More Property TaxesDear Neighbors:
I've been informed that AOL users are having difficulty receiving some of my lengthier greetings. Since you all cooperated by keeping your messages short, I will do the same. If AOL users are still experiencing difficulty, please let me know. Someone suggested that I clarify dc.story's constituency. Should only garden-variety, law-abiding, tax-paying D.C. residents be allowed to subscribe? Not at all. Most of us would be out of here. I'd like the audience to be as wide as possible. It concerns me that no one posts messages defending the mayor, for example. (I haven't been censoring those messages.) If you can forward the newsletter to nonsubscribers, we can improve our conversation. Many of you responded to Kathy Patterson's solicitation for information of Public/Private Partnerships. To conserve space, I've held those postings for the next issue. Please send me your thoughts If you want to address that issue. Jeffrey Itell ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Party Don't forget Electronic Backfence night at Pizzeria Uno's, 3501 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. (Connecticut & Ordway). Date is Tuesday, March 26, starting at 7:30 p.m. Uno's is providing drink deals, 1/2 price appetizers and free pizza. Electronic Backfence is providing the crowd. RSVP to Pat Hahn (to help us get a head count) at c.zero@ix.netcom.com if you plan to come. Hope to see you there! Pat Hahn c.zero@ix.netcom.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Roads Beware of the pit of despair! On the northwest corner of Connecticut and Garfield there's a sewer cover and much of the corner missing. The resulting hole is quite deep -- I almost found out *how* deep during an evening run the other day. It looks like the authorities came by to put a pink cone next to it, but that's not going to prevent someone like me -- or worse, a small child -- from falling in. Is this something we should try to cover over until the city gets around to fixing it? Anyone have some spare plywood? John Keefe jkeefe@intr.net '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Tax It would appear that the DC Real Estate Assessment office made a fundamental error if it raised the 'value' of improvements so much,, as they would have to justify how a depreciating asset can rise in value, when in fact, due to its aging, unless replacement costs have accelerated significantly which is hard to justify to the degree apparent increases have been imposed, the improvements' value ought to be decreasing, rather than increasing... In Arlington, the assessor has been gently raising land values; as a way to creep assessments up...but improvements have been kept level, or decreased....whatever increase there may have been due to 'inflation' in construction costs, that would have been balanced by the decrease in sales prices...so it should have just 'washed'. Hope this gives some on the list the necessary courage to challenge the validity of their assessments. paul foldes PFoldes@interhelp.com ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Tax I've lived in a house in far Northwest for the past 5 years, in the section called Barnaby Woods. My real estate taxes have dropped for the past several years.....on the assessment I've just received, the land value dropped 3.6% and the dwelling 3.5%. The total assessed value dropped from $294,195. to $283,604. Since I'm sure I can get far more that $283K for the house, this is the best news I've received from the city in years. Yes, we should start a petition drive for more interesting cable channels. I'd love to get Comedy Central, E!, and The History Channel. I agree with Rick Rosenthal's take on the flight-from-D.C. hysteria. This city has declined noticeably since the '50's and '60's, but I think the advantages still favor staying put. I can see leaving D.C. for places like Boston or Seattle or San Francisco, but NOT for the bland and often tacky sprawl of nearby MD or VA. Just a quick perusal of the inane, boring va.general newsgroup makes me feel good about living in D.C.! Alan Grossberg snowbird@ix.netcom.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Tax We purchased our home in November, 1995. I sent a letter and a copy of the Settlement Statement to the Department of Finance and Revenue stating that the contract sales price for our home was $25,000 less than the assessed value and enclosed a copy of the Settlement Statement. Last week we received our Real Property Assessment For Tax Year 1997 and the "current assessed value" remained unchanged. If a very recent sale does not determine the "current assessed value", then perhaps valuation is determined by mathematically correlating the number of potholes within the vicinity of the assessed real property. Jerry Lorentz Lorentz@ix.netcom.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Taxes I, too, live in Chevy Chase, D.C., and also saw my property tax assessment rise by the tune of $35,000 (about 12%), with a decrease in the land value of $6,000 (5%) more than offset by an increase in the building value of $41,000 (11.8%). This increase, however, took place during the 1996 tax assessment; we saw no increase in the 1997 assessment, thankfully. I will mention that we added onto the house in 1993-94, adding about 480 sq. ft. I thought about appealing it at the time, but was dissuaded by a fellow (whose name escapes me) who does appeals for a living. PGreene@doc.gov '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Taxes Reading of everyone's complaints made me feel fortunate. I just received my 1997 property assessment and it is actually $19,000 LESS than my 1996 assessment. I am not gloating, though: the 1996 assessment was $15,000 over the amount I paid for the house in 1995, and clearly far in excess of what the house, which has been declining in value ever since I bought it, is worth. A fairer assessment would have been approximately $50,000 less than the 1996 assessment, but at least the assessors are moving in the right direction. Sophie SophEC@aol.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Taxes Sounds like the folks who live in Chevy Chase have a different assessor than down here in Mass Ave Heights. Whether because of the proposed Guy Mason homeless shelter, or just because we now have an investment we better plan to hold on to until the undertakers come around, our assessments went way DOWN. I think they're accurate, but it is sort of discouraging. On the other hand, since I plan to stay in the house, and have to pay my taxes, I'm not complaining. E Seidman ESeidman@gnn.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Property Taxes It must be the luck of the draw. For 1997, DC decreased the assessed value of my lot by 3.6 percent; the building was decreased by 3.5 percent. (This is in Chevy Chase/Barnaby Woods.) This leaves the assessed value still well above what I could probably get. I have no present intention of leaving, so it probably makes no difference. Crime I've never been the victim of a violent crime (yet) and was saddened to hear of Mr. Pegoraro's recent experiences. I was appalled last Thursday morning when a woman in our office was robbed at gunpoint at 9 AM on the sidewalk in front of the Justice Department on Constitution Ave. Some guys in a car stopped and asked for directions. When she walked over to the car, one of 'em jumped out, pointed a gun at her, grabbed her purse, got back in, and took off. I guess there's no escaping it. Cable Television Is the DC cable TV operation the worst in the area? In the country? It has to be among the worst in terms of value for money. About half the unscrambled channels seem to be devoted to home shopping, the DC government (council, mayor, school board), pop music of various kinds. Yet it doesn't carry 2 of the 3 Baltimore major network stations, the Chicago superstation, the Comedy Channel (as previously noted), the History Channel, the Sci Fi Channel, and on and on. Now that Congress has mandated another round of cable deregulation, should we expect immediate, major increases in basic rates? (One hopes that if/when the phone company gets in the cable TV business, rates will decrease and choices increase.) Who owns DC Cablevision, anyway, and how did they get the franchise? I assume the owners are friends of local politicos who got the franchise through inside contacts. I hope I'm wrong about that. Greg Jones GMon6612@aol.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Taxes I finally forced myself to do our taxes (well, the federal taxes, anyway). First cut. The bad news is that we owe a sizeable chunk of change to Uncle Sam. Then I turned to our D.C. taxes (always depressing). I was uplifted, however, to see a sincere note from our Mayor on the inside cover of the tax booklet, because he writes: "Washington, D.C. is well on its way to becoming the best-managed, best-run city in America." Awesome. dan@ids2.idsonline.com ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Traffic 1. Contrary to popular belief, a yellow light does indeed mean "stop," and not "floor it." This is true in all jurisdictions, not just D.C. Also contrary to popular belief, a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, whether the intersection has a signal or not. 2. Why does retrocession have to mean "Washington, MD"? Why not keep the "DC" but let Maryland govern the place? The prestige, if there is any left, is preserved, and the quality of government improves. The Post Office could probably accommodate this concept, although if they can't identify residents without an apartment number it may take some serious staff training. 3. If the public/private partnerships are incorporated as 501(c)(3) corporations, contributions to them would be tax-deductible. This is one way to avoid the "double taxation for services" complaint, which I find perfectly valid. Such partnerships are a good way to clean up the city; the BID concept has done wonders for Times Square, for example. stephanie faul steph@clark.net '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Schools I am very concerned about a trend I am seeing in schools, especially at the elementary level. It seems that if the weather is bad, or it is the end of a long week, the children are plunked down in front of the television for a couple of hours. I am shocked and disgusted. I am planning to send my son to kindergarten at John Eaton this September. But I would like him to do more than watch TV. It seems to me that if the children can't go outside to play during recess, they should invent games or read books or some such during the allotted time. (I have received my information from a mother whose child goes to Eaton.) Any thoughts or comments? Anyone with children of similar age experiencing the same issue? Or am I worrying too much in advance. Leila Afzal lafzal@hq.noaa.gov '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Schools In our various discussions about city services or lack thereof, I'd like to see more attention paid to actual conditions in D.C. schools and how to improve them. To give several examples: Because of a broken boiler at Lafayette Elementary School and no capital improvement funds available, some teachers/students are freezing; teachers at Deal JHS and maybe elsewhere are limited to 1,000 photocopied pages per three months and must resort to archaic mimeograph machines that produce barely readable material when textbook supplements are warranted; teachers are furloughed periodically and threatened with more and thus leave for the suburbs; the list goes on, yet the "political" debate revolves around a supposedly bloated school bureaucracy (which actually has been greatly reduced in recent years, but even if it hasn't been cut to everyone's satisfaction, why do we take out our cuts on teachers and students?) I realize that similar stories can be told about other elements of the D.C. government, but the general question is why the whole premise of the current financial discussion seems to be that because D.C. has financial problems, everything has to be cut? Does Congress, the control board, city council, etc. realize the actual conditions of city institutions and what must be done to bring them up to par? If we continue on the downward trajectory we seem to be on, no wonder so many commentators in this newsletter are discouraged? Many D.C. residents I speak to complain that the political debate revolves around abstract issues like Home Rule or whether the deficit is Marion Barry's fault or Sharon Pratt Kelly's and does not focus on real problems. To quote John Adams in "1776," Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Ted Gest 73652,2560@compuserve.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Cable Television According to the cable folks, requests for new channels are logged and considered. You can make such a request by either calling District Cablevision (635-5100), or, better yet, by writing a letter. Such correspondence should be addressed to: (Ms.) Francis Turner General Manager District Cablevision 900 Michigan Ave., NE Washington, DC 20017 When channel-adding time comes around, they are obligated to review the file of requests that has then accumulated. Besides viewer demand, there are also technical factors that have to be considered before new channels can be added. And while the Cable Visionaries wouldn't tell me at what capacity the system is currently operating, there exists the possibility that there is simply no more channel space on the current system. After all, you don't think they'd let such revenue go unrealized, do you? Steve Higgins schiggins@cbs.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Merchants
I don't know Claude, the Spa was home to the only Isolation tank in the city available to the public. While I didn't devolve into a more primitive form of primate, it did help a lot with my fibromyalgia, and for a 90 minute soak at 60 bucks it was a decent price. Claude Seymour cseymour@CapAccess.org '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Merchants The Tenley Flotation Spa was not a Massage Parlor. I gave several gift certificates to friends to enjoy an hour in the flotation tanks and they enjoyed it greatly. Its a shame such an interesting and unusual business closed and is now being defamed by clueless residents. Jon.Desenberg@gsa.gov '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Theater I want to call neighbors' attention to a new (this year) cultural resource in the area: the Washington Storytellers Theatre, which presents a storytelling performance *for adults* every month, October through May, at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church, 4700 Whitehaven Parkway NW (off Foxhall Road just south of Mt. Vernon College). The shows are $10, $8 for members and $6 for students and seniors, and they present some of the best storytellers in America. The next WST show will be on SATURDAY, MARCH 16, at 8:00 p.m. It's the Washington premiere of a terrific New York teller, Rosina Fernhoff, performing a show called "JERUSALEM STORIES"--two powerful stories exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict and its consequences for its victims. For reservations, call 202.291.2170. Jo Radner jradner@american.edu '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events FROM COUNTERCULTURE INTO THE FUTURE: This "ingathering" will commemorate the 25th anniversary of Fabrangen, founded in 1971 as the first Jewish counterculture center. Off-shoot organizations include the Fabrangen Havurah (alternative congregation), the Fabrangen Fiddlers (musical group), the Fabrangen Cheder (religious school), the Jewish Folk Arts Society, the Jewish Study Center (adult education), Kerem Literary Journal, and two tzedakah (charity) collectives. This unprecedented concentration of activity in the DC metropolitan area has created an atmosphere in which many other more recent groups have been able to flourish, focusing on creativity, joy, egalitarian participation, and the search for justice and community service. Sunday, March 17, 1996, 12:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tifereth Israel Congregation, 7701 16th Street NW, Washington DC Contact: David Shneyer, (301) 309-2310, or Clare Feinson, (202) 667-4701. $5.00 contribution is requested. cdahlke@kauai.mitre.org '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' The End For fast, reliable internet service, contact Michael Mann at Interstate Internet (mmann@intr.net). <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Jeffrey Itell Publisher: dc.story Your Electronic Backfence Story@intr.net <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> |
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