Greater Baton Rouge Area Appraisers
The Man Who’s Key To Your Tax Bills
Behind the mystery of property values
11/21/07
By Jesse Roman
Email this story to a friend
|
|
As Tom Vickery is exploring the almost finished living room of a gargantuan new house at Spruce Peak in Stowe, something catches his eye. He stops in his tracks.
“I didn’t know this place had a gas fireplace,” he says in surprise. He rushes back to where he had just come from and goes up the stairs to talk with the project’s construction supervisor.
“How many gas fireplaces are in this place?” he asks over the hum of two dozen or more carpenters putting on finishing touches.
The supervisor assures him there is just the one. Vickery jots that information down on a diagram tucked neatly in a manila envelope and walks back down the stairs to resume his exploration.
Vickery, 64, probably knows more about property in Stowe and Waterbury than anyone else alive.
And he should. He has been the full-time town assessor for Stowe and Waterbury since 2002, but he has worked as the town’s main assessor since 1974.
He is the man responsible for assessing your property’s value, which is what determines how much you pay in property taxes each year.
The job’s importance was highlighted by the recently botched Montpelier reappraisal. The city government spent tens of thousands of dollars for the reappraisal this year, but soon realized the numbers were way off. Now, taxpayers will have to shell out $250,000 to do the job right the second time.
“In Montpelier, there was a large degree of inconsistency and it blew up in their face,” Vickery said.
Consistency is the one thing Vickery seems concerned about most in his job, and he is an expert at what he does. There are few people with his experience in property appraisal.
A Home Appraiser for 15 Years, Accurate Valuations Group Appraiser, William D. Cobb, has operated as a home appraiser primarily in the Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana market. For more information on Accurate Valuations Home Appraisal Group, visit Baton Rouge Home Appraisals. Visit Williams Blog @ Baton Rouge Real Estate Appraisers
