I just found out that taxes on a house I own in Montgomery County will be doubled. Yes, doubled. I went on a hunt to find out why they raised it. Called the 240 # I was given by the Department of Assessment and Taxation and made my inquiry. No one was able to tell me how they justified blowing up the property value in THIS market. They had assessed it at nearly 30% of what it’s currently worth. I asked how I could dispute it and they said that I have until December 31st to do it. Lucky for me that I even caught it! So I’m doing that and providing them with current sold comps so that they can lower the taxes.

Today, I did my yearly property assessment reports for my past clients and sure enough, every one of them who has bought in Montgomery County is seeing their property values increase disproportionately to what is actually happening in the local real estate market. Is this some kind of scam, Montgomery County? Is this a way to take care of your citizens in a time of crisis and uncertainty? I’d really like to know who’s behind this and have them answer the hundreds of thousands of people who will be affected by this.

I’m sending out reports to all of my clients who will be affected by this outrageous assessment and assisting them in appealing the assessment. They did this under *my* nose and they’re going to do it under everyone else’s nose, people who aren’t in the know of these kinds of things and those are the people who will be taken advantage of by the Montgomery County government and other municipalities that operate in similar fashion. I’m really appalled and want an explanation for this.

In the meantime, I’ll help out those I know will need help and we’ll see what happens next.

This is what you need to do in order to start the appeal process:

1) Go to http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/ and print out your tax information

2) Call 240-777-8950 and ask them what your tax liability was and will be. You can then request to be sent a dispute form.

3) Contact your Realtor to get recent sales reports/comparables in your neighborhood and attach with the dispute form. You can also pay for an appraisal; whichever is more convenient.

4) You will then fill out and send back the form along with your list of comparables BEFORE DECEMBER 31st, 2008 (please send via registered mail).

Hopefully, this will resolve it and you won’t have to stomach paying nearly double of what you used to pay for property taxes. No one should. Certainly, not in this across-the-board period of economic strife and hardship.