I, like many on the island, was stunned by my new assessment. In the last four years, my husband and I have appealed twice and prevailed. The issue is the value of the land. Our land is on a kettle and the appraisers keep over valuing it.

As we have a new appraiser assigned, I stopped by the office and spoke to her. She did not know what a kettle was. She had no note in her files that we lived on the rim of a big hole.

I told her that our water front view was blocked by trees on a steep slope. She told me that we were in control of our property and could cut down the trees. I told her it was illegal to cut down the trees on a steep slope on the waterfront. She said that she had never heard of such laws and I had to prove it. I looked it up online. It’s Chapter 11, Section 2 of the County Code.

Our appaiser also said that I should look up comparables and she would compare them and take the average. I asked her if she used the mean or the median. She said that was much too technical and it was causing her to get angry with me. I said that it was important as the mean is the average and it can skew the average if there are only a few numbers. She clearly didn’t know the difference between the mean and the median so she explained to me what she does. She uses the median (the middle number) and not the mean (the average).

My husband and I will be appealing our assessment for the third time. What an incredible waste of time and the taxpayers’ money.

Linda H. Thom

Coupeville