Comments on: Appealing a Massachusetts Property Tax Bill

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:28:33 +0000

This is a real tough one Doug because it is going to be hard for you to find comparable sales for low value land such as that. I am not even sure it would be worth the effort in fighting it. If there are some “comps” this is what you would use as your basis to appeal the assessment.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:15:33 +0000

Bill,

I live in Rutland, Mass. My assessed value of my adjoining back lot (undeveloped) just almost tripled this year from last. It went from $13,300.00 to $34,200.00. The land has no usable frontage as it is wetlands so it is unbuildable. I just filed for an abatement and was denied. I filed an abatement on that lot 15 years ago and it was granted but now obviously they have changed the rules or need the money more than they think I do. What information would help me most in my appeal?

Thanks for your help,

Doug

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:54:04 +0000

Hi Sheila – It is a very good question that I am not qualified to answer. Your best bet would be to speak to a qualified attorney. How did they even know you got exemptions in another state?

By: Sheila B. Lindsay

Sheila B. Lindsay — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:07:29 +0000

Dear Mr. Gassett:
I live in Rhode Island and own a home. My mother died and I have been trying to sell
her home in a Wrentham , MA for two years now. I tried to take the exemptions due to me on the Wrentham property, but they said that you can only get exemptions on one property not two. Since I get exemptions in R.I. , they said I cannot get any in MA. Is this true??? Please advise.

Thank you

Sheila B. Lindsay
Executrix of My Mother’s Estate

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 01:29:25 +0000

Becky I am confused by what you are asking me. Remortgaging your home has nothing to do with property taxes. An assessed value by the town also has nothing to do with the appraisal you may have received from your lender during the re-finance process. You can always challenge the towns assessment.

By: becky

becky — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:58:26 +0000

We just re mortgaged our house and now we received our new property taxes and they drastically went up but none of our neighbors taxes went up. Did they go up because we remortgaged and our accessment was higher than the town had it appraised for. Can we file an abatement? They are also back charging us for the previous quarter. Can they do that?

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 11:36:23 +0000

Wow Chuck that is incredible! Thanks for the compliments I appreciate it.

By: Chuck Barnes

Chuck Barnes — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:47:05 +0000

Bill
Our area in Coastal Alabama went through a period of time in the late 2000′s when appealing your property tax bill was an annual event. You had to appeal due to the price escalation from the mid 2000′s and the County Tax Appraiser was reluctant to adjust values down as the prices dropped. One year we had as may as 13,000 appeals when a normal year there would be less than 300. By the way great article!

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:40:04 +0000

Hi Jeff – Unfortunately you can not get an abatement for prior years taxes. You can only attempt to get an abatement typically at the beginning of the year while you still own the home.

By: Jeff P

Jeff P — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:42:29 +0000

I recently sold my property (Mid December) for 40K less than the assessed value. I also checked recent sales (last 6 months) and found that generally properties were selling 30-70K less than assessed values. Should I get abatement for the last year since clearly the market has softened and prices are dropping?