Thinking of buying a foreclosure. Anybody have any experience with having the assessor's office re-asses your property tax in Oklahoma County? How much did you save, etc?

Tried a couple of times several years with out sucessful results.
The old term you cant fight city hall really applies here.
Good luck lol.

Wouldn't you think if the last sale price went from $75,000 to 25,000, there would be room to negotiate? Still not holding my breath though.

One would think in the perfect world yes. Maybe another member with more experience can chime in and help you.

Not a foreclosure and in a neighboring county...

I was able to get Cleveland County in 2008 to reduce their assessed value (so it is possible!) by providing them with a current appraisal (within most recent 6 months or so). the county had just upped the values in my neighborhood and my current appraisal was for around 35K less than the county's value. they then mailed me paperwork within a few weeks that took the county assessed value back below the appraisal i had given them.

I had set up a meeting with a clerk in their office and the lady seemed more interested in having me provide a copy of my appraisal to their office than in the actual values over which we were arguing. Maybe they wanted raw data? The appraiser had my sq ft differ by around 60 sq ft from the county's records and the appraiser provided comps maybe were helpful as well? I don't know and the details are murky beyond what I've already noted.

It seemed like the county was using some kind of new software that just uses a blanket approach to overlay neighborhoods. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they were apt to raise values much faster on the way up than they will be to lower going forward.

I have noticed the Ok County assessor is quite aggressive in their valuations, often right at or higher than most recent sales. Please let us know if you have any success going forward with the OK assessor.

A few years back there was a 5% cap placed...while the plain and ordinary language would indicate that they couldn't raise it more than 5%, the OK assessor at the time asked for an Attorney General's Opinion that they were now required by law to raise it 5% every year. The Opinion stated that they indeed had to raise it 5% (dont have the article handy, but that is what it said). Have read that an AG's Opinion has the force and effect of law (unless overturned by the courts). As far as I know, it was never overturned. If the 5% increase is required, it should be just a matter of a software program plugging in the formula and sending out the notices.

All of that said, the OK assessors site states that the 5% cap is just that (that they cant raise it more than 5% yearly) and it is NOT required. Something recent says they physically set foot on the property to access?? Other recent articles have indicated that the AG's Opinion is advisory only and does NOT have the full force and effect of law (unless over ruled), so I dont know who to believe on it any more. But the advisory thing was about a different subject matter and may be different???

As others have pointed out, take as much documentation as you can if you challenge the assessment.

In the eight years I've been in my current house, the taxable value has gone up 5 percent four times, less than 5 percent twice, and declined slightly twice.

A few years back there was a 5% cap placed...while the plain and ordinary language would indicate that they couldn't raise it more than 5%, the OK assessor at the time asked for an Attorney General's Opinion that they were now required by law to raise it 5% every year. The Opinion stated that they indeed had to raise it 5% (dont have the article handy, but that is what it said). Have read that an AG's Opinion has the force and effect of law (unless overturned by the courts). As far as I know, it was never overturned. If the 5% increase is required, it should be just a matter of a software program plugging in the formula and sending out the notices.

All of that said, the OK assessors site states that the 5% cap is just that (that they cant raise it more than 5% yearly) and it is NOT required. Something recent says they physically set foot on the property to access?? Other recent articles have indicated that the AG's Opinion is advisory only and does NOT have the full force and effect of law (unless over ruled), so I dont know who to believe on it any more. But the advisory thing was about a different subject matter and may be different???

As others have pointed out, take as much documentation as you can if you challenge the assessment.

I don't recall it quite that way, but it's not anything I've studied on heavily. My recollection, which might be faulty, is that the 5% was never mandatory. My recollection is also the cap came into being because of complaints that properties were not regularly revalued, so when it came around, there was some serious sticker shock come tax time. Yet many properties were under valued tax wise, and the only way [post cap to catch them up was to hit the max increase regularly.

Again, I might be in error, but I think the assessor site has it stated correctly, that it can be increased, but not more than 5% each year on the high end.

kevinpate: I agree that the current assessor site wording is the correct interpretation of the law. The previous assessor and Ag opinion was in the wrong (went against the obvious intent and plain/ordinary language).