Trying to get the courage to write a letter to the Editors.

I live in a small North Shore town that has just sent out the new Tax bills. You all get them, pay quarterly,hope the bill stays about the same so you can budget it in.

I cannot figure out how to go about appealing it.I did get the appeal form the Assessors office. Lots of research required. Tax bills are based on sales of comparable real estate from 2007. How the heck do I find out what houses sold in 2007 and also, which ones may compare with mine?
The assessors office has a quick reply to my question. It's all on line. I may be computer dumb but I sure cannot find sales figures and comparisons on the towns web site. I would have to go through every parcel in the town, one by one, see when it last sold and then compare all features like # of rooms, outbuildings, square footage etc.

They have made it so difficult that I think it is designed to discourage you from even trying.

I have been in this house 41 years. Both my late husband and I rebuilt this 200 year old dump into what we feel was a good place to live. There have been reassessments along the way. That I can accept,the tax bill that came a few days ago has our assessment increased by $30,000. Whopping and all at once.

That may not disturb a lot of you but to me it is critical. I am a recent widow, recently lost my job because my company moved down south. My unemployment is about to run out.

I have not applied for any kind of help. Not fuel assistance, not Senior tax abatement. Not food stamps. I have always had enough to make do and feel there are others who need the assistance more than I do.

Things will now change. I feel I will lose my bid for assessment reduction. I might be able to sell my house for the assessed value but in this town, there is so much real estate for sale, it would take a long time. That is not my point however. I'd like to spend the rest of my life here, where we worked so hard, raised 2 kids. All my memories are here. I can't leave them at this stage of my life.

The assessment is being made based on sales of RE from 2007, before the RE market crashed. Everything is worth less now but we have to pay. There is no opportunity to bring this fact to light. It is known but, well, so what.

I have no way to know if my town has made any significant cuts in its operating budget. Seems to me they should be required to do so in order that they do not whack us with these increases. These are down times, we cannot keep spending just because we want to.

Thanks for hearing me out. I hope you all do not have to face this. To many I am just a cranky old lady but to others, I hope you understand my frustration and concern and my need to vent.

I'll bet there are lots of folks in similar circumstances who may be prompted to write about their solutions. It sounds like you need some financial/estate planning advice. Are your children near by? Maybe they have some ideas? Good luck . . . and you don't sound cranky or old at all.