Group decries Madison tax changes

Editor:

Taxpayers unite, now! Be advised that the Madison County Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing Dec. 9 in the County Administration Center for adoption of an ordinance to establish semi-annual dates for the payment of local taxes (real estate, personal property, machinery and tools and merchants capital) in Madison County on June 5 and Dec. 5 of each year. The board of supervisors desires to take money out of your pocket, sooner rather than later to boost the local government coffers!

The Alliance For Taxpayers (TAFT) in Madison County believes that the supervisors have gotten the “cart before the horse,” once again. The board should defer this new ordinance until a much more crucial issue is addressed — the matter of the 2008 property tax assessments, which many taxpayers believe were much too high and raised too fast, rather than being gradually increased over time. The current real estate property tax rate is 0.44 Per $100 of assessed value.

The board of supervisors needs to recognize that just this week, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has now said the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007. This national group of leading economists is charged with dating the start and end of economic downturns. And unquestionably, this is the “Mother of All Downturns” in our recent generations.

Given the current financial turmoil in the U.S., The Alliance For Taxpayers is therefore “calling for the board of supervisors to immediately take a rapid second look/review at the current assessment levels established for 2008 that were adopted in mid-2007, only months before this current recession began.” This reassessment was earlier than normally scheduled, so a fresh review is not out of order here.

The financial burdens on the citizens of the county are only going to worsen in the months ahead, and for some time into the future according to TAFT.
The real estate property values have plummeted dramatically in the U.S. since 2006; in some sectors up to 25 percent and still sinking monthly.

The 100 percent assessed values in 2007, as required by state law, are in fact no longer valid and should be revised downward for sure. Just look at recent sales prices and diminishing values that are impacting your neighbors in Madison who are paying what some consider inflated tax bills at this moment in time.

Louis A. Cable
Dulaney Hollow
The Alliance for Taxpayers (TAFT)