# Property Tax Assessment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536 "2011-09-07T19:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/1 "2011-09-07T19:57:00Z")
Received our updated property tax valuation for our home recently. The description of the home is not accurate. It lists a specific number of total rooms that is wrong. Bedrooms, bathrooms, and the family room are specifically listed. The kitchen is not specifically named, but I am guessing it is the last room in the total of rooms they provided. We also had an addition put on 2 yrs ago and it appears to be the “missing” room. The question is - should we send in the form telling them they made a mistake? If we do that, I’m assuming they’d increase the valuation - which would raise our property tax bill. This I do not want. However, someday when we want to move, I will want the increased value. Is it safe to wait until then to correct their error, or are they gonna want all their “back taxes”??? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/2 "2011-09-07T19:59:49Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Received our updated property tax valuation for our home recently. The description of the home is not accurate. It lists a specific number of total rooms that is wrong. Bedrooms, bathrooms, and the family room are specifically listed. The kitchen is not specifically named, but I am guessing it is the last room in the total of rooms they provided. We also had an addition put on 2 yrs ago and it appears to be the “missing” room. > > The question is - should we send in the form telling them they made a mistake? If we do that, I’m assuming they’d increase the valuation - which would raise our property tax bill. This I do not want. > > However, someday when we want to move, I will want the increased value. Is it safe to wait until then to correct their error, or are they gonna want all their “back taxes”??? Don’t so anything - when/if you sell, the buyer will want an appraisal. That will give you the true value of your home. And they’re won’t be any back taxes - your home is assessed at what it’s assessed at. IANAL, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/3 "2011-09-07T20:22:49Z")
Were the appropriate permits pulled and inspections done when the room was added? **Sateryn76** is correct that the assessed value has no bearing on your appraisal, although it may raise the question of whether that room was permitted and up to code. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/4 "2011-09-07T23:37:25Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > Were the appropriate permits pulled and inspections done when the room was added? > > **Sateryn76** is correct that the assessed value has no bearing on your appraisal, although it may raise the question of whether that room was permitted and up to code. Yes, permits and whatever was obtained when the room was built. Inspectors came in and signed off on everything. Made us even put in 6 smoke detectors in our 8 room home. Some just feet from the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/5 "2011-09-08T07:22:21Z")
The assessed value and selling price are not really related. One of the most common methods to determine the selling price of a home is to compare it to recent sales of comparable homes in the area and although cities attempt to use this same formula in determining assessed value, they seldom get points for accuracy as seen in your case. I wouldn’t concern myself with a low real estate assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/6 "2011-09-08T19:19:45Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Yes, permits and whatever was obtained when the room was built. Inspectors came in and signed off on everything. Made us even put in 6 smoke detectors in our 8 room home. Some just feet from the next one. Then I wouldn’t bother appealing the assessment, though make sure you can provide documentation of the approvals in case the buyer asks. Our county’s tax assessments are consistently under the sales value of the place. The year we bought our current house, we paid a figure that was about 50% larger than the assessment had been for that year. So you’d think they’d bump up the tax value the following year to reflect the purchase price… and they did, sorta. They bumped it up so the assessment figure was now a full 80% of the tax value. When we had the place appraised last year for a refinance, it still came in considerably higher than the tax value. So - enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/property-tax-assessment/595536/7 "2011-09-08T19:47:34Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#): > > The assessed value and selling price are not really related. Quoted for Truth, as the kids say. Don’t worry about it; they’re certainly not going to decide ten years from now that you owe more taxes for this year. If they appraised too low, their tough noogies.