For the ones that want to bend the rules....Beware!!! My SIL was the County Auditor for our county. Not only do you have the "every couple of year" increases on your taxes, you also have persons that go around for the Auditors office and do updated pictures for the Auditor records. This happens about every 4 or 5 years. I just talked to the new Auditor the other day and she informed me that this year they will be updating all of the records again. So anything that shows different from before will be recorded and taxes and or fines will be imposed. I was also informed by my SIL that satellite photos are on file to compare homes from a few years ago. I don't know if they are Google Earth photos but I do know they are satellite photos. Insurance companies will do the same thing for storm damages to roofs to see if you are scamming them or not on a claim.
Another thing to remember is that in these hard times, municipalities, counties, etc. are looking to get every dollar that they can. You have Township Trustees that drive through the countryside in their district just to see if people have the proper permits. I know.....I've been caught twice. Not doing anything illegal, but once was not having a Township permit (didn't know I had to have one as I did not have to have a Building permit) and the other was that I had a Township permit, but did not have a County permit. I had to have a County permit to put a culvert pipe in a side ditch to make a driveway. And the pipe HAD to meet their specifications. The third time I was caught I had all of what I needed EXCEPT one of the Deputy Auditors was driving by and wanted to see the progress on the wifes potting shed. I was only about one half way done with it, but he wanted to know what the interior was going to be finished in, whether it was going to be insulated or not and when final completion would be so he could check it off. I told him when I anticipated it would be done and he told me what day he would be back to check on it. Lo and behold, 6 months later he showed up on the day he stated he would. And the taxes went up!!!
So if you think about cheating, think about the consequences of getting caught. There are eyes all around and cameras all around. And like I stated before, with tough times on us, they're going to squeeze every penny they can and also make the ones on the lookout do their job.
To see if you are updated or not on photos, check Google Earth once in a while to see if they show the latest that you have done. The photo that I have from them is 2 years old or less but shows every improvement except for tearing down a deck and gazebo at the pond. If you look at the photo of my house it shows a sidewalk all of the way around the house. I am surprised that I did not get taxed on that as some places will tax on the amount of concrete. I did get a small increase due to the fact that I have three driveway entrances from the road. The third is the asphalt drive going back to my garage. That is the one I got busted on but kind of let off of the hook too. According to the County Engineer, any house in the county is only allowed ONE access and egress to the property. My circle drive was grandfathered in, but being I had the last one in before I got caught he let me slide and just taxed me for it. We also get taxed on square footage UNDER ROOF. I have a 6' overhang on two sides of my garage and a 6' & 8' overhang / porch on my family room that gets taxed.
Anyways........just be cautious before you decide to cheat the system
