Should You Let the Assessor In?

Why you might think twice about NOT letting the county assessor into your house is they are looking for improvements in your home, so they can jack up the assessment. Which is fine; I support people who can afford cathedral ceilings and Jacuzzis paying more. However, the assessor needs to acknowledge the real devaluators of property—noise, traffic, flooding, chemical and light pollution, access to water and sewer.

            When the nice assessor lady showed up, I wrote the Dubuque County Assessor Billie Selby, and told him I would make an appointment with her, if I could be assured that they would adjust the value of my property on the basis of the real devaluators:  I formerly lived across from a park—i.e. grass and trees, what is there now is a chain link fence, concrete and an ugly brown pool tech building. Having given Callahan construction its own sewer that my neighbor and I can’t tap into, the city has increased traffic past here (to River Bend) perhaps tenfold.

Most neighborhoods have a discreet light on the corner every couple blocks, the light pollution from the pool and the large flood light on the corner makes it all but impossible to see any but the brightest stars at night. There are others, flooding and chemical pollution but they don’t acknowledge them either—what they really look at is the sales. I am sure they pay far more attention to what the Takes’ sold their house. So…  

You are within your legal right to refuse (this is stated on the postcard they sent to alert us of the visit) and if you have any other devaluators, (yours may be different than mine,) I would not let them in. I will not until they come up with a formula that is fairer and more realistic. Is that too much to ask?