Property Taxes Tripple?

[Jerry Ellis]

When I bought my primary residence, the property taxes went from $1,200 to $3,600 a year. The sellers were elderly and had owned it for twenty or thirty years. I wasn’t prepared and it was quite a shock. I’m looking to buy my first rental property which coincidentally has been owned by the same folks for twenty or thirty years and is also about $1,200 a year in property taxes.

I called the Champaign County Assessor’s office to inquire about a possible change and the clerk who answered said that there were no exemptions in place that would discount the tax amount and that it shouldn’t change. She seemed annoyed and I’m not sure if it was because I was asking such a dumb question or that crabby is just her everyday thing. Regardless, I feel some doubt and am looking for someone to share their experience.

So how worried do I need to be?

[Mike Huang]

I'm curious, how much is the property assessment as per the county versus the market value? Often times the county uses a sale as a reason to increase the property tax because they don't want to be undervaluing a property for tax purposes.