To the editor: The April 13 GazetteLeader should be lauded for printing two items calling attention to rising property taxes – one a letter to the editor and the other regarding the McLean Citizens Association’s (MCA) resolution concerning the county budget.
The MCA board said, “Some residential properties in McLean saw their residential assessments rise by 20 per cent or more and many of those were smaller, older houses,” owned by senior citizens.
Case in point are the taxes on my property that, since I bought it 30 years ago, have quadrupled, a county increase the letter-writer also cited. This is not fair and it is not right. It borders on confiscatory.
When I appealed my assessments, the tax assessor told me my neighborhood is “a heavily sought-after market area” in which “older properties are replaced by bigger homes.” In effect telling me, too bad.
Having made a decision 30 years ago to purchase my property is not a reason to be penalized year after year. I have not found oil or gold or uranium on my land to justify such an increase.
To remedy this injustice, I have repeatedly advocated to the Board of Supervisors and the state to find a solution. Seniors deserve no less.
Fariborz Fatemi, Arlington
