By ROBERT VISEL
Los Alamos

I’m assuming all the property owners in Los Alamos have received their latest 2021 Property Tax Assessment in the mail and that you’ve noticed a significant and outrageous increase in the amount you will owe for 2021.

Everyone who owns property in Los Alamos could, save themselves a lot of money on their recent Property Tax Bills for 2021 by simply taking a little time and writing a “Protest” to Kenneth Milder at the assessor’s office about the recent evaluation of your property. You should do this every time you receive a tax bill showing an unreasonable increase in your property taxes. Hopefully resulting in the County reevaluated their decision on this, and future, unreasonable tax hikes.

They don’t have the manpower at the assessor’s office to assess each property individually, so they just go on an assumption of what your property is worth. This has been going on in this County (as well as many other cities and towns) for years!

Now if you’re like me, between the Pandemic and the outrageous price the County charges for water, and now doubling the price for natural gas, you’ve probably let your house and yard go. Unless of course you’re one of those wealthy individuals in Los Alamos, where this significant tax increase is a drop in the bucket, the price of maintaining your house has skyrocketed. None of these factors are taken into consideration when coming up with an assessment of the value of your property.

This new 2021 Property Tax Evaluation is absurd! Your Tax Evaluations as Property Owners in Los Alamos County have been grossly overestimated for many years. 

Our Los Alamos County Government seems to think that everyone works for the Lab and makes over $200,000.00 a year. There are many who are either unemployed or have reduced hours due to this pandemic who don’t make even close to that! A lot of these residents make between $27,000.00 to $49,000.00 per year when they have a job. Seeing how it is more expensive to live in Los Alamos the cap for lower income should be valued at $50,000.00. Anyone trying to live, let alone own a home, and whose total household income is less than $50,000.00 should be given the “Low Income” credit NOT the pathetic $35,400.00 per year!  

If my House and Property were really worth what they say it is I would sell it to the County TODAY! 

The Corona Virus has prevented many residents of Los Alamos County from holding their regular paying job, or being able to sell anything they can, to make money because of this Pandemic and our exalted ruling tyrant Governor’s lock down. Many are being forced into bankruptcy because of the County’s irresponsible spending and forcing the residents of Los Alamos to pay for it.

I really think Los Alamos County was very premature in this significant raise of Property Taxes and should postpone this hike for at least two more years with a more accurate estimate of everyone’s actual Property Value.

I just really wish I had been paying attention and known about this process sooner I would have started doing this years ago instead of being so complacent.

Not only should you submit a protest but also demand a report on just how they concluded the valuation of your property (i.e.: Evidence Packet).

So, let’s band together and submit overwhelming PROTESTS to the County Assessor for this, and future, outlandish Property Tax Bills and hopefully with enough of us protesting the County will reevaluate their decision to raise our Property Taxes now and in the future.

We need to put a stop to Los Alamos’s greed and wasteful spending by overwhelming the assessor’s office and inundate them with Property Tax protests. But we can only change the County’s behavior if the majority of us submit these protests and demand proof of the reasoning behind our Property Values.

This will only work if everybody does it or we will all get stuck with not only our current tax bill but all future greedy actions from our local Government. You only have until April 30 to get these Protests in so get them written and sent in ASAP!

We need everyone to send the protest either in letter or email form:

Kenneth Milder
County Assessor
1000 Central Ave, Suite 210
Los Alamos, NM 87544

assessor@lacnm.us
Subject: Protest of evaluation

Editor’s note: Readers are always encouraged to fact check statements made in letters and columns.