I recently registered the domain saratogablog.com. It currently points here (to my Saratoga Springs category) since I’ve been doing a lot of writing in this category lately. Maybe I’ll create a separate blog at some point dedicated solely to adventures in Saratoga, but for the time being, Saratoga Blog is just one more way to see what’s going on in this fun little town I call home.
Last night we appeared before the five-member grievance board to present our case about why we think the assessed value of our property should be lowered (since it’s set quite a bit higher than comprable properties in our area and we’re taking the brunt of it since we only bought last year… maybe that’s the point). But we didn’t get a good feeling about it. After asking us when we bought and for how much, it seemed as if the board had already made its decision. Apparently three of the five volunteer board members are realtors, so it seems — based on our hearing and those we observed — that all they really care about are sales comps, not necessarily finding equality among assessed values of similar homes.
Regardless, I’m sure my nervousness before the board didn’t help much, either. I had done so much research and had all these strategies in place, but feel like I just locked up and was a mumbling mess when we took our seats across from the board. I’m just glad it’s over with now. We learn the decision of the board July 1.
