Appealing a Property Assessment in Clark County

[Chief]

I think it's only fair to state that I have a personal dog in the Property Tax fight, and I am going to limit my remarks on this subject because of it. we were reassessed this year, and we have appealed that assessment. In all fairness, I must let the system work to fairly resolve that appeal, and I want to avoid the apperance of fighting a personal battle in a public areana.

At some future date, after our case has been resolved, I will consider blogging a piece to report on the appeals process itself. Until then, I will limit my comments to general information only.

Chief

[Chief]

As I said, I won't get into the specifics, but I do feel an update on the process is in order.

I filed an appeal on my assessment on August 25th.

I recieved a letter from the Board of Equalization dated September 1sy, 2006, informing me of the Petition number, and advising that

"A copy of the appeal filed has been forwarded to the Clark County Assessor's Office for their review. After that review, the assessor will notify you, in writing, of their findings. You then have the ability to agree, or not agree, with those findings"

Fair enough. It's been almost a month, so I e-mailed the Assessor seeking an update. No reply.

I called the Assessor's office, waded through voicemail, and fianlly talked to an Appriaser. He told me that he believes it will be at least six weeks, possibly longer, before the Assessor can even begin to review any of the hundreds of appeals they are currently processing. He told me it was unlikely that I would hear anything until after that time.

Of course, he repeated the standard "bullet" that we should plan on just paying the first half of the increased taxes, whatever that amount will be, in April, and file for an adustment when the second half comes due.

So there we are. There is no progress to report, and what's more, the Assessor is flooded with appeals, and it sounds like they have their hands full trying to process all of them. Big surprize...

The saga continues...

[Chief]

I did want to mention that I did recieve a response from the Assessor's office to my e-mailed inquiry the other day. I won't quote the whole thing, because it wouldn't be fair to the person who sent it. However, the time estimate is dramtically different from what I was told on the phone.


"The appraisers are currently putting new construction on the rolls. When that process is complete - which should be within the next two weeks - the next activity for the appraisers will be processing the appeals. Since we have not gotten all of the petitions from the BOE, I cannot give you a date. Usually the appraisers work neighborhood by neighborhood to be efficient by working properties that are similar together."


The appraiser I talked to said that he thought the Commercial Properties would take at least six more weeks, then tyew would have some "clean up" work to do, and then they could begin to address the appeals. Plotting that estimate out on my Calandar means that he thought they wouldn't be able to address appeals until at least the middle of November, or later.

Considering the deadline for appeals is 60 days after the appeals were sent in late August, means that they will be accepting appeals at the BOE until sometime in late October.

Again, this is all speculation, because nobody is willing to offer me anything concrete, and the Assessor's office is being very close-lipped about just how many appeals have been filed. I hear persistent rumors that they are flooded by record numbers of appeals, but I have no proof at all of that statement.

Developing...

[Chief]

I'm really struggling to try and find out exact numbers about how many appeals have been filed on this year's assessment. I keep getting conflicting numbers, and none of them are good.

I e-mailed a request to the Board of Equalization, asking specifically how many appeals had been filed. I figured that since the 60 day deadline for filing an appeal expired on October 10th, so it seems reasonable to me that someone should know.

Here's the only estimate I got back from the BOE:

"Our appeal volume appears to be somewhat higher than it has been in the past but this could be due to the increase in development in the county."

"We usually get 1.5 to 2.5% response to revaluation notices. With near 200,000 parcels in the county and an active real estate market, the response this year has exceeded our normal."

since there were about 113,000 notices sent out in August, a 2.5% "response" yields 2,825 "responses". I don't think that all "responses" are necessarily appeals.

Then I got this from another source:

"The BOE has not logged all the petitions they have received so far. What they have accepted is 645 petitions (591 in 2005). The cut-off date from the August 8th mailing was October 10th, so it might be a few more weeks before we know the true number. Our residential manager has been telling staff there are around 1200, but there is no way to confirm his figure."


It seems to me that if there are in the neighborhood of 1200 appeals, were there were 591 last year, that is a significant bunp...

The problem I'm having here is that I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. On one hand, my wife and I are worried about how much more money we will have to cough up in taxes, and I don't want to do or say anything that might compromise our appeal.

On the other hand, I'm not at all impressed with the way this whole thing has been handled to date. We feel very much as if we are in an adversarial position with a government agency, we cannot get clear estimates of when we will get a resolution to this problem; instead we are merely advised that we had better pony up the taxes so we don't incur penalties and interest while the Assessor's office "reviews" our appeal. I cannot even get them to commit to a date certain when they will even begin to review any appeals, much less what action they might recommend.

Things like this make me very concerned about what is on the horizon. When I hear people talking lightly about things like building light rail in Clark County, I shiver at how we will be required to pay for it.

Developing...

[karma]

Chief, you need to address this in letter form not only to the Board of Equalization, The Assessor but also to those that control the purse strings here in Clark County, that would be the BoCCC with a copy to the Governor as you are having problems in getting information that you are requesting.

I have followed this post but I'm sorry to say all the screaming in the world isn't going to do any good due to the things that have been put in motion here. Money talks and you know the rest!! To use someone's own words, "If you don't like it here . . . . Move!"
This is the most half a$$ed backward community I have ever seen and no one wants to question the leadership or make them accountable for their spending habits. It's like the folks have their heads in the sand and we all know what can happen to those that do speak out!!

[Chief]

You're exactly right. I busted Jim Moeller using that 1% prperty Tax myth just today! people just don't realize how much money we are really talking about.

As far as any other steps, I'm waiting for the appeals process to go through. In all fairness, that's the proper way to handle this, and I'm trying to avoid fighting the specifics in public. It's a fine line, but it's also an election year, and if I just sit here with my mouth shut, nobdy is going to realize that we have a big problem on our hands down at the Assessor's office.

I worry like hell about how I'm going to stave off another huge assessment next year. This time I happened to have a current appraisal handy, because that is what it takes to appeal your assessment. In essence, by law, the assessor is considered to be right, and the taxpayer is required to prove that they are not.

The standard of proof that they require is on the level of what a professional appraiser will provide you, for about $400 a pop. So, the County can assign whatever outrageous value they want to your home, every year, and if you don't like it, you must go spend your own money, to have the house appraised at market value, in order to contest the County.

All that they have to do is realistically model the county property values. When I appealed my assessment, I provided them with an accurate appraisal of my home, along with four other properties to compare the house to. The appraiser came in my house, measured, took pictures, examined all of the amenities, and spent a week finding comparable properties in the surrounding neighborhood in order to set the value.

The County took a guess, printed an assessment that was overstated, and sent it out. They have never seen any of the amenities, never examined anything to set the value, other than what was reported on building permit applications. They want me to believe that they value four walls and a roof, sight unseen, at 30% more than an appraiser who actually saw the place did.

And if you listen to the current Assessor, some of the properties that were reassessed this year, may still be under-valued??!!

Wait till I get an answer, and details will be forthcoming. I don't want to jeopardize anything....

[Chief]

After a lot of thought and discussion with my wife about how to proceed on this, we have decided that the time has come to go public with this appeal. It has been months since we filed an appeal that ought to have been resolved with a phonecall in the first place. We have done everything that the system requires us to do, filed our paperwork in a timely manner, for no gain.

It seems that "Due Process" is a phrase that is unfamiliar over at the Assessor's Office. By law, the Assessor is assumed to be correct, and the burden of proof is on the taxpayer. Fine and good, but the Assessor has a responsibility to process claims and appeals in a timely manner, not stonewall people.

Right now, the assessor's office is in receipt of over 1000 appeals from the assessment that went out in August. The County and the localities are trying to get budgets finished and meet other State mandated deadlines. Because of the high rate of appeals, the assessor's office appears to be building quite a bow-wave of pending corrections to erroneous assessments.

What bothers me most is what this portends for the future. This time around, we happened to have a current property appraisal to back up our appeal. What happens next year, if they come back at us again with another unreasonable and unfair assessment?? If isn't right that we would be forced to have another appraisal done, and file yet another appeal.

As it stands right now, I will wait and see how this appeal comes out. I am trying to ratchet up the pressure to get a resolution though. I have an e-mail inquiry in to Linda Franklin, and I will share the answers I get to the questions I asked, if and when those answers are forthcoming. I am also going to do a timeline of the process so far, and share that too in a separate posting.

I do believe that there could come a time when legal action becomes necessary. There are so many irregularities in the Assessor's office, it is hard to find a starting point. Why on earth this woman was re-elected to that office is just beyond me; other than she benefited from blind Democratic partisanship in the recent election. Yet another unintended consequence...

Developing...

[Chief]

To no surprise, I haven't heard back from the Assessor's office on the e-mailed inquiry I sent Linda Franklin yesterday. For the record, here's the list of questions I asked for direct answers to.

Dear Ms. Franklin;

On September 29, 2006, you responded to my e-mailed inquiry about the status of the above referenced BOE petition of appeal. You stated at that time:

Quote:

"The appraisers are currently putting new construction on the rolls. When that process is complete - which should be within the next two weeks - the next activity for the appraisers will be processing the appeals. Since we have not gotten all of the petitions from the BOE, I cannot give you a date. Usually the appraisers work neighborhood by neighborhood to be efficient by working properties that are similar together."

Unquote

Six weeks have passed since that response, and I have heard nothing from your office about the status of my appeal. I believe that another attempt at an update is in order, so I have several questions for you concerning my appeal.

1. Are your appraisers finished putting the commercial properties on the rolls?? If not, why not, and when will they be finished??

2. When do you anticipate certifying the property rolls??

3. How many appeals has your office received from the Board of Equalization to date??

4. How many appeals has your office processed to date??

5. With the holiday season upon us, do you anticipate beginning processing of any appeals before the first of the year??

6. You stated in your response that your appraisers usually work by neighborhood processing appeals; what is the schedule, or the order of processing, for neighborhoods with appeals??


As I said, no answers have been forthcoming. It seems too that the taxpayer is the only party who is absolutely responsible for meeting deadlines on these matters as well. The Washington State Department of revenue has a calendar of recommended dates that the assessor's office is missing by months, and things are getting worse, not better.

If the Assessor's tax assessments for Commercial Properties are as unfair and innaccurate as the Residential Assessments were last August, then there is another "bow wave" of appeals heading the Board of Equalization's way. There's no telling how innaccurate those commercial assessments are going to be, but we will know pretty soon because businesses are going to be screaming bloody murder once the tax rates come out...

Folks, this is serious stuff. We are talking about the very foundation that the entire County sits on here. If there are major problems in the way property is being assessed, then that means budgeting entities are making decisions using erroneous numbers; from the County Commissioners, to the City of Vancouver, to in some cases, the State of Washington as well. It is not in anyone
s best interest to overstate values, especially when it means collection of taxes that people do not owe.

But then again, all of you people that voted for Linda Franklin, Democrat, last week must have known something else entirely, right??? I mean, surely you all based you votes for her on something besides blind, partisan, DemocRatic hate,, didn't you??

Oh. Right.

>:(

[Chief]

Just updating this thread so nobody thinks this is going away.

No response yet from the Clark County Assessor's Office to my e-mailed inquiry last week.

Still waiting....

[sensibilist]

Why do you choose "to be fair" Chief, as your first post on this subject states?

Are they playing fair? I think not. They don't play fair- so I won't. Besides, they made the rules, so playing fair is not incumbent upon me or my tactics.

Want a csv list of all county employees? ;)

[Chief]

Why be fair?? Because I am a fair person, that's why. I don't want to be seen as taking liberties with serious subjects, and this is a serious subject.

Again, this is about due process, and the lack thereof in Clark County's tax collection practices. Call it Leadership by example; let us hope that the right people are paying attention...

[sensibilist]

I figure as we're outmanned, battling against our own money, and have been put into a David/Goliath battle (guess which one we are Chief? :P) that they already have better than fair.

My previous experiences with them has borne this out.*

[Chief]

I understand that, completely. That sentiment seems to cover a lot here in Vancouver; everything from taxes, to assessments, to light rail. The list is nearly endless, and we are fighting the very thing that we as taxpayers have not only allowed to be created, but in many case, demanded to be created.

A lot of the projects on the City's "to do" list have their origins in the Neighborhood Associations. In many cases, you cannot get anything started on any project in the City, without going through the Neighborhood Associations. The NAs are almost a micro-government unto themselves. The traffic calming that the City recently completed on Park Crest here was a direct result of the Neighborhood Association pressure. )This is not a critique of the NAs. Just a statement about how they influence City planning.)

Go read the essay I put up in the Soapbox, about the Monster we have created. The list of things to do will never end. The amounts of money spent will never be enough. The taxes we pay will never be high enough.

It's time to sep back, look hard at what we are doing, and see what we can do about re-discovering the smaller Government roots of my Party, that being the Conservative Principles of Ronald Reagan.

Seriously.

[karma]

Chief, they won't play fair as we all know they have their people in place and don't have to deal with the public on these matters!!
Believe me, they want everyone to open their wallets and not ask why they need added funds, all the while they rob Peter to pay Paul and help their buddies get rich at the taxpayers' expense. Welcome to Clark County where the lack of leadership is a part of our history.

[Chief]

I finally had enough waiting for a response to my e-mailed questions to the Assessor's office, so I called this morning, and actually talked to the Appraiser who is finally handling our appeal.

Unfortunately I'm no further ahead than I was before I called her.

First, they just started this week on processing appeals. She gave me a long convoluted excuse about the route the paperwork has to take before it can actually be processed. The bottom line is that she can't tell me either how many appeals they have, how long it will take to process them, what order they will be processed, or anything else.

This is a direct cut and paste from the Board of Equalization's website:


The Board of Equalization assists in the administration of property tax, providing an impartial citizen forum for property owners. If a property owner disputes the assessed value of property, the Board of Equalization will hear the property owner's appeal and make a decision. The service is free. Hearings are held on an individual basis consistent with property tax policies established by law.

The Board is an independent body organized to adjudicate appeals of various determinations made by county agencies. It is comprised of three citizen members and up to four alternates appointed by the Clark County Commissioners to provide an impartial hearing environment that protects each party's due process rights and results in a fair decision.

The Board of Equalization hears and decides appeals concerning the numerous types of determinations including: changes to real and personal property valuations; denials of senior citizen/disabled exemptions; denials of home improvement exemptions; decisions regarding historic property; forest land classification determinations; current use determinations; destroyed property determinations; and claims for either real or personal property tax exemptions.

UNQUOTE

Since I cannot get any timeframe out of the Assessor, and because the BOE answers directly to the Clark County Commissioners, I sent them an e-mail this morning to see what can be done to help this process out. Somebody has the Authority to tell the Assessor to do her job. I'm going to find out who that is.

Developing.

[Chief]

To no surprise, I haven't heard back from the Assessor's office on the e-mailed inquiry I sent Linda Franklin yesterday. For the record, here's the list of questions I asked for direct answers to.

Dear Ms. Franklin;

On September 29, 2006, you responded to my e-mailed inquiry about the status of the above referenced BOE petition of appeal. You stated at that time:

Quote:

"The appraisers are currently putting new construction on the rolls. When that process is complete - which should be within the next two weeks - the next activity for the appraisers will be processing the appeals. Since we have not gotten all of the petitions from the BOE, I cannot give you a date. Usually the appraisers work neighborhood by neighborhood to be efficient by working properties that are similar together."

Unquote

Six weeks have passed since that response, and I have heard nothing from your office about the status of my appeal. I believe that another attempt at an update is in order, so I have several questions for you concerning my appeal.

1. Are your appraisers finished putting the commercial properties on the rolls?? If not, why not, and when will they be finished??

2. When do you anticipate certifying the property rolls??

3. How many appeals has your office received from the Board of Equalization to date??

4. How many appeals has your office processed to date??

5. With the holiday season upon us, do you anticipate beginning processing of any appeals before the first of the year??

6. You stated in your response that your appraisers usually work by neighborhood processing appeals; what is the schedule, or the order of processing, for neighborhoods with appeals??


As I said, no answers have been forthcoming. It seems too that the taxpayer is the only party who is absolutely responsible for meeting deadlines on these matters as well. The Washington State Department of revenue has a calendar of recommended dates that the assessor's office is missing by months, and things are getting worse, not better.

If the Assessor's tax assessments for Commercial Properties are as unfair and innaccurate as the Residential Assessments were last August, then there is another "bow wave" of appeals heading the Board of Equalization's way. There's no telling how innaccurate those commercial assessments are going to be, but we will know pretty soon because businesses are going to be screaming bloody murder once the tax rates come out...

Folks, this is serious stuff. We are talking about the very foundation that the entire County sits on here. If there are major problems in the way property is being assessed, then that means budgeting entities are making decisions using erroneous numbers; from the County Commissioners, to the City of Vancouver, to in some cases, the State of Washington as well. It is not in anyone
s best interest to overstate values, especially when it means collection of taxes that people do not owe.

But then again, all of you people that voted for Linda Franklin, Democrat, last week must have known something else entirely, right??? I mean, surely you all based you votes for her on something besides blind, partisan, DemocRatic hate,, didn't you??

Oh. Right.

>:(


Updating....this just in..<a href="http://www.brandens.net/files/Sounds/FX/Animals/CRICKET4.WAV">here</a>

::)

[Chief]

My sources inform me that the reason I cannot get an answer out of Linda franklin is because she has not been seen in the office since the Election. I guess the stress was too much and she needed a break. Of course it is asking way too much to expect anyone to check or answer e-mails from the taxpayers.

Updating....this just in..the same old answer right <a href="http://www.brandens.net/files/Sounds/FX/Animals/CRICKET4.WAV">here</a>

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/field_cricket_picture.jpg

[Chief]

Well, I got an answer, of sorts, from the department of revenue "Ombudsman" who is supposed to be able to help you negotiate tax issues with DOR.

I'm posting the meat of his e-mail. I am not posting his identifying information, because I did not get his permission to do so, and this guy is a paid employee of the State of Washington, doing his job.

Here 'tis.

Dear Mr. *****,

Thank you for your recent e-mail inquiry to the Department of Revenue regarding your residential valuation appeal. I am the Property Tax Division's Appeal Specialist and I have been asked to respond. The Property Tax Division has general oversight over the property tax process. I provide training and support to the local Boards of Equalization as well as county assessors and their staffs.

Your frustration with the progress of your valuation appeal is clear. It appears that the main thing that you want is a prompt, early hearing that would resolve the matter before the first half taxes come due on April 30, 2007. Unfortunately, the Department of Revenue has no way of intervening to make that happen.

I am advised that the Clark County Assessor certified the property tax roll to the Board of Equalization yesterday. With that accomplished, the Assessor can no longer change your value for reasons that include appraisal judgment. Since you filed a timely appeal, your property's value is truly in the hands of the Board of Equalization. I'm confident that the Clark County Board of Equalization will begin to schedule hearings in a logical, fair manner. However, with the great number of appeals to process, your hearing may not occur until March or April.

While you wait for the hearing to arrive, you still have the opportunity to discuss the valuation with the Assessor's staff. Now that the rolls are complete, the Assessor's office can begin to respond to those of you who have appealed. I'm confident that they will do so. If you can convince the Assessor that their estimate is incorrect, you might enter into a stipulated agreement about the value of your property. If that agreement is completed prior to the hearing, your appeal is automatically withdrawn and the value corrected. If the Assessor's office does not respond to you or you simply cannot agree, then your challenge is to appear at the hearing and convince the Board of Equalization that the Assessor's estimate of your property's value was wrong.

The "due process" you seek is in the system and practices of the Board of Equalization. They will provide an orderly process that protects your rights and the rights of the other parties, including the public at large. However, due process does not guarantee that your hearing is held in November or December - before the levies are finalized and the tax bills go out. I truly believe that both the Board and the Assessor would prefer to hold the hearings much sooner, but they are unable to do so at this time.

I do not agree that is unfair to expect you to pay the first half taxes. (NOTE: We have always paid our taxes on time, and will always do so. Chief) The law clearly requires you to do so. Your appeal will probably be settled and necessary corrections made to your remaining bill before the second half payment is due. It's unlikely that you will ever pay more than your legal share. If I am mistaken and you do pay more than you should have, a refund will be made.

In fact, some counties are able to get the rolls closed months earlier and have the appeals heard in late summer or early fall. However, many more counties don't have the budget or resources to finish the valuation process in a timely manner. There are several counties in which the appeals are delayed much longer than in Clark County.

You certainly have the option to pursue this matter in court. You may pay the disputed taxes under protest and then file a refund action in Superior Court. Your attorney can advise you on this option. However, the cost and time involved in this course of action is what led to the "administrative" appeal system that we describe above. Appealing to the Board of Equalization is a much easier, taxpayer friendly process than going to court.

I understand that even our process can be intimidating, but I'm confident that ****** ****** at the Clark County Board of Equalization will be helpful. You are also welcome to contact me at (360) 570-5864 or *******@dor.wa.gov. I may be able to offer insight into the hearing process and give some direction as you prepare for your hearing. I will be out of the office for the next two weeks, but would like to speak to you directly. I should be available after December 18th to take your call or e-mail.

Sincerely,

****** *****, Specialist
Levies, Collections & Appeals
Property Tax Division

[Chief]

Now, a few comments.

" It appears that the main thing that you want is a prompt, early hearing that would resolve the matter before the first half taxes come due on April 30, 2007. Unfortunately, the Department of Revenue has no way of intervening to make that happen. "

yah. The reason we appealed to the BOE was for a prompt and early hearing. All we got was a time/date stamp on the package, and a letter from their Clerk, informing us that they had sent it back to the Assessor. The appeal was dated August 20, and the letter from BOE was dated 1 Sept; so the BOE didn't even look at it.

I am advised that the Clark County Assessor certified the property tax roll to the Board of Equalization yesterday. With that accomplished, the Assessor can no longer change your value for reasons that include appraisal judgment. Since you filed a timely appeal, your property's value is truly in the hands of the Board of Equalization. I'm confident that the Clark County Board of Equalization will begin to schedule hearings in a logical, fair manner. However, with the great number of appeals to process, your hearing may not occur until March or April.

yah. We know it is in the hands of the BOE, but they abdicated their involvement back to the Assessor. Appealing to the Board of Equalization in Clark County is a farce because they never see your appeal until months after the fact. By then your money is gone, and you can damned will file for a refund, and probably wait for that too...

While you wait for the hearing to arrive, you still have the opportunity to discuss the valuation with the Assessor's staff.

If I had been able to get even a phone call back from the Assessor's Office about this, we wouldn't be contacting the Department of Revenue!!!

The "due process" you seek is in the system and practices of the Board of Equalization. They will provide an orderly process that protects your rights and the rights of the other parties, including the public at large. However, due process does not guarantee that your hearing is held in November or December - before the levies are finalized and the tax bills go out. I truly believe that both the Board and the Assessor would prefer to hold the hearings much sooner, but they are unable to do so at this time.

I agree that the BOE is supposed to be providing Due Process, but when they won't even review the appeal, but instead give it back to the Assessor to sit on, and get a second shot at guessing the right value. There is no Due Process for the taxpayer.

I do not agree that is unfair to expect you to pay the first half taxes. (NOTE: We have always paid our taxes on time, and will always do so. Chief) The law clearly requires you to do so. Your appeal will probably be settled and necessary corrections made to your remaining bill before the second half payment is due. It's unlikely that you will ever pay more than your legal share. If I am mistaken and you do pay more than you should have, a refund will be made.


yah, the law again. First, there is a special name for people who don't pay their taxes.

"Homeless"

That said, it is not fair to be required to pay exhorbitant and confiscatory taxes, that are based on a faulty, unfair assessment, especially when the appeal has been duly filed in every one of the requirements and well within the deadline of 60 days after the date of the notice.

That is the only deadline in this whole sitinking mess though. Make no mistake that the taxpayer is the only party that has a deadline, and all of the rules of law are against the taxpayer in this entire process.

In fact, some counties are able to get the rolls closed months earlier and have the appeals heard in late summer or early fall. However, many more counties don't have the budget or resources to finish the valuation process in a timely manner. There are several counties in which the appeals are delayed much longer than in Clark County.

That is no excuse. Clark County iis experiencing delays because the assessments they are handing out are dramatically overstated, and unsupportable. The counties that get the gearings done early don't have the error rate that Clark County does, plain and simple. 1000 appeals sounds like nothing perhaps, but when we are talking 1000 appeals out of 113,000 assessments, against 200,000 residential properties, it looks a little different. This year Clark County has over twice the normal number of appeals, and noe of them, not one has been heard to date. And other, smaller Counties that don't have resources is different from those who are just ahanding out any old mess, and calling it good.

If a government Authority is going to impose an Administrative requirement on the taxpayers, like this appeals process, then they had better by-God be prepared to support that system. Screwing the taxpayers with confiscatory taxes is not my idea of how good government works.

You certainly have the option to pursue this matter in court. You may pay the disputed taxes under protest and then file a refund action in Superior Court. Your attorney can advise you on this option. However, the cost and time involved in this course of action is what led to the "administrative" appeal system that we describe above. Appealing to the Board of Equalization is a much easier, taxpayer friendly process than going to court.

This is better than it used to be??!! Only a bureaucrat would believe that propaganda, especially in the face of the situation here. I wonder what any of the Judges in town might think about this, and maybe we will be finding that out!!

For the record, none of this is a surprize to me. I know what the rules are, and I am aware of t what the Law says. I wanted to get the entire process documented though, so people can see that this is not a user friendly process that it is made out to be. If anything, this process is a joke.

Intimidated by the process?? Not me, but I have neighbors in my immedieate viscinity, who when they found out I had been stuck with a 51.26% reassessment, counted their blessings that the 22% reassessment they got wasn't any higher. They wouldn't think of appealing it for fear of retaliation the next time. And a number of my neighbors are in their 70s and just plain don't have the desire to fight City Hall.

Are their assessments accurate, simply because they did not appeal them? Hell no!! I submit that the entire batch that went out in Augustl bears no resemblance to the truth whatsoever. I submit that the entire 2006 Assessment is deeply flawed and ought to be redone completely.

But I am a realist, and the odds of any entity in Clark County admitting that they are wrong is somwhere between slim and none. I won't be holding my breath for it to change any time soon.

Bottom line my freinds is that there is no justice or Due Process to be found for a taxpayer in Clark County. There is no-one who will advocate for you; you are on your own, and the sky is the limit as to how high your taxes are going. God help us.

So my only choice is to sit down, shut up, and write the check for as much as they damned well tell me.

At least for now.

[Chief]

It appears that the Squeaky Wheel does indeed get the grease.

I just got a phonecall from the Clark County Assessor's Office, from a young lady who is dealing with my appeal. This is a different person than I talked to earler.

She informed me that she had reviewed my appeal, run all of the numbers I provided, and that wshe was issuing an adjust ment for the exact amount of the appeal we filed. The lower end of the suggested range as a matter of fact.

She says they have a backlog of letters to issue, but that they would be going out next week. I will be checking their website to see when the adjustment takes place.

And in the interest of magnimity, once I have that adjustment in hand, I will withdraw the appeal. Heck, I'll even send Linda Franklin a thank you letter for finally getting around to the appeals, as well as for seeing it my way.

I wonder what ultimately broke the logjam...whatever it was, or whomever finally intervened on this, I am grateful.

I will continue to monitor the process and comment on it as often as necessary to push for some realistic changes in the way this all is conducted.

I will damned sure sleep well tonite!!

;D

[Chief]

That's enough with the sweetness and light crap. It's been almost 24 hours and I think I've done due-diligence on being magnanimous about winning this thing. The Evil Rethuglican in me is rearing it's ugly head, and after several discussions with my friends, family, and among the Principals here at Clarkblog.org, a bit of speculation as to what really happened here is most definitely in order.

Call me an eternal cynic, or just give me credit for having more insight than I may openly display here on the Internet; but this was the result of some backroom Politics, and an attempt by what I believe are several entities here in the County, to find a little cover on a potentially damaging subject.

So let us conduct a little thought exercise, shall we??

What is the most contentious issue in Clark County this Christmas?? Has to be taxes, given that both the City of Vancouver and the Clark County Commission are in the process of finalizing budgets for the next biennium. (That's a 2 year budget cycle for the Clark College Poly-Sci crowd...).

The City has been battling with Business for two years, and threatening to impose a very expensive, and unpopular, B&O Tax. That was just delayed, and a new $50 per head tax on Employees instituted instead. But that agreement came at the cost of Businesses not opposing the City's efforts to lift the lid on the amount per thousand they charge on residential real estate, if the WSSC rules I-747 unconstitutional.

The County just approved a Meth Tax to tap taxpayers for $6 Million for battling methamphetamine addiction, and have a long punch list of projects that desperately need doing, if only the scarce tax dollars can be found. There are a number of controvercial tax proposals coming in the next year that the Commisnioners are going to have to sell to local taxpayers and property owners.

And last August, what happens?? The local Democratic County Assessor, Linda Franklin, who is running a hotly contested race for reelection, drops a bomb on 113,000 residents in the County in the form of a reassessment that increases Property Vales an average of over 30%. There is no hint that this large of an increase is coming, and everyone in Government at all levels are caught completely unawares by the massive size of this increase. Even the staff at the Assessor's office is caught off guard by the overwhelming influx of telephone calls, rabid e-mails from outraged property owners, and there are rumors of an incoming tsunami of Appeals...

To make matters worse, some guy out in Cascade Park with a computer, decides its time to set up his own website, where he starts documenting all kinds of news stories, political information, and critical commentary on a wide range of issues, including an escalating set of acidic commentaries about the state of his Property Tax Appeal to that very same Democratic Assessor.

Nobody really takes any of this civilian's rantings seriously, because he makes it clear he is Scary Conservative Republican with some kind of hidden agenda, and since the Democrats own Clark County, he can bitch until his face turns blue, and nobody has to pay the "Rethuglican" any mind at all.

Until after the Elections, and this loudmouth in Cascade Park starts really ramping things up. All of a sudden he gets really serious about being ignored, and begins sending out E-mails to every Elected Official in the State of Washington, and posting the answers he gets on his website. And he either isn't getting the Memo about why he's being ignored, or he just doesn't care, because he continues to escalate the pressure on those Officials, not only about the Property Taxes, but now he's making a lot of inteersting, inflammatory, embarrassing, potentially damaging and ultimately and damned accurate observations about the other Tax Proposals that are not only near and dear to local Gubment, but are looking worse and worse as long as this Loudmouth "Naysayer" still has a solid soapbox to stand on.

So how does a Local Gubment, with a lot of new tax proposals and a pile of hot projects on the front burner, minimize the damage that one loud voice is doing over what is obviously a large political liability?? This guy has made a big deal about over 1000 unanswered Appeals of Assessments in the County, the newly reelected Democratic Assessor has not been in the office since the Election, and they Naysayer has finally e-mailed the Department of Revenue in Olympia!! They can't do anything per se, but they can make it very uncomfortable if local officials appear bo be straying into legally shaky ground on tax collections practices, and ignoring valid appeals.

Sure, Olympia cannot exactly crack the whip over anyone, but they do let local officials know that the Naysayer is dangerously close to having the grounds for a valid Class Action lawsuit, and it is in nobody's best interst to allow the newly Re-Elected Democratic Assessor to continue to ignore a solid taxpaying homeowner with an air-tight appeal.

What to do???

Maybe someone in a High Place, say a County Commissioner, or a staffer from the Mayor's Office, or maybe an astute fellow Liberal State Representative, picks up the telephone, calls that fellow Democat, the Newly Re-Elected Democratic Assessor, and strongly suggests that in the interest of the Public Good, she had better get herself off of the Post-Election Vacation, get back in the Office, and find a way to resolve these appeals immediately, if not sooner.

So what does she do? It is far too late to try and pull a fast one by placating just the Scary Conservative Naysayer; there aren't enough "legs" in a token gesture. What's needed is fast action that can be pointed to later as "Bold Leadership".

So what you do is take one Staffer, have her do a fast review of every one of those 1000 appeals, and pull every one that has a Uniform Residential Property Appraisal attacked as backup; just like the Naysayer's. Since those appeals have a 99% probability of being approved anyway, grant the appeals immediately without any comment, send out the letters as fast as possible, and make sure the loudmouth naysayer gets a personal phone call to verify that fact before close of business this week.

Sounds far-fetched? I don't think so; I'll bet that steak dinner that I'm at least 75% accurate in what I just described. The only variable in this whole equation is who made the call?? Was there more than one call made??

I know for a fact that the official Ombudsman for the State Department of Revenue made personal phone calls to several Officials in Clark County. I posted the response I got from him just a few days ago. I figured, based on his letter, that we would in fact not be hearing anything on this appeal until at least next Spring. Go up an re-read that message, and you'll see what I mean.

But all of a sudden, out of nowhere yesterday morning, first thing in the morning, the entire sorry episode comes to a sudden end. There will be no hearing before the Board of Equalization, nor will there be any comment or answers to my other questions from Assessor Linda Franklin. Sure, I have achieved the goal that I set out to accomplish back in August, and I am proud that I did it, and I am grateful for the outcome.

That said, there still remain some fundamental problems with the way our Government conducts business. This entire sorry affair could have been avoided completely, if just one person at the Assessor's Office, or one actual Board Member of the BOE, had bothered to review this appeal, and had simply picked up the telephone and called me.

The appeal was airtight from the beginning. I provided exactly what data was required, on the forms that the BOE proscribes, and well within the timeframe that is required by the Law. My only problem, my sole issue, has been the failure of Government to act fairly, and follow the rules the same way that I am required to.

Again, if the Government sets up a program that lays out rules for the taxpayer to follow, then the Government is obligated to respond to that taxpayer in a timely manner, and to fully support the program that they have set up. Ignoring a taxpayer for any reason flies in the face of the bedrock principals that this Country was built on.

The other lesson here my friends, is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I expect to see all kinds ow wailing and gnashing of teeth in the form of outraged letters to the Editor of th eColumbian, early next year after the property tax bills hit. The people who will be bitching the loudest about how high their property taxes just went are the ones who likely did not vote, and didn't bother to read the assessment when it came out in August, and have missed the 60 Day appeal deadline.

Pay attention. Be involved. Wake up, and re-join your Community.

Stout Hearts!

[Chief]

In today's mail, as promised, a letter from the Assessor's office, with a formal offer to enter a Market Value Correction for our taxes payable in 2007 on our home. It is for the minimum amount in the price range we proposed in our original appeal.

On page 2, the last 2 lines look like this:

MARKET VALUE FOUND TO BE IN ERROR BASED ON:

Taxpayer Sales of Comparable Property Submitted.


In other words, because I submitted an appeal in a timely basis, and because it was based on real numbers, it was approved. The point is that we paid attention to that piece of paper when it arrived here last August. Because we have worked hard to keep our affairs in order, we were able to produce irrefutable and undeniable proof that the assessor's value was too high.

We also did four of our unknown neighbors a huge favor, in that part of my appeal was the backup data: four comparisons of like properties, appraised by a professional. If the County accepted my numbers on my house, then that means they accepted my numbers on those four houses as well. That is five real-world. actual. accurate. data points on which to build an accurate database on values of real residential property.

Linda Franklin ran for reelection as Clark County Assessor and won, solely on the strength of the computer system she is shepherding into place in the Assessor's Office. Let us hope that she will insist that real world numbers be entered into that fancy system, as opposed to whatever was used to produce the last assessment in August.

I will follow this entire affair up with a pair of letters; one to the Assessor and the other to the Bord of Equalization. There are some real problems in the system that exists in Clark County, when it takes this much hell raising to get a reasonable answer to what started out as a reasonable question. The way this ends now, the Assessor will not have to show me how they came up with the original assessment, or answer any of the many questions that still remain. The biggest of which is just how many appeals were there??

Trust me, I will be keeping an extremely close eye on this issue from now on, at least as long as we own this house. I've never had to live in my own home, with a feeling of being on guard before, but it feels that way more and more, especially when we do the math about the taxes we are being demanded to pay, and what that money is ultimately spent on.

Stout Hearts!!

Chief


On Edit: Let me also state for the record, that I firmly believe I would not have this agreement in hand today if I had not raised so much hell about being ignored. I do not doubt that if I had merely filed the appeal, and let things run their natural course, we would not be seeing this letter until May of next year, after we had already paid the first half of the taxes.

You might think that when presented with a taxpayer appeal, that fits exactly within the rules established, has irrefutable proof of an error, and provides supporting documentation of like properties that would verify the database...you might think that the Assessor would find a way to reinforce that kind of postive taxpayer behavior, and pick up the phone early on, and grant some of the more obvious appeals. Think of the Public Relations value in that kind of positive interaction, and think of the negative publicity that could be avoided.

Go figure.

Chief

[Chief]

Well! And what was the topic du jour at the Limbaugh Institute today??

Outrageous property assessments.

Bumping to the top...

[Chief]

Updating this topic...

We finally got numbers, that show how much out proerty taxes are going to increase this year.

We ended up settling for what amounted to a 10% reduction in the Assessment on the house. As a result, out taxes are only going up 21% this year, which is kind of a phyrric victory, at best.

Since all of these numbers are available online from the County, and we have nothing to hide, we have decided to show the actual numbers that show how much our property taxes have increased over the years.

To view this document click here: <a href="http://www.clarkblog.org/docs/Prop Tax Increase.xls">Property Tax Increase</a>

Again, these are the actual numbers for the assessed value, and the actual taxes paid on this house. You can also see how we have been reassessed every year since we bought this house. One way or another, our property has attracted a lot of scrutiny from the County over the years, despite being on a supposed 6 year cycle...

Again, this chart demonstrates how your property taxes do in fact go up considerably more than 1% as the local myth goes...

Stout Hearts!!

Chief

[Chief]

Updating....


In the print edition of my morning Columbian, on page C3, in the "Around the Area" section I found this:

CLARK COUNTY

About 1,000 owners appeal assessments

As housing prices have climbed, so has the number of property owners who think their home's value isn't being assessed properly.

On 150,000 appraisals, the Clark County Assessor's Office has about 1,000 appeals, Assessor Linda Franklin said Monday. There were 600 last year and 400 the year before.

The median home price in Clark County rose 4 percent in 2006, according to Riley & Marks Inc., a Vancouver appraisal firm.

"Some people haven't been following the market and realized that market value has risen," Franklin said of the people appealing her office's judgement. "Our intention is to be completed with those by the end of February".

UNQUOTE

Linda, the people who appealed you assessments did so precicely because the DO know what their house is worth, as opposed to your outrageous assessments.

Time for another round of e-mails.

Developing....

[Chief]

I'm being too hard on Linda Franklin, after all, this site would never have been set up if it were not for Linda Franklin.

Linda Franklin is personally responsible for giving me fodder to feed the most widely read article here at Clarkblog.org.

Linda Franklin is the Gift that keeps on Giving to www.clarkblog.org.

I am going to do a Google Bomb with "Linda Franklin" to lead to a page at Clrkblog titled "Our Founder".

Linda Franklin has been berry, berry good, to me....


;D

[Chief]

Updating this sad tale...

I just got a phone call from a Senior Citizen neighbor of mine here in Cascade Park. He is disabled, and he and his wife are both ill. They have been battling an assessment on appeal since January of last year.

The proposed settlement the County is handing them does not make sense to him. He cannot get ahold of anyone on the Board of Equalization, and in fact has never talked to anyone on the Board itself. He called me for advice on what the form meant, because one of his neighbors had heard about my successful appeal.

I feel badly that this man has been fighting his for over a year, and mine got granted just to shut me up.

Now this man is a retired CPA, so his frustrations have nothing to do with the numbers; his frustrations are over the way he is being stonewalled by he County Assessor and the Board of Equalization.

Sound familiar??

I advised him that if he felt that the settlement offer was not in his best interest that he should fill out the form and request a hearing in front of the Board. I assured him that the Clerk would contact him and work out a time that will suit him, and his schedule.

I have a good contact in this man's Neighborhood Association that is going to make sure he has direct help to get that form filled out right, and filed on time with the County. I will also let some other contacts I have know that this is inbound.

So once again, someone explain to me where the Due Process is for this Gentleman??

Why does the County find it so necessary to take an aggressive and adversarial position against the Citizens, and especially the most vulnerable citizens among us??

Linda Franklin, you ought to be ashamed, but I know damned well that you're not.

[clarkonthebrink]

Any comments from someone who has 'endured' through the BoE process? I'm taking mine to the wire, as the mitigated response from assessor was minimal (~3%, tho my valuation increased 45%). I have a few parcels I'm fighting including my home and my hearing date is approaching. Any advice appreciated.

Clarkonthebrink

this really stinks for us 'fixed-income' (zero in my case, a very young retiree / laid off 6 wks before retirement & currently a college (retraining ::)) student) my Clark County tax burden = $33/day - Motel 6 does the laundry for that price

[Chief]

I wish that I could offer you some advice on how to deal with the Board of Equalization, but I could never find out exactly who they were. The only person I ever dealt with was the Clerk, and once the County granted our appeal, we never heard another peep out of any of them. To this day I still have no idea who any of the members of this "Board" are.

Please keep us posted if you find anything out, and I wish you all the luck in the world on your appeal. I've been retired for some time now and I share your frustrations.

Thank you for your comments....

[karma]

Chief, you can request whos whos in a letter address to the Commissioners as they annoint whos sits where!

clarkonthebrink, just be open and honest and are you old enough for senior rates?? they don't care if they price a person out of ones home, they just want more money, open the wallet mentaility.

[clarkonthebrink]

Senior exemption...not old enough... for about 13 more yrs... (I'll be long gone by then). I have gotten an exhaustive comp assessment from a realtor which is a bit more reasonable, (~ 20% below Assessor), and my extensive search of Skamania records today get me down about that much or more. ( I'm a few hundred feet from Skamania Cty, where the roads are wide, with shoulders and plowed in winter, and tax levy is 8.5 instead of 14.7), so... my sales competition is not likely to choose the 'Clark tax Gouge'. And Skamania is a Rural county, not keen on supporting stuff like 'light rail' ::)

Plan B - Wyoming is a decent tax state (they tax 7% of your homes FMV 8)) . But they are currently in an 'energy boom', Hopefully our (realistic) property equity growth will offset waiting till I can pick up some bargain in WY, when the boom goes bust. I endured 2 of those cycles in Colorado, 'it ain't pretty'. My spreadsheet analysis of Cost of Living + home ownership / tax burdens showed this area and Hood River to be similar AND more desirable than WY, MT, ID... during a period of good equity growth. But with no income, it makes little sense to stay in WA and endure our TAXES and locale of 80 mph winds and 110" of rainfall (we're at the crest of cascades, and in the vortex of Gorge winds) They don't call it 'Windy Ridge' for nothing...

I'm way young to retire for good, but... have always worked 2-3 jobs, so tired of that gig. I plan to do volunteer work from now on. (in community planning ;), for destitue rural communities). I have 3 businesses going too, but they are not real revenue producing, (i.e. tax paying) they'll be history as soon as I exhaust my 5 yr 'depreciation' requirement. I'm outta here as soon as I find a destination. The property tax thing just burns me, due to casuing me to move, (and force me to buy an inflated replacement property). Property taxes did in my farmer grandfather, and father, and I've lost one farm (in Clark Couty) to taxes / growth too. It is a real pain, as much work as you put into a farm; building up soils and barns and corrals...to say nothing of the hassle of moving several semi loads of junk :-[ But as you mentioned... the Clark assessors favorite line is "sell it" (they get theirs, ez'r said than done). Replacement cost basis is very important to keep future expenses in place. We built this joint for $38/ft subbing all but paint, and buying supplies from places like 'The Rebuilding Center'. I'm not keen on building yet another one, as we built several as 'homeschool projects', (the kids hated that ;D, but it kept them engaged in getting through college to hopefully never see another shovel >:D

I'll keep you posted, but not expecting much from 'the evil system'.

[Chief]

That is quite a tale! If you can clean up any of your spreadsheets well enough to remove your personal information, and would like to post them here, PM me and we can arrange that easily.

I live 1/2 block from the City Limits here in Cascade Park, and we get the double whammy here; not only does the County jack our home values as high as possible, the City is busy giving away 10 year Porperty Tax exemptions to anyone who decides to buy Downtown. The also take the tax revenues that ought to be used for basic services, and divert it to all kinds of other venues, all without consulting the people who underwrite and pay for it all.

And even in the face of confiscatory and predatory assessment practices, we still have elected officials like Moeller and Fromhold who have the gall to write an op-ed citing deficits for raising even more taxes!

The wife and I have been conducting recon runs through Columbia County, OR, and St Helens is looking better and better every day...

Hang in there, and please keep us posted...

[Waterbuffalo]

Can one add all the nice taxes if you work in Oregon, then "supposed to pay" sales taxs on any thing you buy in Washington or any other state.
Had a good laugh when I saw Leavitt and the mayor complain about Ikea and people not paying their share of taxes..