Residents Upset On RE Tax Assessments

My real estate tax has more than quadrupled since I bought my home; my RE taxes are now significantly more than my Missouri state income tax! And as I trust you have noticed, most often RE taxes increase with no voter approval and little awareness ... instead we are each at the mercy of St. Louis County.

Have you taken a serious look at your RE taxes lately? You should! Or are they under your radar, partially hidden in monthly mortgage/escrow payments? One simple thing that we each should do is personally evaluate our homes 2009 assessed value, now available on line at http://revenue. stlouisco. com/IAS.

You can view both last year's and this year's appraised values, the homes that were used as comps to "guestimate" your home's value, as well as the detail specs of your home ... also used to determine your assessed value. I found it especially enlightening to view all homes on my block ... easy to do if you specify "Clarkson Woods" in your search criteria (lower left corner of your screen), rather than your name or address or locator #. You will likely find significant inconsistencies (even on your own block) and perhaps errors ... for example I found that my lot size was over-stated 18%.

One recourse ... you can call the County at 314-615-4230 with concerns ... they will consider adjusting flagrant errors immediately, but most likely will recommend that you schedule an appeal in May after you receive your official assessment notice.

Don't let the assessment reductions for 09 lull you into complacency ... reductions average 9% while most actual values have dropped significantly more. Yet some in our subdivision got no reduction ... or even an increase ... likely due to an "unlucky draw" on the "comps" (comparable home sales in 2007 and 2008) selected by the county to determine valuation.The broader problem is that Missouri 's real estate assessment system is antiquated, inconsistent and unfair to many. Escalating RE taxes are causing serious hardships, especially seniors and low-income families.

If each property owner will focus on their individual assessment and fight back, and perhaps get involved in broader efforts to at least band-aid the system in use, we will eventually get to a fairer system of taxation.

Sen. Jane Cunningham is deeply involved in this issue. Let her hear from you. There is also a citizen's organization doing significant work ... their website is a learning experience for us all ... WWW.STLCOUNTYTAXREL IEFNOW.COM

Skipped Dues Crunch Homeowners Associations

The fallout from the housing crisis has led to yet another worry for potential homebuyers: homeowners associations. Depending on the housing or condo development, homeowners associations can range from fairly minimal importance to extremely important. The more things the homeowners association is required to take care of, the more important they are. Typically condo homeowner associations take on more responsibilities because they are responsible for all the common areas, but many new home developments have been piling on added duties for their homeowners associations. Now, thanks to fallout from the housing crisis, many homeowners associations are in shambles and homeowners are feeling the pain.

In one development in Arizona, more than 40 percent of homeowners are not paying their homeowners association fees, and in others across the country, it is even worse according to USA Today. Typically, a homeowners association’s retaliation for non-payment is that they are able to place a lien on the delinquent homeowner’s home, but because property values of dropped so much and there is no equity in most of the homes, it isn’t doing any good. With the collection of unpaid dues appearing unlikely, the burden to maintain the homeowners association falls on the remaining homeowners who have paid their dues. If they fail to cover the excess, they will be faced with decreased services. Some of the problematic associations have even tried to put together volunteer days where homeowners can help provide some services themselves, such as landscaping, and save money.

Investors and homeowners alike should take note of this problem. The last thing (OK, one of the last things) an investor wants is to buy a house and then find out that the homeowners association is out of money so they can’t afford to keep up the grounds anymore, or they are going to have to cut insurance coverage. At that point, either the investor is going to have to pony up some more money or else watch the neighborhood go to waste along with the value of their investment, which might just happen anyway.

Neighborhoods which are having trouble collecting on homeowners association dues are probably a safe bet to suffer from foreclosure and homeowner neglect: If people can’t afford to pay their homeowners association dues, they probably can’t afford the mortgage either or they could be investors who are simply walking away from a bad investment. Either way this is a bad sign for incoming homeowners.

That being said, investors and homeowners who are looking to buy a home in a development or condo with a homeowners association would be wise to take the extra step to examine the homeowners association’s books and responsibilities. If they see that an increasing number of homeowners are late or not paying, that could be a sign to move on, especially if the homeowners association has a lot of responsibilities. Even if you think you are getting a great deal on the property if the neighborhood’s upkeep goes, so goes the appeal and value of the neighborhood. In today’s market investors can be picky, so take the extra couple minutes to look at the books. It may just save you a big headache and hit to your pocketbook.

St. Louis County Double Dipping?

Here's a letter to the Editor in the Nov. 16, 2007 edition of the Post Dispatch.

It appears that the era of fiscal responsibility in St. Louis County has passed. The county will benefit from a windfall in revenue resulting from its reassessments. Secondly, the county is not rolling back tax rates as would be consistent with the spirit of the Hancock Amendment.

Instead, the county wants to raise rates. These two actions amount to their "double-dipping" into the taxpayers pockets.

The Metropolitan Sewer District board has suggested a rate increase for customers that could be the largest increase in MSD history. County Executive Charlie Dooley's staff has suggested that he will give the voters the opportunity to increase their taxes for MetroLink.

Has Mr. Dooley ever met a tax increase he didn't like?

. . . . Ned Taddeucci, Chesterfield

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Question - Non-English Speaking Residents

We have a problem in our subdivision in collecting our assessment. We have a family here that does not speak English.

We have sent them our notices and have talked to their neighbors, but they do not respond. We don't know if any family members, such as children, speak English. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? We don't want to force payment via a lien as this is a lose situation for all. Thanks.