Property Tax Assessment Frustrations

Posted by Indiana RealEstateRama

July 5, 2007

It’s that time of year, when you receive the dreaded property tax re-assessments in the mail.

Many people living in St. Joe County say the numbers on paper are outrageous.

Now, as they wait for their tax bills to arrive they are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Bill Lewis showed us one of his South Bend properties. He says, “This is not a lakeside property. This is property beside a railroad track and to pay almost 4-thousand dollars a year in taxes is ridiculous.”

With numbers like this, Lewis says the days of being a landlord have gone from being fun and favorable to his wallet to completely frustrating.

About 80 other real estate investors feel the same as their property assessments went through the roof. Now, they want some relief.

Lewis says this piece of property was assessed 26 percent higher than last year. He’s anxious to see his tax bill. He says, “If taxes continue to go up, I don’t think I’ll be in the business anymore.”

If the rest of this group follows his lead, this will mean trouble across the board considering 40-43 percent of South Bend and Mishawaka real estate is residential rental.

Edi Mathis, President of the Real Estate investors Association of Northern Indiana says now, investors are starting to become uninterested and are selling property and even abandoning property. That will of course put renters out of place.

Mathis says part of this surprise hike comes as a result of the state legislature putting individual homes at a two percent tax cap and placing rental property in a commercial business category, which allows for a higher cap.

Mathis says, “It went up to three percent. At three percent we have no help once again. “

Lewis says he’s thinking positive that his soon to come tax bills won’t force him to call it quits and give up his first-owned piece of real estate property. He says, “We’re in a hard predicament now.”

Mathis says if you want to appeal your property tax assessment it is very easy to do.

There are no specific forms to fill out. Just identify yourself and your property with a tax identification number and address. Say you want to appeal your 2006-2007 taxes and get this information into the assessor’s office as quickly as possible.

By Erin Logan

Source: wndu.com

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