To the Editor:
    Recently, I, like many other citizens of Morgan County received my property tax assessment.
    Imagine my surprise when the value of my home went up $12,000 in the last year without any renovations, additions, new landscaping, or improvements of any kind.
    Is my foundation made of gold bricks? I was wondering because gold seems to be the only thing going up in value lately.
    Or maybe it’s the media lying to us, telling us that the housing bubble had burst and property values are in the dumps.
    Maybe all those speculators out there that are saying home values between 100k and 200k are down an average of $10,000.
    Maybe all these people that are losing their homes because their interest rate went up and they owe more than their home is worth are just pulling some sort of scam.
    And just maybe the professional appraiser that charged me a nice sum of money was off a couple of years ago when he appraised my home at $11,000 less than what the tax assessors office is appraising it for now in a time when property values were up. I am no economic genius and maybe there is something that I am misunderstanding or just don’t know, but how can the tax assessors office say the value of homes all over the county have gone up when realtors, appraisers, lenders, and even the government says they are down?
    My piddley 12k is minor when compared to some other people I have talked to who have seen their assessments jump as much as $30,000.
    Again I am no expert in the matter, but could this be a way for the county to collect more in taxes without actually raising them?
    In a time when the economy is in the dumps, joblessness is up, and belts are tightening everywhere is it really wise to tell the average citizen that they are going to have to dig deeper in their pockets to afford a place to call home?
Robert Bishop
Madison
Via e-mail