Jul 14, 2016 2 min read

I remember being told that one never buys a pig in a poke, which basically means you should know what you are getting before you purchase it.

We just received our property reassessment and, like most people in Washington County, we are concerned. I understand that the old assessment was reflective of 25 percent of the market value of a property, and the new one reflects 100 percent of the market value. So we know that this will cause an increase in our taxes, even though the real estate market does fluctuate, and what you could sell your home for this month could change in a couple of months.

We are being advised to avoid trying to estimate our 2017 property taxes because there is not enough information to do so with any degree of accuracy. Boy, this really helps those of us on a fixed income. What will this new assessment mean when it comes to how much we will be required to pay? If it is too much, will we be unable to keep our home? These are just the basic questions causing concern, yet no one has given any answers to reassure people. We are just expected to buy that pig in a poke and proceed as if all is normal.

Doris Dhayer

Avella