The problem is, the county tax assessor sends you a statement of the property’s assessed value some months before the tax bills go out. The assessed value has exactly zero relationship to the actual value of the house–never has borne any relation to reality. Consequently, it’s impossible to know whether the figure you’re looking at on this piece of paper is correct or fair, nor can you know what effect the make-believe figure will have on your taxes.

You only have about three weeks in which to protest the valuation. After that, you lose the opportunity to complain. Most people who do protest lose, anyway.

Not until three or four months later do you get the tax bill and realized that your bill was based on a nonexistent increase in value. By the time the tax statement arrives, it’s way, way too late to protest.

You don’t really even know what you’re being charged for. To get an itemized statement, you have to navigate the bureaucracy to make a special request. People in my neighborhood have learned, for example, that they were charged for nonexistent swimming pools and for more water outlets than existed (yes–part of your taxation is based on how many spigots your house has!). When a taxpayer learns about overcharges, the county will quit gouging from that point forward, but as for all the years of overpayment…well, that’s just tough. You do not get a refund for overpaid property taxes.

LOL! Goes a long way toward explaining some folks’ attitude toward the tax system, doesn’t it?