Those property tax assessments are not written in stone. Errors exist. Needless to say, Consumer Reports has published that property tax records show an error rate of 40 and The National Taxpayers Union wrote that as many as 60% of all homeowners are over-assessed. That being said, there is a good chance that anyone owning a home may have a property tax appeal issue to consider.

If you are of such an opinion, click housetaxax.com and learn how to protest your property taxes and win.

The inability of school boards and voters to control school spending has left many a homeowner exasperated. Furthermore, the unwillingness of the state government to provide school choice and as a means for introducing competition and new ideas sends a negative signal.

Progressive policies would eliminate teacher unions and teacher certificates as a requirement for teachers. For instance, reaching out to the community, the local pharmacist has taken for science classes and likely knows more about chemistry education than anyone in the school district – yet he is not allowed to teach. From vocational technical, computer science and every discipline, the real pros are not allowed to teach.

In many cases, local school boards are not empowered to make meaningful decision. Voters need to control school costs and find a more fair way by being allowed to vote on ballot options. The voter is generally left out in the dark.

You can appeal value based on the tax assessors assessment; you can't appeal taxes. Tax is the result of a budget. If the problem is higher taxes, throw the political bums OUT and put into office someone who WILL reduce taxes.

The only way to get an assessment lowered is to prove the city's value is wrong,

Retired taxpayers have lost their connection with the means to pay. Taxes based on a property’s estimated value is unfair and punitive. Too many taxpayers are becoming land poor in that their property value no longer is proportional to their income. Older person on a fixed incomes often have to sell their house to pay the taxes on it. Or, in other cases, sometimes feel trapped in old homes because their taxes would go up dramatically if they moved.

Property tax is a tax on capital. It should occur only on when you sell the home just like an individual stock in the stock market. One only pays taxes on the realized gain or loss for a stock when it is sold.

An annual property tax is the most regressive, destructive tax there is. It takes from rich and poor alike, irrespective of age, family status, health or income. Property values fluctuate and municipal taxes and budgets are never lowered, it seems. Rising property values have driven up taxes for all property owners. If property values decrease, does that mean taxes will go down?

Perhaps the ebb and flow gets resolved in the Wizard Of Oz but not in most US municipalities. Most governments are addicted to a tax and spend mentality and act like the characters in the Oz movie. The lion big show where the state develops it’s own pet private enterprise for "the good of the community." The tin man no heart that ignores the plight of the average taxpayer, the elderly and retired perhaps throwing a few crumbs of tax relief their way but a deaf ear in they way of budget cuts and overall lower taxes. And lastly the straw man with no brains who over-hires and over-compensates their employees with benefits fit for kings and queens when they should be equal to Costco and Home Depot perks and employee policies.

Many homeowners who look on property as an investment, don’t perceive the value of their property to be the price at which they purchased the property. They see it as the price for which they think (or hope) they could sell it for. Little do they remember the lessons from history. In the 1800’s the stock market crashed and it took nearly 50-years for markets to recover. The 1929 crash took 25-years for markets and real estate values to recover.

Even the best intentioned investments can become wrong and long agonizing stretches can occur without an underlying asset regaining it’s former value. After the basics in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs are met and your shelter transforms from the basics and takes on the shape of an investment, we’re beyond necessity and into speculation.

That brings up some interesting ethical questions. Should a basic shelter (like a trailer) not be taxed similar to milk, eggs and potatoes or is it an investment? Should speculations such as stocks and investment homes be not treated the same? If they are the same, should they not be treated tax-wise the same and taxed only on appreciation? Regressive property taxes make owning a home increasingly unaffordable.

The initial appraisals cost about $400 (the cheapest they could find was $390) plus $350 for their appraiser showing up to testify for up to 4 hours (half day; anything else is extra). Still others scour the magazines and internet for any hint they can find on how to crunch the numbers and technique.

Your local government uses what is called a mass appraisal process to value you home. They obtain valuation quickly and usually inefficiently by getting cheap fast results. They spend huge amounts on this to catch the few folks who added a deck, patio, shed or small addition without a building permit.

Many times the highest-priced homes are used as a gauge of the neighborhood's value. The easy way is to roll over previous information. Erroneous information makes it way on the property record card. While cost effective (so they think) to the tax collection authority, it is not fair to a large portion of homeowners.

Consumer Reports (Nov.1992 v57 nil p.723) published that property tax records show an error rate of 40% exists in estimating property taxes. The National Taxpayers Union ("How To Fight Property Taxes" 2004 p.1) writes that as many as 60% of all homeowners are over-assessed and not in line with their home value.

When you win a property tax appeal your tax win continues: Your property tax assessment savings rolls over year after year - it's not just a one shot deal! If you reduce your taxes say $1,000 for the year, that savings is yours each and every year until the next blanket reassessment … which could be for another 5, 10, 20 or more years.

The correct vocabulary is that one appeals their assessments. Appealing your taxes is a political issue. If you don’t like your taxes, your protest them! The nonsense of tax increases is largely the result of spineless government officials who are addicted to spending instead of cost cutting. I live on a budget and so should my government! Period.

It can be done! Is budgeting done in you community?

It's not surprising that Skokie trustees made a promise in 1990 to hold the line on taxes. What's surprising is that the promise still stands.

The Village Board is scheduled to vote Monday on a 2006 tax levy of $15.5 million, the same amount it levied in 1990. That's 16 consecutive years with no new property taxes.

Had the village increased its levy every year just to account for inflation, as determined by the consumer price index, Skokie's 2006 tax levy would be $23.3 million, said Robert Nowak, director of finance.

It can be!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-0612150203dec15,1,3288147.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed