Today we begin our celebration of Public Service Recognition Week, in which we “honor the people who serve our nation as federal, state, county, local and tribal government employees.”
In writing the post about my mom’s 25th high school reunion, I noticed that Zillow in 2025 displays our old family homestead, which was bulldozed in 2012…
Zillow still shows the crummy 1953 Cape Cod house in which we grew up (address above) and lists the mansion’s 1,603 square feet of space (we also used the basement, though, and a screen porch that was glassed in and maybe isn’t included). However, it was bulldozed within hours of being sold in 2012 and the Indian immigrants who purchased it built a McMansion in its place.
What I didn’t notice until more recently was that the Zillow page indicates that my parents’ old house wasn’t reassessed despite having been bulldozed and replaced by a vastly-more-valuable McMansion:
Montgomery County, Maryland is run by Democrats who would be the first to tell you how much smarter they are than Republicans. Ditto for the state government, which I think might be responsible for assessment. The house next door, 6409 Dahlonega, was bulldozed and its assessed value went up from $382,000 in 2006 to $1.7 million in 2007 (today at $2.2 million). My parents’ old house would have brought in more than double the current property tax over the past 13 years if it had been assessed at market rates.
(Incidentally, the people who built the magnificent edifice at 6409 Dahlonega are no longer paying property, income, or, when the time comes, estate taxes to Montgomery County/Maryland. They moved to Clearwater Beach, Florida towards the tail-end of coronapanic.)
These data shatter my preconceptions about government, which I thought was a well-oiled machine for collecting maximum taxes. Maybe there is some rule in Maryland or in Montgomery County that prevents a reassessment after a bulldozing, but I don’t know what it would be.
Anyway, let’s celebrate the property tax assessors of Maryland for their hard work, even if trees obscured their view of the old 1,600-square-foot cottage that was replaced by a hulking McMansion.
Very loosely related…
The { Indians } probably found a way to bribe someone in the assessor’s office, probably a co-ethnic, and supervisors decided to not investigate lest they be considered “racist.”
https://www.news9live.com/world/us-giant-fannie-mae-fires-200-employees-mostly-telugus-over-alleged-donation-scam-2840287
note: “Indian-American Congressman Suhas Subramanyam has launched a probe, demanding due process and an explanation from the company.” Of course when American workers were terminated for no reason and forced to train their Indian replacements, { Suhas Subramanyam } would certainly remind those Americans that “Fannie Mae is an at-will employer, and any employee may be terminated at any time for any reason or for no reason at all.”
Can imagine divorce proceeds & social order have made the CEOs of the house rich in real estate while the CEO’s of the shop are rich in toys but that converges as wealth increases. The very wealthy outsource anything involving a shop or remodeling a house.
May be 2006-2007 was peek of housing bubble and prices were increasing like crazy. In 2012 real estate was not doing good and prices were flat that reflected in appraisal. It is only when you sell that the appraisal will reflect the sell.price. I bought my house in 2013 for $360k in Hillsborough county FL and currently county appraised at $380k and I pay tax for that price.
Anon: the law in Maryland requires that properties be assessed at fair market value and that, even if no renovations or rebuilding has occurred, be reassessed every three years. https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/pages/HomeOwners-Guide.aspx
Could it be a Zillow error? My guess is that the neighbors would have noticed the much lower tax rate and would have demanded a reduction of theirs (or a correction of the error, such is human nature).
@Anonymous, let’s assume you’re correct, wouldn’t that constitute data fraud by Zillow? And shouldn’t Zillow be held accountable?
The media routinely conducts fact-checks and calls out misinformation, holding individuals and organizations responsible. I expect the same level of scrutiny for Zillow, especially considering that millions of people rely on its data to make important decisions.
@George A
How much do you pay Zillow for its services?
@ScarletNumber, I pay $0 for Zillow’s services. The same goes for many other so-called services we all use everyday. Think of major talk shows and social media platforms. Many have been called out for misleading the public, and some have even faced lawsuits.
Phase in value of $910,300 on July 1 this year.
Looks like the $874,800 is July of last year.
https://sdat.dat.maryland.gov/RealProperty/Pages/default.aspx
@philg your point of this post is to tell the GOVTs run by democrats are not as efficient as they say. what is the purpose of your mention of ” Indian immigrants who purchased”. How do you know they are not born here in US.
I like to leave breadcrumbs for future historians. PhDs of the future will have to figure out how, although there was never any “replacement” of Americans, the population changed completely. (Regarding the new owners being immigrants, I’m relying on what my parents told me. I don’t think it is challenging to listen to someone talk and figure out whether he/she/ze/they was born in the U.S., though I guess things get complicated in some parts of the U.S. where the population has been completely changed (though not “replaced”).)
> […] although there was never any “replacement” of Americans, the population changed completely.
A somewhat interesting idea that I had come across before some time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Unwin#Contributions_to_anthropology
Another one is of how Pagans were ‘replaced’ by Abhrahamic faiths in certain countries. Can’t find a good reference for that one.
Re “Not a fan of Indians”, I’m the descendant of Irish who formed their own criminal networks to scan the natives. The Italians taught us that we can mess with the taxpayers but not the Italians (See: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre). Ethnic crime networks are a part of mass immigration. And so is complaining about it and using legislative power to help make it happen.
On Montgomery County. They may be on a 2-3 year review cycle and don’t care about the new build list. In Texas counties now undervalue because the court ordered Robin Hood law sends school tax money to poor towns. In Texas, along with all 49 other states the courts suddenly discovered that somewhere in the State Constitution was wording that required the states, not localities to raise money for schools. Sort of Convergent Interpretational Evolution; “we find the need, we find the words that support the needs we find.
Dave: a 2-3-year review cycle could have given them 4-6 cycles in which to reassess the property (following the teardown and rebuild).
That ain’t nothing. These Indians are clearly amateurs. The property tax assessment on my parent’s old house in New Jersey (1700 square feet) in 2017 was $11,500 per year. Around 2020 the new owners bulldozed and replaced it with a McMansion. What is the property tax assessment on the new home? $5,000 a year.
Low property tax is like stealing your own house from your betters. Or maybe 11,000 for 1700 square feet is stealing, but by your betters? Interesting that immigrant folks who came from places without grand traditions of personal freedom, do not want to work an extra month per year for their betters, unlike freedom – loving Americans from NJ and MD.
$5,000 property tax for decent property in livable New Jersey seems unbelievable. Probably there was re-assessment of property after new construction and either the neighborhood was rated down since last assessment or there was a large bribe. Is it in a good neighborhood? Cities with business districts have lower property taxes, but they also have small properties facing busy roadways, gas stations, etc…
Where in New Jersey?
Montclair Heights in Clifton. Pretty good residential-only neighborhood.