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The Gazette Montgomery homeowners
resist rise in property values after state assessments by Matthew Smith GAITHERSBURG -- Many of the Montgomery County residents who received their Maryland state property tax assessments last month agree: The numbers seem too high. Residential property values in the portion of the county that was assessed jumped by an average of 55.5 percent since the same homes were last assessed in 2001. It is the steepest increase in more than a decade, according to Dan Gilbert, state Department of Assessments and Taxation supervisor for Montgomery County. Residents acknowledge the market value of area homes has risen dramatically in recent years. However, because assessments are used to calculate property taxes, some fear skyrocketing property values will push an unfair tax burden onto area homeowners and eventually price them out of their own homes. Statewide, residential property values increased an average of nearly 40 percent. The increase in Montgomery County was second only to Worcester County, which recorded an average assessment increase of 58 percent. "I think I was just floored," said North Bethesda resident Todd Berman of when he received his assessment notice last month. "I think my jaw hit the floor." Berman said a bank had appraised his house for refinancing purposes just two months before the assessment notice arrived. The assessed value was nearly 50 percent higher than the bank's appraisal, he said. Today is the deadline to appeal to the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. Laura Foussekis, special assistant to the director of the department, said the decision to reduce an assessment following an appeal depends on whether the home differs significantly from nearby homes that received similar assessments or whether the state was assessing based on incorrect information. The number of assessments appealed each year varies, but about 4 percent of homeowners have appealed for the past six years. Foussekis said they do not know how many appeals have been received so far this year. "We usually get a lot the last week," she said. "More people appeal when they see a larger increase in their numbers. I think that's human nature." Berman, who has mailed a letter to the state appealing his assessment, also helps operate the Internet listserv for his Luxmanor community. He said there has been a lot of discussion on the listserv from people confused and shocked by the jump in property values and what these new numbers will do to area property taxes. "I'm already paying over $6,000 now, and I can only imagine, with the new assessments, it will become outrageous," Maria Heiting, a single mother of two who lives in Bethesda, said of her property tax bill. She has already filed an appeal of her latest assessment. "If it gets outrageous, I'll have to move out," she said. Community forums on various listservs in the county have been flooded with similar concerns and questions about why the values are so high, how the higher value will affect property taxes and how to appeal the new numbers. Kensington Mayor Lynn Raufaste said she has heard concerns from several residents, but does not think her new property value is that much off the mark. She said downcounty communities, such as Kensington and Bethesda, which have a variety of homes of different ages and sizes, can be especially difficult to set general property values. "I wouldn't want to be the tax assessor," she said. The tax man The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation assess residential and commercial properties on a three-year cycle. In Montgomery County, properties are divided into three staggered groups, so that one group is reassessed each year. The new values are then phased, in equal increments, during the next three years following the reassessment. The areas of the county reassessed this year include Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Poolesville, Damascus and portions of Potomac, Bethesda, Kensington and Rockville. The 55.5 percent property value increase in these portions of the county will be phased in over the next three years at an average rate of 18.5 percent a year. However, to minimize the impact of rising assessments, state law requires counties and towns to limit taxes to no more than 10 percent of an increase in property value every year. In Montgomery, a 1990 charter amendment prohibits property tax revenue from increasing faster than the rate of inflation each year without a seven-vote supermajority of the nine-member County Council. The council has approved that vote during the last two budget years, according to Chuck Sherer, the council's legislative analyst. The council also approved affordability guidelines in December that would bypass the limit for 2005 as well. The council will have a chance to amend these guidelines in April, Sherer said. Under the current guidelines, the county would take in about $43.6 million in property tax revenue in 2005 above what the charter limit allows. The county took in $29.2 million over the limit in fiscal 2004 and $4.3 million over the limit in 2003, Sherer said. The county's general property tax rate is currently $0.751 per $100 of assessed value. Residents must also pay state, municipal and special transportation and recreation tax rates depending on where they live. In total, most residents pay $1.10 to $1.40 per $100 in assessed value in property taxes. |
