We received our updated property valuation, and it is down. I have to hand it to the Assessor’s office–they got it right, at least to my approximate knowledge of our property’s market value.

Do you remember the stink we raised at the last valuation in 2009 when assessments increased: the letters to the editor (one of them, mine) and the public meetings? Well, now the Assessor has caught up with the market (according to the legal timeframe, I’m sure), and our property is 40% lower than before.

Only an actual buyer could validate the new figure, but we find the trend accurate. Thank you, Assessor.

This also means we will be paying 40% lower property taxes. Good for payers; bad for collectors. We might find ourselves allocating some of those “freed-up” monies to under-supported organizations such as the school, the library, the fire department. That’s an honorable way to direct voluntary support to institutions we value without needing a tax
collector as intermediary.

Paige McCormick

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