DATELINE SANTA FE

Santa Fe Real Estate Blog

Protesting Property Taxes

Nothing seems to invigorate the great American debate more than the topic of taxes and no tax hits home harder than the property tax. Lately our local media has been filled with stories of outraged homeowners on the verge of war over their property taxes so we thought we would post this blog to the show shed light on the civil and constitutional approach to protesting your property tax.

 

The County Assessor’s office determines property tax values and if you plan to challenge your property tax this is the place to begin. There are several categories to protest such as agricultural use, residential classification, but if the core of your protest is market value then you will need to focus on the appraised value that the county assessor has determined for your property. Once you identify that amount compare it to comparative values in your neighborhood and if you have an unfavorable discrepancy then you should file a protest.

 

It is the responsibility of the County Assessor to determine and maintain current and correct values of property and many times discrepancies can be resolved by meeting with your assessor and sharing with them the comps you have and compare them to the comps that they used. This is one of those cases where you get better results with sugar than salt and if you are friendly and honest with your presentation you will get better results. If you do not get the result you want dealing directly with the assessor’s office you have the right to have your case heard before the County Valuation Protest Board.

 

The Protest Board is comprised of impartial, objective local residents who volunteer their time to resolve these disputes before they go to district court.  Once you have a hearing scheduled, focus on preparing your case so that it is accurate and organized.  It is really important to keep in mind that the taxes you pay this year were from appraisals done the previous year, so if you are protesting 2010 taxes your case will need to be built on 2009 comps. Your evidence can come from a real estate broker who will compile sales of homes from 2009 that are similar to yours and can even appear as a witness to help your case. Appraisals are also helpful but make certain that you order a retroactive appraisal, as the board will not consider a current market appraisal.

 

When you get to the hearing you should know all the players. The assessor who appraised your property will be there and often an attorney for the county (you can have an attorney, too).  A representative from the State Taxation and Revenue department will chair the hearing and then there will be the two board members.  The property tax code states that there is a presumption of correctness and values are presumed to be correct. This means that the burden of proof falls on the shoulders of the property owner and therefore you will present your case first. State the value you believe for your property and present your comps to the chair to enter as evidence and don’t be unnerved by the county attorney who will probably object to most of your evidence. The chair does not rule on objections, only acknowledges that objections are made so keep on going. Focus your presentation towards the board because they are the ones who will rule on whether or not to make a change in your valuation. Once you finish, the county will make their presentation which will likely be well organized and professional. Be ready to refute their comps if they are not representative of your neighborhood and keep in mind that your goal is to defend the value you stated. Be respectful and courteous and even if you don’t slam dunk the county, the board may give you the benefit of the doubt if both arguments are reasonable.

 

Fiery rhetoric often accompanies disputes over taxes so before you begin your campaign for property tax fairness, be sure of what you are disputing. If your goal is to vent anger over unfair discrepancies between your taxes and your neighbors, or to argue the constitution, or recite a list of government waste and corruption accusations, you will be wasting a valuable opportunity and your efforts will fall on deaf ears as the only jurisdiction the board has is over valuation of your property and nothing else. If you have the comps and keep your protest within parameters then you stand a really good chance to have your taxes adjusted. Our government is a reflection of ourselves and if we want it to be honest and civil, again the burden is on us.

 

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Op-Ed | , , | Leave a Comment

MANSION TAX: JUST SAY NO

The city of Santa Fe has once again put those dreaded words “transfer tax” back into public play. However cleverly the wording may be for this new ordinance, do not be fooled for what it really is – another tax. Like Nosferatu continually coming out to slake his insatiable thirst, our city government continues to bring up this tax to drain the equity of home ownership. This Robin Hood style tax is cloaked in a manner that if you are against the tax, you are against affordable housing. These divisive wedge style tactics are at their core discriminatory and designed to transfer not only taxes, but hostility as well. Santa Fe is better than that and we can recognize injustice when we see it.

A “transfer tax” is levied on the sale of real property that increases with the value of the property being sold. Santa Fe has cleverly redefined transfer to mean using the “services of real estate brokers” to “facilitate the transfer from a seller to a purchaser” and they have arbitrarily pinpointed $750,000 as the benchmark for this tax to begin. By the way, there is already a tax on this service known as the gross receipts tax. In reality, this proposed ordinance allocates a large amount of the revenue to the city to employ more staff to enforce this new tax ordinance. So this “facilitating” really goes to mean the city’s ability to oversee transfers of real property for their purpose of collection and enforcement. As a percentage of allocated revenue, the greatest single beneficiaries of this tax will be newly hired city employees who will collect it.

The transfer tax is not a new idea. Although many cities have defeated these taxes, the cities that have implemented them show a steady increase in this tax over time. Because the volatility of the real estate market, budget shortfalls are inevitable and once revenue streams are secured they are difficult to do without. This ordinance as proposed by the city has no language that restricts the city’s ability to change this tax threshold if the tax collected falls short of its estimates. Original proposals had reduced the threshold from the current $750,000 to $350,000. What assurances do we have that the city will not change that threshold or the tax rate over time? Robin Hood may be eyeing your purse soon.

Research done by the National Association of Realtors has shown that transfer taxes are a major burden and can negatively impact a city’s economic development. These taxes can not be amortized into a mortgage and must be collected in cash at the time of closing. The taxes will decrease the amount of new buyers willing to purchase a home in Santa Fe and are unfairly levied on a person who may choose to purchase real estate as a long-term investment over stocks and bonds that are not taxed. If fewer homes are sold and fewer buyers move into Santa Fe, the discretionary spending that this sect does in Santa Fe at our shops and restaurants, in support of our art and culture will decline as well.

Let’s be clear that I believe we are all in favor of affordable housing but the solution requires transparency and honesty to work. The idea of “sticking it to the man” to fund a much needed housing initiative only obfuscates the real power that the city is seeking. The city is asking permission to tax us in a manner that they are currently not allowed. We have the right to say no! History shows that if we give them that power, they will never give it back. In fact, they come asking for more without ever achieving their objective. Before allowing the city to create a new tax a city and county wide discuss needs to take place to decide how best to address the housing needs of Santa Feans. I know we can do better than this.

February 23, 2009 Posted by | Op-Ed | , , , , | Leave a Comment

Oil and Water Don’t Mix

City Different Indeed!

Why make the usual New Year’s resolutions when you can start this year off differently by making a New Year’s Revolution! Many of you know our community is on the verge of allowing oil companies to start drilling in Santa Fe County. While the national climate is apathetic towards standing up to big oil, we are the city different and we can stop this in its tracks. Here are some reasons why.

Water! Our water is clean, pure and in limited supply. I have listened with patience as oil industry spokespeople dismiss water issues. The most egregious claim is that the water does not come from here but some other part of the state. Only the water rights come from elsewhere; the water they pollute and waste will be our own. When water rights are purchased from alfalfa farmers in Deming, it doesn’t mean that water is hauled from Deming. The water that will be used and polluted will be sucked right out of the aquifer that lies beneath us. It will be the same water that you and I drink.

Clean air! The quality of our air is well known to painters, photographers, and the rest of us who just like to breathe the stuff. Oil and gas activity in the Galisteo Basin will create a polluted dust plume complete with noxious odors that will drift all the way up to the foothills. Again I listened to these same oil people deny this could ever happen. Now I am not saying they are liars, but if you want the truth as to what our future could look like, just head down to Artesia for the day. We can prevent our community from succumbing to this fate.

Natural beauty! It is only crazed speculation that the Cretaceous period created billions of gallons of oil under the Galisteo basin. What we know was created was a spectacular high desert ecosystem that gives us awe and inspiration. Disturbing the land through oil drilling and exploration will scar it forever and turn it into an industrial back alley dumping ground. New Mexico is best positioned to become a leading player in the future of clean renewable energy. Why would we want to jump onto the tail end of an industry that is destroying the earth and would leave our beautiful land exploited and discarded?

Bad business! As a Realtor, how would it sound if I told you that the deal I had for your property is for you to give up complete control, assume generations of risk and liability, and collect only a pittance while the other party would destroy your land, reap billions of dollars of income and be able to leave at any time without recriminations? Well, this is the deal both our elected and state officials are making with the oil companies. Some of our officials are avoiding their duties by saying that the law protects the oil companies and they can’t do anything about it. Let’s not fall for that. If our laws are outdated, change them! If our lawmakers are unwilling, change them too!

Highest and best use is the standard for deciding land use issues. I believe that the highest and best use of our land is to protect it as a watershed for our domestic water, keep it livable for next generations, and allow it to continue to be a source of beauty and inspiration for everyone. And if we can create clean alternative energy, let’s do it.

For all the necessary information go to DrillingSantafe.com because our elected officials need your strength to stand up to those boomtown charlatans. Start your New Year’s Revolution right now by picking up the phone and telling them what the right thing is. Without us, they will get weak on this issue when strength is needed. If we are not vigilant, we will all be responsible for destroying Santa Fe forever. Together we can make a difference because we are the city different.

February 19, 2009 Posted by | Op-Ed | , , , , , | Leave a Comment

   

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