Today I went to protest our property tax appraisal. In Matt's never-ending quest to save money and in mine to be a know-it-all lawyer, we thought it might be a fun exercise.
I loaded up Helen and Patrick and drove the 45 minutes to Angleton and the county appraisal office. I was armed with documents, arguments about fair market versus appraised values, and my winning personality. Little did I know the strongest weapons in my arsenal were strapped into a neon green double stroller.
While I was meeting with the appraiser Helen kept asking for cookies. I gave her raisins. She threw them on the ground. Patrick was screaming. His paci kept falling out of his mouth. Helen took the bow out of her hair and tossed it on the ground next to the raisins. I looked down and Patrick was sliding out of the stroller. His legs were hanging out and Helen was kicking them. He screamed even louder. Helen wanted to play with my documents. I gave her a scrap piece of paper and she took a bite out of it.
The appraiser's office was the size of Helen and Patrick's bathroom. She kept having to step out to make copies of my documents. She had to climb over the stroller, the screaming 7 week old, and the 20 month old chewing on paper. I kept apologizing. She remained pretty silent.
After her second trip to the copy machine, Helen took off her shoes and threw them. At that point, the appraiser offered me a settlement of my protest. I hadn't even scratched the surface of my argument. Our settlement reduced the county appraised value of our house by $70,000 from last year. I'd like to think that I really wore them down. My preparation and well-reasoned arguments were that good. But in reality, I think bringing two kids under two might have given me the edge. I think the county thought that it was worth losing the extra tax revenues just to get me out of there.
I loaded up Helen and Patrick and drove the 45 minutes to Angleton and the county appraisal office. I was armed with documents, arguments about fair market versus appraised values, and my winning personality. Little did I know the strongest weapons in my arsenal were strapped into a neon green double stroller.
While I was meeting with the appraiser Helen kept asking for cookies. I gave her raisins. She threw them on the ground. Patrick was screaming. His paci kept falling out of his mouth. Helen took the bow out of her hair and tossed it on the ground next to the raisins. I looked down and Patrick was sliding out of the stroller. His legs were hanging out and Helen was kicking them. He screamed even louder. Helen wanted to play with my documents. I gave her a scrap piece of paper and she took a bite out of it.
The appraiser's office was the size of Helen and Patrick's bathroom. She kept having to step out to make copies of my documents. She had to climb over the stroller, the screaming 7 week old, and the 20 month old chewing on paper. I kept apologizing. She remained pretty silent.
After her second trip to the copy machine, Helen took off her shoes and threw them. At that point, the appraiser offered me a settlement of my protest. I hadn't even scratched the surface of my argument. Our settlement reduced the county appraised value of our house by $70,000 from last year. I'd like to think that I really wore them down. My preparation and well-reasoned arguments were that good. But in reality, I think bringing two kids under two might have given me the edge. I think the county thought that it was worth losing the extra tax revenues just to get me out of there.
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