property re-assessments

Has anyone heard whether they're going to drop the Homestead part that decreases the amount you pay? I haven't gotten the reassessment paper yet.

I have heard that they are going to reassess more closely to current values and also lower the MIL rates.
In other words, the amount you pay per thousand dollars of assessed value will go down but the values are going to increase quite a bit.......Hang on to your wallets!!!

Ours tripled. But they pretty much have the number at the current selling price.

What amazed me was that the envelope was post marked "July 24" and I received it (in NJ) on July 26. Usually it takes 10 to 14 days for USVI mail to reach me. This was astounding!

F.I.

Got mine the other day too (in Texas). Value went up but I heard they were going to lower the taxes per $1000 valued so the bite won't be too bad (yeah, right!). These are the 2006 valuations, aren't they? Are they going to re-evaluate for 2007?

C Urchin 😀

We didn't get our letter yet (in FL). I'm thinking of calling the USVI Tax Assessor office and asking if all were sent out in one mailing or if they are mailing letters out in some kind of "grouping". Our home is on Water Island. I think I read somewhere (One Source maybe?) that there is a limited amount of time where a property owner can call, ask questions, etc. What does the letter say about owners calling with questions?

They are currently running radio spots that are saying to come into the office with any questions or concerns, no phone number is being provided though.....probably afraid it would bring down the phone system here:)

Sounds pretty normal. The Tax Assessor's web site ( http://www.ltg.gov.vi/newsroom/press_releases/index.htm) says we have until September 15 of the tax year to formally appeal. Also, it says that from July 25 to August 17, the Tax Assessor's office have been dedicated to inquiries about your property and to look up property and sale prices of property similar to yours. And, they have a link to the property database http://www.vipropertyrevaluation.com/

US VI Property Tax Assessor office on STT
No. 18 Kongens Gade
St. Thomas, V.I. 00802
Phone (340) 776-8505
Fax (340) 774-1270

Finding the sales comps for most of the houses on St. Croix that are owned by locals will be pretty tough. Very few Crucians ever sell their homes. They build them themselves and keep them in the family. Entire neighborhoods all over the island have never had a property on the market in the MLS. Some transfer through private sales, but it is an unfortunate likelihood that locals will wind up having their houses assessed at rates set by the few sales of houses that occur to Continentals, even if those houses are in different neighborhoods.

This reminds me of the influx of Californians into Washington in the 1980's. They sold huts in LA for a million and bought a mansion in Washington for a fraction of that, but still drove up the prices so that locals were priced out of the market.

In Florida over the past few years, the rising prices have increased assessments and escalated property taxes to the point that many retired people who have owned their homes for 30 years can't afford to keep them. Hopefully that scenario won't play out here and hurt all the Crucians who built their own homes and aren't trying to capitalize on the rising sales market.

in looking more closely at our numbers---one property assessed at 60% of retail, another is way low compared to actual value, vacant land at less than 50% of retail, another at about 57% of a recent appraised value, and another at more than 200% of recent (about 8 months ago) sale price....and yet another is not yet finished, so no assessment...two will be re-examined (the 200%+ and the not-yet-done and no one knows why not.)..and then we will see.

FYI--If you have a mortgage and are local, apparently they are sending the letters to your lender. That's why some people may not have received theirs. You can get a courtesy copy from the Tax Assessor's Ofc.

I got mine. It's maybe a little low but pretty close so I'll leave it as is. I still would like to know about the Homestead part. Sure hope they don't drop that.