Top 5 Things You Should Know About Grieving Taxes

Top 5 Things To Know About Tax Grievance

1. An estate, a trust, a homeowner and a buyer under contract can all file a tax grievance. A corporation can NOT file. (A non-owner, rental property is not eligible).
2. Your taxes will never go up because you file a grievance.
3. Your STAR, Enhanced STAR and Veterans exemptions are not affected by the tax grievance. Any savings is in addition to these exemptions.
4. Studies by the Long Island Board of Realtors have repeatedly shown that for every $1,000 less a year in property taxes, it raises the home's value $10,000.
5. You generally can file every 2 years for a tax grievance.

Should You Apply For A Property Tax Grievance?

To determine if you have a case to grieve your taxes you must first know the market value that the Town has placed on your property. It's easy to figure out. On your tax bill, you will find the Total Assessment Value.
Divide that number by the Residential Assessment Ratio (RAR) for your town. Each town has its own RAR.

The current RAR for Huntington is .65% or .0065, so for example, a house with a Total Assessment Value of 11,000 has a market value of $1,692,307.69 (11,000 divided by .0065).

Now that you know the market value the Town has placed on your property, you can compare it to the actual market value of your property. The actual market value can be determined in a variety of ways.

There are three typical ways to find actual market value:

1. The first is if there was a recent sale of the property in question and using that sale price.
2. Another way to determine actual market value is to use a real property appraisal.
3. Recent sales that are comparable to your house and are lower than your market value can also be used. If the actual market value is lower than the market value stated in your assessment, you should file a grievance.

Don't miss the opportunity to grieve your property taxes. Imagine paying lower taxes and saving your money for better and bigger things. It's a simple process and there is no loss to you except not acting before the deadline and losing on potential savings through lower property taxes.

If all of this seems too overwhelming send us an email and we will be more than happy to check to see if you have a case for a grievance and if so provide you the necessary town website links to file a grievance yourself or give you several referrals for tax grievance professionals who can act on your behalf to save you money on your property taxes. Many times the tax professionals are paid only if they win you a reduction in your property taxes.