Property Tax Assessment

[quente]

My neighbor just received their property tax assessment this week and discovered that the assessment on their two-family home went up by 20%. Meanwhile, the assessment on their multifamily off Hope Street remained unchanged.

I still haven't received my new tax assessment and am concerned because the appeals period deadline is sometime this month. Unfortunately, the online Assessor's Database appears to be down; guess I'll call them this afternoon.

Two questions:

1. Have you all received your assessments in the mail?

2. How big an increase, if any, was your new assessment?

Thanks.

[f1rehead]

1. Yes

2. Huge (close to double)

Before anyone gets worked up, it's important to note that this is just the valuation. The tax rate will change. No one's property tax is going to double.

[Mothra]

the landlord and all our neighbors rec'd theirs and they are insane. There is no way anyone could even think about selling their houses at the amount they've been revalued (example, 430K for a two family on Federal Hill? Are you kidding me?). Everyone I know over on the west side/Federal Hill who owns a house is appealing. Quente, you should have gotten yours already, in fact at least a week or two ago. You should call or go down to the Tax Assessors office. You absolutely need to get your appointment for appeal if you decide to appeal.

I realise that the mill rate will probably go down but by how much is certainly unknown but to have these unrealistic inflated numbers makes it even more difficult for families to buy homes in Providence. And some homeowners taxes could very well double. It all depends on the millrate vs revaluation and whether or not the Mayor is going to run for re-election... I seem to remember talk during the State of City address about a tax hike.

And these inflated valuations have other impacts as well--Insurance for example.

[JimmyGreaves]

It would be nice if there was a way to quickly query the records of houses sold in the vicinity of a property in order to see if the revaluation passes the smell test. Not sure is RI Living has this functionality.

PS - My house's reval went up about 25%.

[f1rehead]

Good point about insurance. I hadn't thought about the other increases that would go along with the increase in valuation.

[brick]

It would be nice if there was a way to quickly query the records of houses sold in the vicinity of a property in order to see if the revaluation passes the smell test. Not sure is RI Living has this functionality.

PS - My house's reval went up about 25%.

[matt]

It would be nice if there was a way to quickly query the records of houses sold in the vicinity of a property in order to see if the revaluation passes the smell test. Not sure is RI Living has this functionality.

PS - My house's reval went up about 25%.

[Mothra]

Yes, the mill rate will probably go down, but will it go down THAT much? I seriously doubt it. The city needs the tax income desperately.

[JimmyGreaves]

I've never heard of Zillow. Thanks for the info.

[xine]

1. Yes

2. Huge (close to double)

Before anyone gets worked up, it's important to note that this is just the valuation. The tax rate will change. No one's property tax is going to double.

[Mothra]

One of the things folks should watch out for is that the valuations are "creating" three families out of houses that have three floors. Most of the houses around me are two family homes in an R3 zone, but the third floor is unheated, often un-electrified, and certainly not a legal third apartment because it doesn't have two means of egress. Don't let the revaluation people call your house a three family and tax it therein, if in fact it is a legal two family...

[JimmyGreaves]

Since the appeal rules don't allow you to use prior valuations we have absolutely no basis for appeal.

[quente]

Before anyone gets worked up, it's important to note that this is just the valuation. The tax rate will change. No one's property tax is going to double.

[foxpointer]

Mine went up 16.3%. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones. This in in fox point/wayland sq. area.

[Mothra]

in a related note: there are 10 pages of foreclosure notices in the paper today. Now, as I went thru them I found that several are foreclosure notices for auctions that happened this past week, but 10 full newspaper sized pages of foreclosures. Ouch.

[DavidSegal]

1. Yes

2. Huge (close to double)

Before anyone gets worked up, it's important to note that this is just the valuation. The tax rate will change. No one's property tax is going to double.

[f1rehead]

Some people will almost certainly see their taxes double this year, around the West End and Olneyville. Their share of the city's property value distribution has increased a lot in the last few years.

[JimmyGreaves]

That's ridiculous. Property taxes are already too high around here. I couldn't handle it financially if my tax doubled and I'm sure many other families on this side of town can't either.

Is the city trying to get rid of the middle class now too?

[xine]

Providence as well as many cities has been decimated in the post war era by industry and people relocating to the suburbs or other regions, resulting in abandoned properties, economic decline, and a feeling of pessimism. Unfortunately, the shrinking of the tax base and bad management has necessitated that taxes be raised in order to balance the budget.

[quente]

So my assessment came on Saturday - 23% increase. After hearing about f1rehead's assessment and Mothra's landlord's place, I was actually relieved.

That's ridiculous. Property taxes are already too high around here. I couldn't handle it financially if my tax doubled and I'm sure many other families on this side of town can't either.

Is the city trying to get rid of the middle class now too?

[Cotuit]

Specifically, the city population is growing; the suburbs may be growing faster but people aren't leaving the city.

The portion of the population with higher incomes and higher education is exploding in relative terms.

Between 1990 and 2000 the number of people earning over $75k a year doubled. Doubled!

The number of people earning less than $25K shrank.

The number of people with graduate degrees increase 21%; the number of people with no college shrank.

[f1rehead]

We've been seeing articles for years about Providence's high property tax rate and of course, Rhode Island's high tax burden (sales tax, excise tax, etc.). I do think we pay a lot in property taxes for a meager amount of city services. And every time I read about a project getting a "tax stabilization deal" I keep wondering when the hell am I going to be getting a tax stabilization plan!

But you know - we really like Providence; the size, the architecture, the neighborhoods, the people, the history. And so far (knock wood!), we've managed to make it work by buying a multifamily where the rental income helps us pay for the costs of living in our fair city.

While I certainly don't like seeing my tax bill go up, we're not ready to move out of Providence - yet!

[Mothra]

when i was a homeowner here in Providence i always said that i didn't care what property taxes were as long as we had decent city services and a school system that i would want to send my own kids to (should i have had any.)

That never happened. I hate to be such a naysayer but neighborhood streets will be clean when people stop littering. To always expect the city to upgrade services such as street sweeping or parks cleaning or whatever is unrealistic in this municipal financial and political climate. I'm sorry but it is. PEOPLE need to step up and refuse to accept litter. PEOPLE need to call DPW and rat out (no pun) their neighbors. PEOPLE need to expect more but also be willing to help out with being vigilent in their neighborhoods and put themselves out there, trying to make it better.

Not too long ago I participated in a yearly neighborhood cleanup on a street that shall remain unnamed. Every year, people who didn't live in that neighborhood went to that street (or few streets) and did a huge, 100s of trash bags clean up--absolute filth. Residents rarely came out and if they did, it was to mock the clean up crew. Kids came out to help sometimes, but generally folks watched from their stoops while literally year after year strangers came into their neighborhood to clean up. Council people and others usually stopped by, it almost always was in the Metro section of the Providence Journal with a big color photo. Although the picture that needed to be in the paper was the one of people blanching at the site of this horribly polluted residential street.

Anyway, once it starts costing absentee (and other) landlords and homeowners real $ to not put out their trash right, then we can get a cleaner city. It doesn't matter if you live in college hill or upper south providence--living in squalor and subjecting others to it is unacceptable.

All the city's agencies are woefully understaffed and underfunded. This isn't to say there's serious glut and waste because there is. But there is NEVER the $ to do the job right, with the staff that is available (and willing). It is almost impossible to fire someone who works for the city who is doing a terrible job, and the few folks who do great jobs working for the city find themselves absolutely in the minority and burnt out.

If the city and its residents are serious about Providence being a rennaisance city, everyone will work towards fixing some of these really simple quality of life issues.

[f1rehead]

All that is true, however other cities seem to be able to keep their streets clean without relying on the residents to do it. Here's one suggestion: regular street cleaning. Many cities clean every street once a week. In PVD we get street cleaning twice (or is it just once?) per year.

And yes, I do my part. You will find me policing all the trash on my block every Thursday evening. It makes me wonder how my tax money is being used if the city can't handle something so simple, though.

[basachs]

All that is true, however other cities seem to be able to keep their streets clean without relying on the residents to do it. Here's one suggestion: regular street cleaning. Many cities clean every street once a week. In PVD we get street cleaning twice (or is it just once?) per year.

And yes, I do my part. You will find me policing all the trash on my block every Thursday evening. It makes me wonder how my tax money is being used if the city can't handle something so simple, though.