Tax Assessment Notices – Remember to apply for your Homestead Credit
What a difference three years makes! The good and the bad of real estate. The good news is that this neighborhood has so many desirable qualities that it seems to be able to hold its value better than many others. However, Mount Washington has not been immune to the housing downturn that has hit this country since our last round of tax assessments three years ago. When Mt. Washington was last reassessed by the State of Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, there was a general outcry and much discussion among neighbors over the dramatic increases that many neighbors saw in their property assessments. There was a public meeting and many neighbors appealed the assessments. This time around, I suspect that much of the neighborhood has seen a decrease in the market value of their properties. The Department of Assessments and Taxation uses recent market information from our area to reassess the values and provides this information to the State and the City for tax bill purposes.
While three years ago, our property’s assessment was raised dramatically (approximately doubled I believe) and we successfully appealed to bring it down to a value more in line with our purchase price in 2004 and a private assessment we had done, this time around, we received about a 17% reduction in value. While our taxes are not likely to change because of the 4% cap in Baltimore City, it may mean that in 2 years when our cap catches up to our new value, our tax bill should not increase. Was this a similar experience for others in the neighborhood?
Along with the tax assessment notices came the Application for Homestead Tax Credit Eligibility. This is critical for those property owners whose properties are their principal residence. If you do not fill out this application, either in paper or online, you will not continue to receive your Homestead Tax Credit. It is this credit that limits the increase each year that you pay in taxes.
Now if only our Baltimore City tax rate were not double that of our neighbors in the county!
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Who did you use for your private assessment?
We used Mount Washington neighbor Bob Cushner (RMC Appraisal Services) (410-578-0975). He was great in both completing the appraisal and talking us through the entire appeal process. The interviewer who we met with during the appeal process said that it was silly for us to have had an appraisal done and that it would not matter, but the assessed value was dropped over $100,000 during the appeal and to almost exactly the value in the appraisal. I do not believe that was a coincidence.