Property tax/assessor question

But how would they know the cost? You said you didn't pull a permit. There is no reporting mechanism that reports the cost of a project to the county or city if you don't tell them.
All sales taxes are reported to the State. The computer system at the State level automatically sent it to the County Assessor and Treasurer.
 
All sales taxes are reported to the State. The computer system at the State level automatically sent it to the County Assessor and Treasurer.
Are we talking about a pole building and everything(materials, labor) is paid for at once? Otherwise, I don't see how they could possibly know what exactly was purchased for a project.
 
All sales taxes are reported to the State. The computer system at the State level automatically sent it to the County Assessor and Treasurer.
I know this as I do sales tax reporting for many clients. However this reporting isn't detailed.

And new construction isn't sales taxable.

I honestly think the Treasurer's office fed you a bunch of crap.

Sales tax reporting is essentially:
1. How much gross sales did you have for the period?
2. How much did you have for sales tax exempt sales for the period?
3. What county do you owe sales tax for and what was the sales taxable sales for the period?
Here's what you owe.
 
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Are we talking about a pole building and everything(materials, labor) is paid for at once? Otherwise, I don't see how they could possibly know what exactly was purchased for a project.

They don't know. If you go buy materials at Menards and pay sales tax, when Menards reports/submits that sales tax there is nothing to detail out to who paid it. Not to mention if I live in Jasper County buy all the materials at Menards in Altoona, the sales tax goes to Polk county since that is where the Menards store is physically located.
 
Kind of getting the vibes that OP isn’t as worried about increased taxes as they might be about having officials find out the “addition” is really a new
sex dungeon
:jimlad:

They can ask to come in, and you can refuse, but there is a high likelihood they will max everything, require you to contest it, which then allows them entry.

Better to just get it over with.
 
I know this as I do sales tax reporting for many clients. However this reporting isn't detailed.

And new construction isn't sales taxable.

I honestly think the Treasurer's office fed you a bunch of crap.

Sales tax reporting is essentially:
1. How much gross sales did you have for the period?
2. How much did you have for sales tax exempt sales for the period?
3. What county do you owe sales tax for and what was the sales taxable sales for the period?
Here's what you owe.
I'm guessing it fell under #2 since it was ag related. The contractor and materials all came from out of state. But you could be right on getting fed crap!
 
I'm guessing it fell under #2 since it was ag related. The contractor and materials all came from out of state. But you could be right on getting fed crap!

But that #2 is still just a $ amount with no details around it.
 
There are generally two ways the city/county finds out about your building projects.

1) building permits (most common)

2) city/county employee notices construction (mostly for exterior projects)
 
But how would they know the cost? You said you didn't pull a permit. There is no reporting mechanism that reports the cost of a project to the county or city if you don't tell them.

If I write a check for $50K to a builder to build me a building the county/city would have no idea if I paid him $10k, $50K or $100K.

Here in Linn county, they take the old school approach. They drive around the nicer neighborhoods and look for construction dumpsters or contractor vehicles. When I renovated my house, one of them just pulled in and asked to look around, Told him no thank you, just updating the kitchen cabinets.

One of my neighbors claims the county will occasionally fly droves around and look for unpermitted pole buildings. That's actually pretty common, I know multiple people who have had she sheds or man caves constructed.
 
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There are generally two ways the city/county finds out about your building projects.

1) building permits (most common)

2) city/county employee notices construction (mostly for exterior projects)
And when a house sells - they go out and read the online description and compare it to what they have on file.
 
How much information and access to my home am I required to supply? Can I refuse to let them inside?
We have something similar going on in Indianola. I read through the letter, and no, you can refuse them entry, but they said that the assessment could be less accurate (I read that as, "we're going to make it higher, just in case").
 
I'd like to see how they could figure that out on this project. It's been such a cluster **** I don't even know the total cost.

Sounds like our updating and remodeling project.

In fairness though, I think this happens in general with contractors when you remodel / update and it is common as the homeowner to feel like things did not go smoothly and much more costly than what was originally estimated or projected. That's how we've felt. Seems to happen across the board from other homeowners I've spoken with, so it seems fair to try and keep reasonable expectations with the contractors. There are surprises, and the timeline is always much longer than anticipated. Supply chain issues and dealing with third party suppliers cedes some of the control of the project as well.

Edit: and to answer your original question, which is the entire point of why I opened this thread, I am very confident you can deny entry, but it seems like the assessed value ends up being higher than expected. At least, that's what happened with a person I know who denied entry to a local municipality Assessor in central Iowa.
 
I've ranted about property assessments here a few times so won't repeat the same ones but I do recall a conversation I had with the board I met with to contest an assessment once. Had just bought the home a year before and they were jacking the value up for way more than what I just bought it at. Well on the assessors site they had it listed as a 4 bedroom home and it was only a 3 bedroom so that was another thing I wanted correct. They were trying to claim that since part of my basement shows finished that 1 of the rooms makes the 4th bedroom. Well by code in order to declare it a bedroom you have to have an egress window and this room did not which led to a debate and me basically telling them go look it up they should know this already. One of the guys then said "well regardless it won't make a difference in value if it is 3 or 4 bedrooms" to which I about laughed out loud and responded try telling that that to a realtor because 1 more or less bedroom is a huge difference in value when you go to sell or buy a home. BTW they did go back and change it on their site as a 3 bedroom home after this!

I've basically come to the conclusion when they are making value assessments they have no rhyme or reason how they do it half the time as I have learned through the process of contesting it. You can present them will all kinds of evidence and facts why they are off including giving them comparables in your immediate neighborhood and if you are lucky they may adjust it down slightly but then next time around they jack it up substantially again.
 
I've basically come to the conclusion when they are making value assessments they have no rhyme or reason how they do it half the time as I have learned through the process of contesting it. You can present them will all kinds of evidence and facts why they are off including giving them comparables in your immediate neighborhood and if you are lucky they may adjust it down slightly but then next time around they jack it up substantially again.

I have a friend that used to own a used car lot in Iowa City, on the corner of a good intersection. Real good location.

The city decided a used car lot was not highbrow enough, they wanted that area to be more upscale. So they raised their assessment and his taxes by 3x. Essentially made it impossible to cover that and make any money. The assessment was something like 5x higher than comparables next to and across from him. He appealed it, brought a bunch of appraisals from realtors, etc - did his homework. Got denied anyway, basically they said they thought their appraisal was more better. But thanks anyway.

He could have taken it to court, maybe, but that would have cost a fortune and probably taken years. He closed the business and sold the location for what it was actually worth, not the city assessed value.

Short story- the government can take from you anything you have, if they want to.
 
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I have a friend that used to own a used car lot in Iowa City, on the corner of a good intersection. Real good location.

The city decided a used car lot was not highbrow enough, they wanted that area to be more upscale. So they raised their assessment and his taxes by 3x. Essentially made it impossible to cover that and make any money. The assessment was something like 5x higher than comparables next to and across from him. He appealed it, brought a bunch of appraisals from realtors, etc - did his homework. Got denied anyway, basically they said they thought their appraisal was more better. But thanks anyway.

He could have taken it to court, maybe, but that would have cost a fortune and probably taken years. He closed the business and sold the location for what it was actually worth, not the city assessed value.

Short story- the government can take from you anything you have, if they want to.
That freaking sucks
 
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Tell them to get a warrant

LOL
They can.

If they have reason to believe you've made improvements that you did not permit, they can get in eventually. You can be a pain if you wish or just admit you're caught and let them do their job.