Marty Millner

Archive for the 'Tax Appeals' Category

Real Estate property tax appeal update, Bucks County, Pa.

Over the past several months, I have posted a number of articles on real estate property tax appeals, in Yardley, Newtown, Upper Makefield, Lower Makefield, and all over Bucks County.

I have pointed out how easy the process is, and how most appeals actually succeed. 

There was another article in the Bucks County Courier Times, this morning, that addressed the outcome of the appeals, throughout the County this past year, and the overall effect on tax revenues.

As noted in the story, the overall value of property in Bucks County declined by approximately 40 million, according to the board of assessment report.  This is the first time in at least 35 years that the overall value declined. 

The municipalities that were coping with the largest reduction, are Upper Makefield, Northampton and Buckingham, among others.  There were more than 5100 appeals filed this past year, which was an all time record for appeals. 

According to the assessment board report, about 80% of the appeals were granted.  For those who appealed successfully, you will see the change in your 2010 real estate property tax bills, which will arrive in the spring.  As I have pointed out in my posts, it is a relatively easy process to file an appeal.  You merely download an appeal form from the county website, and submit it to the County Board of Assessment.   You will be given a hearing date, and you must appear at the hearing, with data supporting your position, that your property assessment should be lowered.

Appeals for 2011, will be accepeted from January 1, 2010 through August 1, 2010.

If you have any questions about the process or would like suggestions and/or help, please contact me.  See the chart below for the municipalities who lost the most, in the appeals process.

Buckingham	$7,187,820
Northampton	$6,707,170
Upper Makefield	$4,123,330
Falls	$4,082,540
Hilltown	$3,795,310
Warwick	$2,880,100
Lower Makefield	$2,106,650
Tullytown	$1,682,320
Warmimnster	$1,657,090
Warrington	$1,652,180

Yardley, Newtown, Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County tax appeal update

Just  a very short post, for today, regarding an upate on the property tax appeal process for Bucks County.  I really appreciate the calls and emails, regarding the previous posts that I have done, about how to file an appeal of your proprety taxes.

I wanted to let everyone know, that the deadline for filing, is August 3rd.  The only thing that is required to meet the deadline, is to go to the tax assessor website, and download the form.  Complete the form, and indicate that information will follow.  You don’t have to have all the information together, at this time.  You just have to file the form on or before the 3rd.

You will then get a hearing date. 

Another important note, you must attend the hearing on the date scheduled.  As far as I know, they will not continue the hearing if you are not present. 

Another observation, after speaking with many people, is that perhaps the easiest way to get detailed information for the appeal, is to hire an appraiser.  An qualified appraiser will generate a very detailed report, that will substantiate a current value that will be lower than your current assessed value, assuming you have a valid case.  It generally costs about 400 for an appraisal.  Please contact me, if you need to find an appraiser.

Property tax appeals in Yardley, Newtown, Upper Makefield, Buckingham, Bucks County

I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago, about the process of filing a property tax appeal in Bucks County .  I know that the post struck home with a lot of people, as I received a lot of calls and emails from home owners in Bucks County, looking for some help with the process. 

I noticed that there was a really interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, that talked about the same issue, from a national perspective. 

The article pointed out that tens of thousands of home owners, from all parts of the country are trying to get their property taxes reduced, as a result of the decline in real estate values.  In one county in Ohio alone, nearly 23,000 property owners applied for relief. 

The article suggested that it is possible to file the appeal yourself, or you can hire an attorney to handle the process for you.  As I mentioned in my previous post, attorneys who handle tax appeal cases, generally do so on a contingency basis.  They will take as their fee, a negotiated percentage of the first years savings. 

The Journal article mentioned a couple of on-line, automated property valuation models that home owners have used to assist with the process.  The sites mentioned were EasyTaxFix.com, and LowerMyAssessment.com.  I put my own address in Yardley, in both of the sites, and both said they did not have data for my area.

I think the most important advice that I can offer anyone looking to file a tax appeal, is to be absolutely sure that you are prepared.  You will need to find properties of comparable size, and value, whose assessment is lower than yours.  If you are filing the appeal on your own, it won’t hurt to take pictures, to support your case. 

There is a brochure available for 6.95, from the National Taxpayers Union, that explains how to file an appeal.  I have not seen the brochure, so I am not sure how valuable it is.

If you want more information about filing an appeal, or want some help in finding tax values or re-sale values, please feel free to contact me.

Bucks County, Yardley, Newtown Pa, tax appeals

As a follow up to my post yesterday, regarding the process of appealing property tax assessments, I saw that in the Bucks County Courier Times this morning, there was an interesting article about a large group of home owners in a specific neighborhood, who decided to appeal their property tax assessments. 

The neighborhood is called, “Bluestone Creek“, and it is in Warrington Township.  It is a newer developement, and many of the owners found, after moving in, that their tax assessments were based on values that were more than what they paid.  As I pointed out in my post, yesterday, property taxes are unfavorably skewed against newer construction. 

Home owners in this neighborhood, saved an average of 900.00 each, with their successful appeals. 

As I observed yesterday, in my post, this article points out that it is not a complicated process to appeal your property taxes in Bucks County, if  you feel that they are not fair, based on other homes of comparable value.

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.

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.