The county's 3 percent

EDITOR:

Earlier this year when we received the notice of assessed valuation from Douglas County, I had a very small hope that our property tax bill might actually decrease because our assessed value had decreased for the second year in a row (this year by nearly $33,000).

When the tax bill arrived, all hope was immediately dashed. It was apparent that the assessed value doesn't have anything to do with anything.

The county took our tax bill amount from last year, calculated and imposed a 3 percent increase, and then eliminated enough abatements (credits/reductions to the homeowner against the tax bill) to impose the 3 percent increase while not exceeding it. The same 3 percent increase occurred in the previous two years and perhaps for other years as well. I didn't do the math any farther back than 2008.

Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of us got an automatic 3 percent increase every year? Just think what we could do with that extra 3 percent. What do you think the county will do with it?

Kathy Coleson

Minden