Freeport Tax Increasing 79%??

[Smiling JOe]

it would be interesting to know if your comps are all from inside of Hammock Bay or not. Both Hammock Bay and The Plantations at Freeport are offering "pre" development lots for just over 60K now and you can get one for 75K in Windswept. of course that won't help you until 2008 taxes if ever.

My sales comps were for all residential lots in area 20 (Freeport) =< 1acre. I didn't count the number, but I saw many of them having Hammock Bay addresses. Also, remember that the Tax Assessor works off of all sales, not just sales that go through ECAR (Realtor Assoc). Owl's Head reportedly had many sales in 2006, yet failed to report them to ECAR as required by ECAR's MLS Rules. However, the Property Appraiser would have seen them. Also, I believe all assessed values in Windswept Estates are now valued as residential lots and homes as opposed to agriculture, like they were in 2005. Changing classification and including the lot sales will change things greatly.

 

[Busta Hustle]

sorry about the confusion but i was referring to the comps that the appraisers office presented to yippie to justify his 2006 taxes that he mentioned having a problem with. Of course those comps were from 05 sales which were at an all time high in Freeport.
My question is: Would the appraiser use lot comps only from within the neighborhood (HB) since there were plenty to use in 2005?

 

[Smiling JOe]

sorry about the confusion but i was referring to the comps that the appraisers office presented to yippie to justify his 2006 taxes that he mentioned having a problem with. Of course those comps were from 05 sales which were at an all time high in Freeport.
My question is: Would the appraiser use lot comps only from within the neighborhood (HB) since there were plenty to use in 2005?

According to our Property Appraiser, he might not use the sales only in that particular neighborhood. In order to get "fair" comps, the Prop. Appraiser may have to use sales in similar developments or neighborhoods. Basically, the Property Appraiser told me that he uses a computer program with mulitple varibles, which can be selected by the Prop. Appraiser, to calculate the assessed values. Depending on the outcome, they may go in and adjust individually, tweaking the numbers a bit.

 

[Busta Hustle]

plenty of comps for each year right in HB not to need to go outside to get a fair assessment on lot values.
Another bit verified by the appraisers office is the fact that the tax revenue collected by the City Of freeport has gone up about 286% since 2000. If the article is correct and there is another 70% increase in taxable values you would think they will collect enough to have fire hydrants in good working order.

 

[Busta Hustle]

on the subject of taxes, the Walton county Taxpayers association has info on the out of state property owners lawsuit against our property appraiser with the idea that "Save our homes" is unconstitutional...So lets see this suit makes 3 major issues to be decided by the courts, private vs public beach, Nature Walk, "Save Our Homes"...