One more reason to file an appeal even though the assessor may not answer you for up to two years: it may prompt a voluntary reduction by the assessor in the following calendar year.
Here’s proof. Though my appeal was filed last November for the property value in January of ’07, and though I have yet to be contacted about it, the assessor did mail me a reduction for January of ’08. So I will pay 23% less this December as a result.
My next door neighbor moved in 4 months after me in ’05 and experienced a similar decline in value. She has never filed an appeal and did not receive a voluntary reduction from the assessor. So it appears that filing an appeal triggers a voluntary reduction by the assessor in the following year’s taxes even as we wait for action on our original appeal.
Anyone else out there get a voluntary reduction letter from the assessor?
