05/2017 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE 37GAME PLANDAVE URBAN
START BY MAKING SURE
you’re taking advantage of
all the property tax breaks
available to you. Many juris-
dictions will exclude a por-
tion of a home’s value from
property taxes if you’re a
senior or a veteran, or if
you’re disabled. In Florida,
all homeowners are eligible
for a homestead exemption
of up to $50,000; those 65
and older who meet certain
income limits can claim up
to an additional $50,000.
Other jurisdictions reduce
your tax bill by a certain
percentage if you meet
specific criteria.
These tax breaks are
valuable, but they’re often
overlooked. For example,
when Chicago increased
property taxes by an aver-
age of 13% last year, it in-
cluded a rebate program
for low- and middle-income
homeowners. The rebates
were worth up to $200, but
only 11% of eligible home-
owners claimed them.
Rebates and other prop-
erty tax breaks aren’t auto-
matic; you usually have to
apply for them and show
proof of eligibility. Go to
your tax assessor’s website
for details.Fighting city hall. You can
score an even bigger tax cut
by challenging the assessedvalue of your home, which
is used to calculate your
tax bill. The National Tax-
payers Union, an advocacy
group, estimates that 30%
to 60% of property in the
U.S. is assessed for more
than it’s worth.
See how often your juris-
diction assesses property. If
it’s not every year, there’s a
greater chance your home’s
value has changed since the
last assessment. Check how
market value is determined.
An appraiser might com-
pare your property with
similar, recently sold prop-
erties to determine its mar-
ket value, then multiply that
by a set fraction, known as
the assessment ratio. So ifa property’s market value is
determined to be $100,000
and the assessment ratio
is 80%, the assessed value
for property tax purposes
would be $80,000. Property
tax bills are typically calcu-
lated by multiplying thehome’s assessed value by
the local tax rate. You can
find this information on
the tax assessor’s website.
Next, review the asses-
sor’s data on your home.
You’ll find this on your
property’s record card,
which should be on file at
your assessor’s office and
may be available online.
Look for errors, such as an
incorrect number of bath-
rooms or inf lated lot size.
If you can’t find a glaring
mistake but believe your
home is still being over-
assessed, check out the
property cards of similar
homes in your neighborhood
to see how their assess-
ments compare with yours.If the assessments on those
properties are lower than
yours, you can make the case
that your property’s assess-
ment is too high. Recent
sales of homes in your neigh-
borhood could also help you
demonstrate that your prop-
erty is overvalued.
Armed with this informa-
tion, request an informal
meeting with your assessor.
He or she may agree to ad-
just your assessment on the
spot, says Aaron Terrazas,
senior economist at Zillow,
an online real estate mar-
ketplace. If that doesn’t
work, request a formal re-
view. Procedures vary, but
a typical review takes one
to three months, and you’ll
usually receive the results
in writing. You can find the
procedures for your juris-
diction on the tax assessor’s
website. Pay attention to
deadlines. Most jurisdic-
tions give you 90 days to
challenge a new assessment,
but some give you only 30
days to appeal.
If that doesn’t work, most
jurisdictions allow you to
appeal to an independent
board. The burden of proof
is usually on the property
owner, so come prepared.
Zillow (www.zillow.com)
offers a tool you can use to
check recent sales of prop-
erties in your neighbor-
hood. Alternatively, ask
a real estate agent to point
out three to five compara-
ble homes that have sold
in the past 60 to 90 days,
or get a professional ap-
praisal (expect to spend
several hundred dollars
for one). SANDRA BLOCKMy property tax
bill has skyrocketed.
How can I reduce it?
Q