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County squeezing money out of citizens
To the editor:
I received in the mail a "Notice of Real Estate Value Change" the other day and was shocked to see how much my property has increased in value from 2011 to 2012, which of course will change the amount of property taxes I will owe in 2013. The reason I was shocked was it went up almost 10 percent in one year and I have done nothing to my property to add value to it in the last couple of years. I know the housing market can't be that great right now in this county.
When I read last November that a tax hike of 3 mills was approved by the Quorum Court of Mississippi County, I knew something like this would happen. From what I remember, 3 mills is all they could approve -- anything more would have to have been approved by the voters of the county. So to squeeze more tax money out of me, why not reassess my property in the county's favor!
Now to be fair, if I am the only one whose property value went up (in a county that is losing population over 10 percent since 2000 (according to Wikipedia), then I apologize for these accusations, but I have a suspicion I am not alone. With the loss of population but still the need for the same county services, the money has to come from somewhere (sure having a hard time getting it out of Blytheville -- but that is a whole different letter). Is this all just bad timing or coincidence?
The back of the form I received says I have a right to appeal, and I bet this is a disclaimer a lawyer said we better put on here before someone sues us. The time, money and effort they know it will take on my part would make it senseless for me to even try, but if someone does and is successful please write a letter to the editor and let us know.