The Tax Man Cometh - Part 2

The Denninger Report  - by Gini Denninger

If you decide to hire someone, how do you do this? Some people use their attorney, which can be expensive. Often fees are paid up front whether you win or not. Many times they are a high portion of the realized savings, such as 30-50% of each years savings. Alternately, you can find Real Estate professionals who specialize in assessment reductions. For some reason, in this area there are only a few who specialize in this, so your search will be harder than if you lived down-state where there are companies solely devoted to this field. Find these specialists on-line or ask your Realtor, CPA, Appraiser or Attorney for a referral. Rick regularly gets referrals from other Realtors, Attorneys and Appraisers who are aware of his skill in this area. Those that specialize in this service usually have a success rate between 90-95%. Of course, you need to understand that they evaluate the case. If they decide that there is no merit, they will not take it on because most specialists work on a commission basis. This is actually very advantageous to the home owner, since if they take the case, the professional believes they have a good chance at reducing the taxes, and if they ultimately are unsuccessful, there are no costs to the home owner. Fees are usually 50% of the first years savings - the rest is “free money”. In other words, without the services of this professional, you would have to pay the full tax amount instead of saving the portion resulting from the reduction. I would be wary of services demanding money up front, since you cannot be sure that there is really a viable case, the company can just pocket your cash and shrug their shoulders when you don’t get a reduction. These “services” are often scams.

If you go it alone, your first stop should be the internet, in particular check out MonroeCounty.gov. Under Real Property you will find town and city assessment dates, equalization rates, tax tables, contact information, forms and publications. This will start you on your way. The deadline to file varies, depending on where you live. For the city of Rochester, the deadline for the fiscal year of 2014 is March 19th. The suburban area deadlines are later, but it’s best to call your town’s tax assessor’s office to get their deadline date directly. Get to know the laws pertaining to how your assessments are devised. Do you fall into into any special categories such as senior citizen exemptions? Call your city or town assessors office to ask if their data base is available to citizens, allowing you to search for comparables. Or, hire an appraiser to do an appraisal of your home. Explain to them what you are doing. Most appraisers understand and will look for comparables that will help you in your case. Be aware that in New York State, appraisers are prohibited from representing you in the hearing, but can supply you with the information needed to bolster your case.



<< Return to Part 1     II     Read Part 3 >>