COUNTY Assessors OFFICE

You know what burns my B---, The MADSON COUNTY
IOWA ASSESSOR'S OFFICE has the nerve to send me a post card asking me set a date so they can come out and ASSESS my Wife and I's Farm.
Now the way I look at this is if I invite them out they can look at any thing they want and ask any question they want,Well what they see from the road is what they see. They have never done that bfore so why start now.
all we have done to the farm house was replace
the siding and replaced the front porch slab because all of this was bad, and put up a garden shed, and yes we are tax excempt because we are farmers. If we are tax excempt we do not need a building permit. What is this country coming to.
But do you think I am going to call them and set a date:: THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN: What they can
see they can see from the road.
I am sorry I am venting:
JR.Frye

Not sure of your state laws, but in my state they have no right to come inside your house. I'm not telling you to lie about any thing, but they don't have to go inside your house if you don't want them to. (And I advise to to keep them out) Let them look at everything from the outside.

But there's a whole lot between getting in the house and staying on the road.
When the town did a re-val here they wanted to measure outside building dimensions. I had no problem with that. But with all the satellite technology available today, I question anyone needing to waste the time and money of even leaving the office to spy on us.

Well, then don't complain when the assessment comes back too high. It looks good from the road!

Here is an idea on what to do. Make your house look dumpy inside, then have a physically handicapped child at your house with a wheel chair to make it look like despair has been brought onto you by God and that the medical bills are real bad....You get the idea. Then ask why they are asking about your house. Cause you are just a poor white guy trying to make ends meet. They might give you a break. If they dont then physically throw the guy out the window...Make it look like an accident.

Of course do all this if they want to come in and look around. Find out ahead of time.

Last year they came on my property here in NY when no one was home.They had a camera and took photos of everything.Wife was furious.Told her well go down to town hall and give em heii.I told her I dont recommend it but do what you want.Taxes went up 350.00 a year after assessment.After checking list on what buildings and such that they assessed they had missed alot,so I told wife just let it be.

Good Luck
Stan

So make a date like Feb. 29, 2010 tell them that you may or may not be at home. so call.
Walt

The county where I live in MO the assessor just comes out and drives over your whole place if need be. They are good about closing gates. They do take a lot of pictures and you can review them all at the assessors office if you'd like.
Over the years I've found out its best to just let them do their thing. I have nothing to hid and the taxes are reasonable for the services they provide in my opinion.

Whadda' got to lose? If you don't let them in, they can legally assess you what they think you have and you will have to wait another year to protest. Let them in and you might convince them to LOWER your assessment. Just my experiance.

Sure is diffrent in diffrent states.. Here they
have the authority to visit all new construction AND any existing every 2 years.. Can come in measure sq footage.. see if you have up dated anything, may you have paved the drive or put up a new grage.. Just the only way they can keep everything right. Making it junky sould not change the appraisal. they are looking at things like sq footage, how many baths ect. HERE it is much better to coroprate, than just let them set it on their own then have to argure...

They don't come in your house in Michigan. I think a lot is being done with geosat photos. I might contest my valuation, but I don't get too upset about it.

JR they really want to see inside the house because for some reason they think you've added something. If you haven't let em look and be pleasent it will disarm them. If you have added something invite them to come when ever they choose. When they request to see inside refuse, no snorting around just refuse, that means they have to go to a judge, get a court order, come back out and enforce the order--they probably won't do that. If they go to the trouble they have a lot more time on their hands then there are residents and there is not much you can do at that point.

what gets me,here in iowa they pretend sale my place and then set taxes accordingly.
I payed what I paid.let them get from the next one if it ever goes up for sale.
and yea I protest to deaf ears at the hearing.

Hey Spook, my assesment went down 14% last year and it may go down again this year too. Yippee.

Michigan home prices have dropped through the floor.

Jack 2 years ago they assessed or farm at $35 THOUSAND, what is up with that M,G, we have 50acres at the house and another 80 acres down the road, whats up with that. Our house is not a cardboard box, and we have ELEC,WATER,AND septic tank.What are they looking at. I am not going to
B----.But we both know it is worth more than $35.THOUSAND. o-WELL THATS THE WAY IT GOES.I would hate to put this place on the market for that you know what would happen, We have 35 acres of tember and threst is crop land.O-WELL That is madison county IOWA:: MY VENT FOR THE NIGHT>
JR.Frye

Hi so now you know you are not the owner of your land, the state is.You are a caretake of the ground.And you do not pay your taxes and the state will take it.

JR. I have lived here for 15 years-just 4 miles east of Winterset. I had the nerve to question the high yearly cost of our sewer sysgtem inspection. The lady in the office aid that she wished all the systems were outlawed so she wouldn"t have to keep up with the paperwork. Shortly thereafter I got a notice from the zoning guy that my pole barn was too close to the gravel road. I would have to pay a big fine or have it moved or torn down. I measured it like he told me to do and found it was 6 feet within limits. I asked him how he knew it was over the line and he said the lady from the sewer off drive by and reported that I had built a new barn too close to the road. She was sure it was too close....Well wasn"t. I won that battle but a month later the assesor reevaluated my house not because of the barn but because a county employee drove by and noticed I had added a "huge " deck to the east side of the house. He wanted to come buy and reevaluate my house based on this employee"s say so. I took picures and measurements of the new deck to his office. I verified that this "huge" deck was in fact 9X6 feet. He said to not worry he must have gotten some wrong information. I asked who the county employee was who turned me in. He wouldn"t tell me the name but when I asked if it was the sewer dept lady he abojut choked. I knew it was her and her spiteful ways. I was told by her office tha since I didn"t get a building permit when I built my barn I was being fined $150. I said it is a farm operation, at least 40 acres in size and therefore didn"t require a permit. She said it wasn"t a "real" farm and I had to pay. I paid the money and then attended the next supervisors meeting. I was told by the supervisors that in fact I did meet the requirements for a farm and should not have been charged the $150. I am still waiting formy refund. Madison County does not do anything to make things livable for anyone unless you are one of the old estabsished farmers. Then you can get by with anything. Just be careful.
I"ll add my e-mail if you want to talk about this some more.
[email protected]

You must have p.... her off but she is victimising you with these needless things, I would have gone to a higher authority.as high as it takes.She seems to have the "I'll show you" syndrome .

Here's an interesting story. Seems like instead of being able to make them tear it down he would have to pay for inspections and back taxes.

UK man's castle won't be his home, court says
By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Writer Gregory Katz, Associated Press Writer
Wed Feb 3, 1:30 pm ET

LONDON – A man's home is his castle — but not if British authorities say it has to be destroyed.

That's the situation faced by Robert Fidler, a farmer who lost a High Court bid Wednesday to protect the once-secret castle he built 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of London and kept hidden from planning authorities.

The adverse decision means Fidler's roof must come down. He has one year to comply unless an appeal is successful.

To keep prying eyes from noticing his unauthorized abode, Fidler placed bales of hay and tarpaulin around his dream home in Salfords, Surrey, authorities said. The court ruled he could not benefit from his deception.

Mike Miller, a chief planner with the Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, said the council was delighted with the decision, which it viewed as a vindication of the decision to challenge Fidler in court.

"This was a blatant attempt at deception to circumvent the planning process," he said, adding that Fidler now has one year to destroy the castle, remove the ruins and return the property to its original state.

The unusual castle, complete with cannon, ramparts and stained glass, was completed in 2002 and Fidler lived there with family for more than four years before the authorities started legal action against him.

Fidler, who has had disagreements with planning authorities before, anticipated that his request for permission to build the castle would be denied, so he tried to take advantage of a rule that allows a structure to be legalized if it has been lived in for four years.

Fidler's lawyer, Pritpal Singh Swarn, said the decision will go to the Court of Appeal because it raised important planning issues. A further appeal to European courts is possible if British courts again reject Fidler's bid to legitimize his castle.

He said Fidler was extremely disappointed with the ruling and no local residents had complained about the castle.

"It has been pursued at the expense of the taxpayer which we find deeply regrettable — but Mr. Fidler will continue to fight for the right to live in his home," the lawyer said.

Authorities said he incorporated two grain silos into the design, covering them with material to give them a castellated appearance.

"Mr. Fidler made it quite clear that the construction of his house was undertaken in a clandestine fashion," the court ruled.