Property Tax Bombshell - 54% Increase in Land Value

I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned this on the blog yet, but I nearly fell out of my chair when I received my tax bill. When my wife went in to the assessors office for an explanation, she was told something to the effect that the Fox Hill Street land values had increased everyone's land value in the town. I am curious to know if anyone else has more information on this subject. However, the following comes to mind.

First, when I went in to the assessors office last year to discuss my tax bill and how high it was, they said the then current depressed market prices would not be reflected on the bills until the following year (i.e. now). That's because the assessments are based on sales from the previous years' sales. This years' bill is supposedly based on land values in 2007. I haven't gone into any sort of hard research on this yet, but my recollection is that property values were flat or down from 2006 to 2007 and certainly went down in 2008. In fact, I bet that the Fox Hill sales substantially and unreasonably skewed the 2007 figures because the only thing that people were purchasing in Westwood that year was high end new-to-the-market property. No one with any older inventory could sell anything at any reasonable value.

Second, the Fox Hill values should have no effect on my neighborhood, or if anything, cause the value to go down. The shiny new neighborhood with the cobblestone walks, stone wall entrance, no overhead wires, faux gas lamps and some views of Boston will certainly draw potential buyers away from my shabby old neighborhood with homes built in the early 70s with it's richly pot-holed streets and no sidewalks to get you anywhere you want to go. No to mention that my neighborhood is far removed from Fox Hill Street.

I would love to hear from anyone who might know a thing or two about how all of this works because I certainly don't have the ability to keep paying the old rates, let alone the new.