In just a few minutes, the Madison City Commission will get together to discuss a couple of fun little housing issues. First on the agenda, in equalization news, the commissioners will address an Objection to Real Property Assessment from Ken and Crystal Hattlewick of 103 North Chicago Avenue. The Hattlewicks bought their house just last summer for $79,000. Chris Thompson of Great Western Bank has assessed the property at $80,000. Since purchasing the house, the Hattlewicks have had the displeasure of discovering some dog-waste residue, cracks in the walls, daylight through the roof, and other problems that might make resale a challenge. The city has declared the house worth $95,300.
Then comes the Lake Area Improvement Corporation with what seems like a needless request. The LAIC would like its Housing Committee to be officially sanctioned by the city as a City-Wide Housing Task Force. Apparently the Housing Committee thinks it needs an official designation from the city to study housing issues and make recommendations. I'm not sure what official municipal designation will achieve: the city commission will still make ordinances and zoning decisions... won't it? The LAIC already gets plenty of taxpayer dollars to support its projects.
It looks to me as if the Housing Committee has already identified areas of concern for tenants and landlords without any official designation to this point. Maybe there's something else afoot: the Housing Committee's history (attached as Appendix A to its letter in tonight's agenda) mentions tenants lacking legal recourse for shoddy rental conditions, other than small calims court. Could the Housing Committee be seeking authority to hear and act on complaints against landlords? We'll find out shortly....
just a little nit to pick. Great Western probably appraised the house, not assessed it.
[CAH: You pick your nits correctly, Bob! Words sometimes jumble in my head. Thompson appraised the house at $80,000; the city assessed it at $95,300.]
I bet there are more than a few people who would sell their houses to the city for what they assess it at. Any takers to try this.
Well, as a renter, I think some oversight of rental property conditions is badly needed in Madison. I didn't do my own house hunting when I moved here, my folks did. The house I am renting is the only one of a dozen places they looked at that was even clean, I've been lucky I have a good landlord who takes care of things. There were two places mom wouldn't even step inside it was so bad. If there are standards set to give a base line for landlords, everyone wins. Of course there are bad renters out there, to.
Lauri,
From what I've seen, Madison is an angellic rental community compared to Vermillion.
The question I have regarding the Hattlewicks' purchase - did they check what the property was assessed at already, prior to purchase? I did with my home. Heck, I could even see what my taxes would be.
My assessed value only went up by about $1000 after purchasing my home... that seems like a pretty reasonable increase.
A $79k purchase to $95k assessed means they either got a heckuva deal, or the City / County is looking to generate more revenue. The Twin Cities pulled something similar this past year - raised property tax valuations by 16%. That got some considerable backlash.
Mea Culpa: I called the Minnehaha County Equalization office - She said my property has remained at the same value for the past 3 years... I'll have to double check that with my records.