Desktop Dynamo

**NOTE** I've calmed down a wee bit since the original post below. I will update this post later this weekend after reviewing the online data of my reassessment. One correction, after reviewing my pre-construction appraisal, is that the finished basement was NOT included in the original pre-construction valuation of the house. It should also be noted that Commissioner Steve Urban has been quick to respond to my direct e-mails to him concerning reassessment. As evidenced in published newspaper reports, he has also been very responsive to taxpayers with reassessment questions. Hats off to him.

It turns out my reassessment was mailed out on July 1. It arrived yesterday, and I found it lying there in front of the PC waiting for me when I got in from another brutal day at the office.

Apparently, parts of Plains Township went out in the July 1 batch (my mother-in-law's also came yesterday).

When we built our new house, we were told our new taxes would be determined after the reassessment. Our mortgage documents estimated our county and school taxes at around $1800. This was based on a house that was supposed to have a garage, finished basement and a sound foundation. It has none of these.

For the past couple years, we've been paying about a third of the above amount. I fully expected my taxes to go up after reassessment (and rightfully so) but hoped they would come in no higher than $2000. I would have been ecstatic with the $1800 originally forecast, but suspected I wouldn't get that lucky.

The poop: My estimated tax impact total tax after reassessment is $3269. That's within spitting distance of doubled taxes on a house that simply isn't what it was supposed to be.

The real "bottom line" as far as my empty wallet is concerned is this: Our total tax has jumped from $619 to $3269...more than 5 times what we've been paying. Obviously, the $619 was far too low...but we've jumped from one extreme to the other. Unlike the few years we paid low, which we knew was a temporary situation, the new amount might be permanent.

Again, I knew my assessed value would rise significantly. But there is an 81% difference between the estimated tax of 2005...based on a house completed as planned...and what my reassessment came in at. How can there be such a wide divergence?

Well, for one thing...Luzerne County was reassessed based on 2005 data at the top of a housing bubble that has since burst.

Normally, I try to find something funny or clever to say about stuff like this, but I'm at a loss. I am having a hard time making payments on the mortgage now, and that check includes escrow payments for, among other things, the $1800 in tax which was originally estimated. I expect my escrow payments to jump by $125 a month next year to cover the increase.

In the meantime, just like everyone else, my real buying power is being eaten alive by inflation and higher fuel costs. This further tightens our household income, which has already fallen by a double-digit percentage. It's look for a 2nd and possibly 3rd job time. Neat trick, in an area where unemployment is now at 6%.

Sorry folks...there's just nothing funny in any of this...and I have a feeling that I am not alone in feeling the "sticker shock."