STOP-OVER-ASSESSMENT.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on Over Assessment July 2009 by Sales Price

2009-08-20T21:40:00Z

There is nothing we can do in the short term, but there is in the long term.

There is technology out there to help more accurately appraise 1000s of properties.
A change I would implement is to include in each assessment notification which sales were utilized to determine the value. This would allow home owners that question their assessed value to compare their homes to the homes utilized to get a better idea of the accuracy of the assessments.

Also as Assessor I would compare quarterly sales to their assessed value and report to the public where the values are in comparison to the sales. The valuation of property has to be open so all the public can understand how the properties are valued.

Comment on Over Assessment July 2009 by Sales Price

2009-08-20T20:06:29Z

Is there anything we can really do about lowering our assessed values which are SUPER over inflated?

Comment on Washougal Home Sales Last 2 Months

2009-06-25T12:43:16Z

Geez!! With this kind of over-taxing going on it makes you wonder what our City governments would look like if they had to live on the revenue generated by an honest and accurate assessment. Vancouver would be in big trouble, because how else could they fund all of their development fantasies for downtown??

I think the only way this will ever change is when Linda Franklin finally steps down and we get a new Assessor in that is interested in accuracy.

OBTW, we are waiting for our latest notice of assessment which should be out any day now....

Great little website and I'll be checking in periodically.

Thanks!

Comment on Washougal Home Sales Last 2 Months

2009-06-23T15:54:47Z

I'm a retired realtor of 23 years. This is classic tax and spend procedure. The County determines the amount of money it needs and then sets the assessment rates accordingly.
Until citizens go "en-mass" before the Commissioners and engage in a huge protest, they will continue to over-assess your properties.
The assessment formula used by the County is also a poor way to determine value. It used to be that a home was assessed at the last sales price. A willing seller/buyer set the value of a home, not the County. The problem was that some homes were owned by one family for a number of years and the taxes became out of balance between old and new sales.
The other issue is that appraisers called Realtors' asking to do a market analysis on various homes. Today the Assessor's Office takes areas, assesses the lots at one standard price and does a cookie-cutter method of assigning value to them. If your house falls into a certain square footage, the same applies to the home portion.
It's a bad method. The County is too lazy to actually drive by, so they go through the records and get square footage and wham--you have an assessment!

Comment on Back Up Data

2009-05-27T18:10:50Z

how can I ck mine bought in 89?