When I received my assessment notice for my home I went into a "brain freeze" ... totally shocked! It increased 70 percent and $150,000 for a modest home built 10 years ago by All-American (manufactured home) 1-1/2 story, 2,500 square feet of living space and a 650-square-feet finished garage with a crawlspace on half an acre.
I wondered how I could get whacked for that much when no improvements were made ... same house since 1996. Besides in 2004 the assessment went up $98,000.
I went into an investigation made to understand the process. "Low and behold," another shock was given to me. A typical state government making stupid decisions on figuring property taxes.
Try to understand what I found out about the process. I was told by a government official ... they located three homes recently sold in my area which is on the east side of Kuhn Lake (but 1,100 feet from the lake) on Ind. 13, to do a comparable. OK? Here are the 3: (1) Living area 936 square feet sold for $105,000. (2) Living area 632 square feet (this is smaller than my garage) sold for $81,500. (3) 672 square feet sold for $50,000. How in the heck can these homes be considered comparable for the state and county to "come up" with an index number to calculate my property tax assessment.
I was told by a government official that they knew this process wasn't right or fair but the state/city needed the assessment "sent-out" immediately. And it's not the fault of our local township assessor because she is just mailing the notices.
It really proves our state government officials really don't "get it" or care. Just "ram it" down our throats and we will always pay ... just like gas prices!
The government's advice is: Pay it and don't complain ... get your property appraised ... or just go to your local pharmacy and purchase more "Preparation-H."
