[tomd2]

You have good advice in the above comments. Start with the local assessor to inquire how they arrived at your assessment. Find out the appeal process. Usually there is a local board which will hear your issues and they “may” give you some relief but dont expect much. Finally you can always seek relief in Court by means of a Tax Certioria. You can do it without a lawyer, if you are knowedgable but it may be worth it to have one so you dont lose on procedures.

All that said ask local RE brokers how much your property is worth and how do your taxes compare to what others are paying. Remember even though RE is off its peaks of 5 yrs ago it has appreciated in the last 25 yrs. and remember your ability to pay the local RE taxes is not the criteria, only the value of the RE. Also separate the house from the land. in my case land was 90% of the assessment, for 20 years I argued that they were over assessing the value of the land. they finally put our neighborhood in its own district and my assessment fell 30%. remember you can always sell it before somebody like me buys your RE lien which the municipality sells on the open market. Good luck!

[bgill]

I’m on a small lot but the land here is PRIME $$$ so that’s what’s killing me. The land is valued at twice what the house is so I’m thinking I’m not going to get very far with the assessor.