Property Taxes

[Goose]

This probably isn't the correct forum to put this in, but I couldn't really find an appropriate place.

Here is my situation:
My wife and I bought our house in 2005. The house was appraised and bought for 163k. At the time, the house was assessed by the county at around 180k. since i had the paperwork from the purchase, including the appraisal, i was able to contest the assessed value and get my property taxes reduced.

Now, 5 years later, I go to check on the assessed value of my house, and find that the county is again assessing it at 182k. This is absolutely asinine, because by my estimation, the value of the house has gone down to about 145k in the past 5 years. I have checked on the cost of an appraisal, and have found that it will run me in the neighborhood of $350. So I have a series of questions for anyone else that may have dealt with this before:

1. Is there any other way to contest it (besides getting a professional appraisal) that will not cost me any money?
2. Am i going to have to contest their assessment every time the do another one? The fact that they think the value of my Waukegan home increased in the past five years is just mind-boggling. anyone that hasn't been living in a cave would know that this is not true.

Any help from people experienced with contesting these things would be greatly appreciated.

[gmg77]

Ive never contested the bill, but I remember the last letter that came with the bill warning that the housing bubble and appraisals will not necessarily effect what you owe. The city still has bills and now days more bills than ever before so they wont likely to tax you less in the net few years even if your value has dropped. Kinda lame huh?

I would look at similar houses on the internet and do a comparison

http://www.lakecountyil.gov/Assessor/Ass...ddress.htm

If you have the same lot size/house type as your neighbors and they pay less, petition an adjustment.

[ReggieMay]

I was told that you need comparisons not only in your neighborhood but also on the same block. However, it's always worth a try if it can save you some cash. You might want to try <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.realtor.com">http://www.realtor.com</a><!-- m --> or <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trulia.com">http://www.trulia.com</a><!-- m --> for some comparisons. Check the property tax rolls too. Years ago I got my taxes reduced because my neighbor paid lower taxes on a larger house.

[Goose]

Ive never contested the bill, but I remember the last letter that came with the bill warning that the housing bubble and appraisals will not necessarily effect what you owe. The city still has bills and now days more bills than ever before so they wont likely to tax you less in the net few years even if your value has dropped. Kinda lame huh?

wow. just wow. wisconsin looks better and better every day.

i think i am going to proceed with getting an appraisal and contest it anyways. even if i can't get my bill lowered, at least i'll have an idea of what my place is worth.

[TeacherThoughts]

I recently bought a house here and taxes were $5,500. I appealed and they were lowered to about $3,500. I paid a guy to do it all, $250, but I think it's past the deadline.