Gilford Assessments

[Airwaves]

On the boating thread titled "Spinnaker Cove Yacht Club" Codeman (I forget the numbers) wrote:
A neighboring lot to mine can be bought in the low $200's with comparable topography, frontage and a bit more acreage yet mine is appraised at $265k. The property in question has been on the market for a few years now with no solid hits.

I got my new assessment today as well, and my one bedroom condo went up in its assessment by $51K however the assessment for the land, read that "common area", stayed the same.

I am not aware that any one bedroom condo in or around my unit with a comparable "common area" was sold this year so I wonder how they can come to this conclusion.

Since the letter I got said I only have 7 working days to respond (that means I only have until the 19th to do my homework. research etc.) I am at a loss as to how anyone can respond in a timely and knowledgeable manner.

[Airwaves]

I know how to use NHDeeds and I checked the link to Visonappraisal but Visionappraisal didn't seem to have a link to Gilford. If you have a direct link it would be appreciated.

But my question is how does the town determine the increased assessment of a property that has not been improved, that needs maintainence, and yet the real value, the actual waterfront and common area, is not increased in the assessed value? And as a property owner I have less than a week to do my research in order to dispute the town's findings.

Something doesn't seem right.

[Weekend Pundit]

I certainly have questions about my assessment. We bought a house in Gilford last year. One year later the value of our house has, in effect, gone up a little over 20%? I don't think so. Certainly the real esate market values haven't gone up that much. In fact, a house three doors down from ours is for sale for what we bought our house for a year ago. It's slightly larger than our home on a larger lot, with many of the same amenities. It's also been on the market for 5 months and has had no bidders.

From what figures I've been able to gather from realtors I know, at the peak of the real estate boom real estate values were going up between 12 and 15% per year. The boom was over in July of 2005, as price inflation plummeted and homes were on the market for longer periods before selling.

If I remember correctly, prices rose less than 4% from July 2005 to July 2006. How does that equate to a 20% increase in the value of my home in that same time? (Yes, I know that the re-assessments were performed in April, but bear with me.)

You can bet I'll be filing for an abatement.

[gravy boat]

I find it amazing that our home has increased by, get this, $48,000 since 2005! We have not added space, a pool, or done ANY additions at all. We have no garage. We have no shed. We don't have a lawn (wildflowers and clover allow for relaxing weekends). We have a 3-bedroom, 1 bath home with an unfinished basement and LESS than 2 acres. We have a basic dirt/gravel driveway that needs to be regraded and upgraded.

However, we DID plant some lillies and started a small flower garden. I guess our flower investment of $500 really paid off -- I'd like to invest $500 in the market and geat a $47,500 return in a year!

We have no view. We have no sewer or water service. The end of our driveway washes away every time we get a large rain event and we cannot get out -- a bit of an inconvenience until the town DPW comes to fix it.

I can understand a more reasonable increase if we suddenly received any value or added service at all -- but we've seen zero/zip/nada.

You can bet I'll be planting some Christmas trees to get some kind of tax break. Maybe start an alpaca or llama farm...do they like rocks and weeds?

Gravy

[Weirs guy]

The Laconia city apprasor decided to wait until all the summer folk on my street went home, then he swung by for inspections. Now they all have to come back at some point to deal with this. I can't wait! I think I'll go borrow a few junk cars for my yard.

[Island-Ho]

The increase you see is the result of the town having to go to 100% assessment. Yes, I know, they were supposed to be there already, but they weren't. Hopefully the tax RATE will decrease enough to make next years taxes see only a modest increase. Of course they never go down! I don't believe you can apply for an abatement until the actual tax bills are sent out.

[Brian]

The question you need to ask yourself is.....is your new assessment an accurate estimate of the current market value? If the assessment is higher than what you could sell it for then you may have a legitimate appeal. In many cases the assessment may have gone up by 20,30, 40% or more, yet the assessment is still well below what a property could sell for.

[Skip]

I know some folks out there would use any means possible to lighten their respective property tax burden. Here is one possible solution, any takers? :)



TITLE V
TAXATION
CHAPTER 75
APPRAISAL OF TAXABLE PROPERTY
Section 75:6
75:6 Deductions in Case of Insane Persons. – The selectmen shall make such deductions from the appraised value of the property of insane persons as they shall think just and reasonable, whenever it shall appear that the income of their estates is not sufficient to support them.
Source. RS 42:4. CS 44:5. GS 52:5. GL 56:5. PS 58:5. PL 63:5. RL 76:6.

Who knows, I am sure there are more than a few of you out there contemplating whether I take advantage of this particular obscure regulation! I'll never tell !!! :D

[Weirs guy]

Thats great news Skip, all I'll have to do is reschedule mine for next bike week! :D

[mcdude]

TAXES TO GO DOWN?????

see Citizen Article (http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060921/CITIZEN0102/109210266/-1/CITIZEN)

[GWC...]

TAXES TO GO DOWN?????


Politician view:

More money to spend... :D

Politicians ride the elevator. Take a wild guess at what that leaves the taxpayer!?

For those not familiar with the expression, the taxpayer is not left with the stairs.

[tis]

If you appeal, just make sure you take with you a list of other properties "comparable" to yours and show that they have been assessed for less than yours.

[Airwaves]

The appeals process, at least the one I was told about, ended two days ago.

[Island-Ho]

The appeals process does not begin until you get your tax BILL!

[Airwaves]

Island-Ho
The appeals process does not begin until you get your tax BILL!
You are correct, I should have posted that I only had until the 19th to contact the appraiser to schedule an appointment to contest his/her appraisal.

[Rayhunt]

Welcome to gilford where 75% of the tax revenue is paid by 20%of the population who have no kids in the school sytem and dont vote in town :rolleye2:
Lets get rid of the old guard who rubber stamp all new expenditures.. New school ? sure, new fire truck ? sure, new police station ? sure , new library ? sure..
Lets get one thing clear Gilford is, has and hopefully always will be a small country town enough is enough !

[gravy boat]

Seems to me that many new residents, of Gilford and other Lakes Region towns, move here from more densely populated areas (suburbs of Boston, New Haven, NYC, Philly, etc). While many people come up here to get away from the hustle and bustle and live the country life, they expect the same services they've grown accustomed to -- street lighting, town sewer/water, up to date technology, large town police force, etc. I don't believe they realize realize the cost (physically and monetarily) of changing a small town into something bigger and "better." Didn't they just try to escape big city life?

I don't want to offend anybody, but if someone moves up here to get away from the fast lane, then accept the slower pace and don't try to change it. Quite frankly, we don't need a Lowe's in Gilford, nor do we need another grocery store or a bigger one. (FYI -- we shop at Market Basket where the prices are reasonable and only go to Hannaford or Shaw's in emergencies).

The inevitable is that more people moving into the region means more children in the district and overcrowding the existing shools, more people for the police to protect, more homes for the town to protect in case of fire, etc. Soon the Lakes Region will be just another town part of the Boston suburbs. Maybe the softened housing market will slow it a bit.

G