Any property owner in Minneapolis can file a petition in Tax Court to correct oppressive increases in "taxable market value" for their properties. This is a very easy process, does not require an attorney, and rarely ends up by actually going to Court.
Once the form is filed (by March 31) call your assessor and ask him or her to adjust the "taxable market value" to actual market value. This year it's pretty easy to come up with examples of falling market values. The City Center property (Brookfield default) dropped from $37.5 million to $7 million. The Stimson building dropped from $3.4 million to less than $2 million as examples. If you need more examples, e-mail me offlist. Understand that the only way for the City to increase property tax collections is to increase taxable market values, since the Legislature controls the rates. I had lunch today with one business owner whose taxable market value was increased 56% in one year, from $78,000 to $122,000. The instructions can be found at: http://www.taxcourt.state.mn.us/PPYFactSheet.htm The form can be found at: http://www.taxcourt.state.mn.us/PPYAppealForm7.pdf For future reference, you can avoid this step by calling your assessor as soon as you receive the notice of proposed property taxes in late November/early December. It's too late for that now, your assessor cannot help you unless to file this form first. I have done this several times and have never gone to Court - the assessor makes the correction and the case is dismissed. Of course, if you and the assessor cannot reach an agreement, you can always proceed with the Court case if you wish to. Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
