Cohousing-L Mailing List: Property Taxes on Common Property

[Joel Plotkin (joel]

Hundredfold Farm Cohousing, a Pennsylvania condominium, recently went
through a county-wide re-assesment that was widely protested (not just
by us). We had been getting separate bills for the common land and the
houses. In the re-assessment, each of our ten existing houses was
assigned a value, along with a portion for the share of common land.
The Joint Venture (a subset of seven households) still "owns" four
shares for as yet unsold lots, but received no tax bill.

We eventually whittled our assessments down (largely through
stubbornness). The county insisted that there were no comparables
(partly true). My house and share, for example, went from an original
assessment of $296K to $225K, which seems fairer to me.

It has been impossible to identify the criteria that differentiated
the ten houses--all with very similar square footage, some with
finished attics, some with finished basements, some with decks or
porches. One member was particularly upset that his house was valued
higher than an adjoining house that was less complete than his.
Further complication: three of the households did not appeal their
original assessments

I'd definitely be interested in more stories about this subject.

Joel Plotkin
Hundredfold Farm Cohousing
Orrtanna, PA