Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Reassessment dispute update
A lot has been happening on the assessment appeal front in the Central Bucks School District. The Bucks County Board of Assessment appeals earlier this month rejected the school district's appeals of assessments on properties that had recently sold. The county Board of Assessment Appeals ruled that the district did not provide enough evidence, that sale price alone was not enough to warrant a new assessment of a property. About a week or so ago, the school district announced that it would not appeal those rulings.
And though the school district will not appeal those cases that were rejected by the assessment appeals board, it did not rule out future appeals of sold properties that the district believes are under-assessed. The school district could elect to have properties appraised and present that information to the assessment appeals board in any future appeals. The district would of course have to pay for appraisals of the properties. But even with an appraisal, there is no guarantee that the assessment appeals board would approve the reassessment. The last countywide reassessment was in the '70s.
And though the school district will not appeal those cases that were rejected by the assessment appeals board, it did not rule out future appeals of sold properties that the district believes are under-assessed. The school district could elect to have properties appraised and present that information to the assessment appeals board in any future appeals. The district would of course have to pay for appraisals of the properties. But even with an appraisal, there is no guarantee that the assessment appeals board would approve the reassessment. The last countywide reassessment was in the '70s.
Deficit cutting measure
One of the measures broached by the Deficit Reduction Commission last week was the possibility of modifying the mortgage interest deduction. The 18-member bipartisan commission is supposed to present its recommendations this week.
Phipps drew on NAR analysis of previous efforts to change tax policy, including 1986, 1996, and 2005 tax reform efforts, to show the detrimental impact such changes would have on the housing market. Speaking for myself, that measure is going to be a tough sell.To be part of the final report, the measure must get the approval of 14 of the 18 members.
Phipps drew on NAR analysis of previous efforts to change tax policy, including 1986, 1996, and 2005 tax reform efforts, to show the detrimental impact such changes would have on the housing market. Speaking for myself, that measure is going to be a tough sell.To be part of the final report, the measure must get the approval of 14 of the 18 members.
