The Last of the Assessment BS???

Ok, so I really do think that someone out there has it in for me. I don't know who I've wronged or how I went about it, but I must have pissed off someone somewhere down the line. Maybe it's that sign I have hanging on my front door telling the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons that we didn't appreciate their visits. Betcha that was it....

Anyway, today was the final meeting for the Assessment Board of Review. They did lower our assessment, but not to where we wanted it, nor did they reduce it to the value of the homes in our area that are nearly the same as our house. At least it dropped to $150,000 from $164,000. Now to figure out how to pay the taxes on it....There is one more step that we can take in an attempt to get it lowered more, but chances are that won't happen (getting it lowered). I talked to the Commissioner today and he said that the board is very fair in their review (that's what he thinks) so even if we go through the next step it may just be a waste of time. Once I get the final assessment notice in a couple days I have 10 days in which to file a Small Claims Review. I'm going to talk to Darling Hubby about it. Chances are we will just forgo this and let the city win. Either that or we are moving... and I'm not really in the mood to move...I like this house...we've put a lot of effort into making it home.

As for some good news (I have to have a little, don't I...I mean I do deserve something good once in a while) we've made the house look a wee bit nicer...it still isn't worth $150,000 but what can you do. Darling Hubby and I have worked hard to fix up the porch (new paint, clean windows, new floor) and we even painted the exterior side door, windows and frames along with 2 sections of the foundation. We also put up a bamboo privacy fence in our backyard. It makes it much nicer now. I'll have to take some pictures when I get the chance. We are attempting to put in a patio in the backyard, too, and are tearing out some of the blacktop driveway that would better serve us as grass. Our yard is a big mess now, but I'm sure it will look great when we are done. Maybe then we can get $150,000 for it. Yeah...right!

Oh, and I'm feeling a bit better. This cold seems to be on the way out. Thankfully Bug didn't get hit with it as hard as I did. He got the cough but his was more productive from the start and he didn't cough at night (woot) and his stuffy nose wasn't terrible. Darling Hubby managed to live with us sickies for several days and made it out unscathed. That's something good, right?