relative to other houses of comparable value. Many home owners are not aware of the fact that they can appeal the property taxes that they are paying. The process is actually quite simple. All you need to do, to start the appeal process, is to complete the property assessessment appeal form, which is available on the Bucks County website and present it to the Board of Assessment Appeals office at the Court House in Doylestown. You will need information regarding property taxes of similar homes, in order to make your case. I can assist with gathering that information.

Another option, which is even easier, is to contact an attorney who specializes in filing tax appeals. I recently had a friend/client, who succeeded in an appeal in Lower Makefield Township, and saved several thousand dollars a year, on their property taxes. They hired an attorney, who took the case on a contingency basis, and took a percentage of the first years savings, as the fee.

If you would like more information about this process, or would like me to help you with gathering the information, please contact me at 215-519-1399, or send me an email.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 10:07 am and is filed under Buying Real Estate, First Time Home Buyers, Lower Makefield Township, New Hope Boro, Newtown Boro, Newtown Township, Northampton Township, Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate, Solebury Township, Tax Appeals, Upper Makefield Township, Yardley Boro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Carolilne Samodouroff said at July 10th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Hello,

I’m interested in getting more information on the process of appealing what I’m paying on property taxes–in particular what you mention in your article about needing information on similar homes. I live in Bucks County (Buckingham Knoll.

Thank you for your response.

Caroline Samodouroff