A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
WP: Tax Assessments
The numbers are in, and the Post has got them. Trinidad's average assessment rose 21.35% (significantly less than last year's increase). Old City 1 was up 15.73%.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The individual 2008 assessments went up a few days ago; go to the OTR website to look 'em up by address, neighborhood, or city square.
Land assessments went up unless you have the right assessor - Leighton Jones - on the 300-400 block of H land values didn't change for '08 if he was the assessor. Look at 337 H, which according to them is now occupied.
If you are unlucky enough to have Quinton Harvell your land values on that same block went up 20%.
Mr. Jones also has the boarded up building at 405 listed as a barber/beauty shop.
12:13, the issue isn't whether the land values portion of an assessment (i.e., the real property minus any improvements) goes up or down. Likewise, the issue -- from a legal standpoint, anyway -- isn't whether A's total assessment jumped by a bigger percentage than B's house next door. It's whether the total assessment a) fairly reflects market value and b) is in line with other similar properties.
DC's assessment system more or less fell apart over two decades, producing vast numbers of out-of-date valuations. A lot of these anomalies have been fixed in the past 5-7 years, but there are still outliers, and you can expect to see "catch-up" increases for these properties sooner or later.
Just looking at the 2008 assessments (& ignoring the change over 2007), what irregularities do you see?
Very interesting. The assessments on my block vary by as much as 30K for houses that (as far as the city knows) are essentially comps.
More interesting: two of the apt. buildings on the 1300 block of Orren are owned by the District. I wonder how one would buy them and what they would cost.
As far as purchasing properties owned by the District, you would want to contact the Office of Property Management--opm.dc.gov, (202) 724-4100 (Portfolio Management Division main number).
Current solicitations for properties are listed at:
Never hurts to ask--wish they would sell more of the abandoned/boarded up properties that are owned by the District. It's a shame to see them sit & bring the neighborhoods down.
Rob, how close to identical are these properties w/the 30K variation? Note that assessment factors in not only lot size and dwelling sq footage, but also
- number of baths (full/half) - # of fireplaces - # of kitchens - # of BRs - age of structure - date of last *permitted* renovation - whether it's an end unit or mid-block
Also, a 30K spread might be significant (140 vs 170) or legally immaterial (820 vs 850). The law requires fairness, but not surgical precision, in assessment equalization.
Mark - yup. These houses are all the same structure...cookie cutter except for the end units. There are 30k variations within the non-end units. The high assessments seem to be highly correlated w/ recent sales...so in effect the tax office is letting the market 'evaluate' the house for them. I'm not complaining...based on comparable sales I'd say the city is still another 30K below the market value with its assessment. I'm just glad the general trend is upwards.
There's no way the Florida Market is going to stay the way it is right now. It's going to change. I just don't understand why people think you need to totally get rid of the market (which the New Town plan would pretty much ensure). Why not work with the vendors, landowners, and the Office of Planning to clean the market up a bit so as to broaden its appeal. It's not a crazy idea. Lots of other cities have done it, and it's worked out very well there. Once the Market is gone, it's gone.
Im new to all this and am a bit confused by the assessment. My ``total value'' for 2008 went up by 80K yet my taxable assessment went down by 30k? is that normal? house was gut rehabbed in 05/06. does that have anything to do with it?
Harry Thomas has a link for "New Town Development" on his Council web site but it doesn't lead anywhere at the moment. It'll be interesting to see what he puts up there. Also, on the Kojo show yesterday they had the acting director of the Office of Planning. She said they're going to do a year long study of retail in the District. Small vs. Large, local vs. regional vs. national.
12 comments:
The individual 2008 assessments went up a few days ago; go to the OTR website to look 'em up by address, neighborhood, or city square.
Land assessments went up unless you have the right assessor - Leighton Jones - on the 300-400 block of H land values didn't change for '08 if he was the assessor. Look at 337 H, which according to them is now occupied.
If you are unlucky enough to have Quinton Harvell your land values on that same block went up 20%.
Mr. Jones also has the boarded up building at 405 listed as a barber/beauty shop.
I wish Leighton were my assessor.
12:13, the issue isn't whether the land values portion of an assessment (i.e., the real property minus any improvements) goes up or down. Likewise, the issue -- from a legal standpoint, anyway -- isn't whether A's total assessment jumped by a bigger percentage than B's house next door. It's whether the total assessment a) fairly reflects market value and b) is in line with other similar properties.
DC's assessment system more or less fell apart over two decades, producing vast numbers of out-of-date valuations. A lot of these anomalies have been fixed in the past 5-7 years, but there are still outliers, and you can expect to see "catch-up" increases for these properties sooner or later.
Just looking at the 2008 assessments (& ignoring the change over 2007), what irregularities do you see?
Very interesting. The assessments on my block vary by as much as 30K for houses that (as far as the city knows) are essentially comps.
More interesting: two of the apt. buildings on the 1300 block of Orren are owned by the District. I wonder how one would buy them and what they would cost.
Rob,
As far as purchasing properties owned by the District, you would want to contact the Office of Property Management--opm.dc.gov, (202) 724-4100 (Portfolio Management Division main number).
Current solicitations for properties are listed at:
http://opm.dc.gov/opm/cwp/view,a,1214,q,636121,opmNav,|31551|.asp
Never hurts to ask--wish they would sell more of the abandoned/boarded up properties that are owned by the District. It's a shame to see them sit & bring the neighborhoods down.
Best,
Alan Kimber
Commissioner, ANC 6C05
Rob, how close to identical are these properties w/the 30K variation? Note that assessment factors in not only lot size and dwelling sq footage, but also
- number of baths (full/half)
- # of fireplaces
- # of kitchens
- # of BRs
- age of structure
- date of last *permitted* renovation
- whether it's an end unit or mid-block
Also, a 30K spread might be significant (140 vs 170) or legally immaterial (820 vs 850). The law requires fairness, but not surgical precision, in assessment equalization.
Alan - thanks, you rock.
Mark - yup. These houses are all the same structure...cookie cutter except for the end units. There are 30k variations within the non-end units. The high assessments seem to be highly correlated w/ recent sales...so in effect the tax office is letting the market 'evaluate' the house for them. I'm not complaining...based on comparable sales I'd say the city is still another 30K below the market value with its assessment. I'm just glad the general trend is upwards.
same thing as last year.
the numbers are slightly different.
if we band together and keep the florida market the way it is, maybe we can all slow down this upward trend.
come on, folks. let's stop this madness!
yeah, grass rootsy wanna be peoples!
I agree. I hate real estate appreciation too. My new worth has skyrocketed and that is really starting to tick me off.
There's no way the Florida Market is going to stay the way it is right now. It's going to change. I just don't understand why people think you need to totally get rid of the market (which the New Town plan would pretty much ensure). Why not work with the vendors, landowners, and the Office of Planning to clean the market up a bit so as to broaden its appeal. It's not a crazy idea. Lots of other cities have done it, and it's worked out very well there. Once the Market is gone, it's gone.
Im new to all this and am a bit confused by the assessment. My ``total value'' for 2008 went up by 80K yet my taxable assessment went down by 30k? is that normal? house was gut rehabbed in 05/06. does that have anything to do with it?
Harry Thomas has a link for "New Town Development" on his Council web site but it doesn't lead anywhere at the moment. It'll be interesting to see what he puts up there.
Also, on the Kojo show yesterday they had the acting director of the Office of Planning. She said they're going to do a year long study of retail in the District. Small vs. Large, local vs. regional vs. national.
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