Property Taxes Too High? What You Can Do

Sunday, March 1, 2009

(NAPSA)—According to the American HomeownersAssociation (AHA), recent declines in home values make it up to 60 percent likely that your property taxes— like those of many homeowners Interest You Paid across the country—are too high. Fortunately, there are ways to find out if you are being overcharged and steps you can take to get your property taxes lowered. The problem stems from the fact that property values have fallen unevenly across neighborhoods, towns and regions. As a result, you may be receiving an unfairly high assessment com- pared to other homesin yourarea. Reducing Taxes To make sure you're paying the right amount, start by checking the accuracy of the details about your home used in your tax assessment. Even if you don’t find errors in your own personal assessment, it’s possible your entire neighbor- hood has been overassessed. “Recent fluctuations in prop- erty values, and local and state revenue deficits, have combined to YOUonn Form1098, . AttacFmaa Re it To make sure you aren’t overpaying your property taxes, thefirst step is to be sure your home has been assessedproperly. Assessment Kit AHA offers a step-by-step Property Tax Reduction Kit that is recommended by CNN and Money and SmartMoney magazines. The 86-page kit shows how the system works and how to make it work fairly for you. You could uncover annual savings of hundreds of dollars or more by finding out: how property is assessed, and the built-in potential for errors; how to determine whether make overassessments more common,” says Richard Roll, president your assessmentis correct; how the appeals process Association. AHA Membership Membership in the American Homeowners Association provides a number of useful and money- of the American Homeowners works and what’s involved. “Depending on your municipality, you might also be eligible for property-tax exemptions, which range from senior citizen and active-duty military exemptions to saving benefits. In addition to a free copy of the Property Tax In addition, many errors were free legal and CPA tax consulta- one for those who ownlivestock.” made when data was transferred by hand from paper records to computer databases. Get your detailed property tax assessment record online or from your assessor’s office, so you can determine if your property’s size and descrip- tion are accurate. If errors have made your assessment higher than it should be, try working informally with the assessor rather than going through a formal appeal process. Reduction Kit, members receive tions; prescreened referrals for contractors, repair services, movers, home loans, and real estate professionals; $200 in free shipping on online purchases; thou- sands of dollars in grocery coupons; extensive discounts on travel, restaurants, auto services, retail stores; and savings on home and auto insurance, flowers, gifts, eyeglasses and prescriptions. To learn more, visit www.homeownertaxcut.com.