How One Man Found A Decade Of Tax Overcharges

It's never fun forking over your hard-earned money, but it's even worse when you find out that you've been paying too much. Sometimes, we just need to know the right questions to ask so that we know if we are paying too much. In the case of a Beckham County resident here in Oklahoma, he never knew he was paying too much in property taxes until recently.

Chad Newton - better known as @shedhead75 on TikTok - shared his recent experience with the Beckham County Assessor's Office on the social media platform, explaining how he found out that he was paying an excessive amount of property taxes for over a decade.

Although he wasn't able to recoup the money he's overpaid over the years, he's trying to warn property owners in Oklahoma to take a closer look at their information and make sure that everything is accurate.

"People, if you've got dormers or windows that are up high, you better listen up."

@shedhead75 Better check what your being taxed on!!!! #oklahoma #beckhamcounty #payattention ♬ original sound - Chad & Karie Newton

In Oklahoma, property owners have to pay a certain amount each year for owning a property - be it land or a building or both. Oklahoma's property taxes meet right in the middle of the country's property taxes rates at number 25, with the highest taxes being paid in Cleveland County.

This particular Oklahoma home owner was plenty used to paying property taxes, which is never cheap. But he didn't become suspicious of how much he was paying until he tried to get a quote from an insurance company.

"Went to go get some different quotes on insurance this year and the quotes came back extremely high," he said. "I asked the insurance agent 'why is it so high? Why is higher than what I'm paying right now?'"

He discovered that the Beckham County Assessor’s Office had his home listed at over 3,800 square feet. In reality, his home was actually only a 2,200 square foot house. The information provided by the County Assessors Office was what the insurance companies were using to price policies to the home owner.

"How can an Assessor tax you on an assumption?"

Newton recounted his conversation with County Assessor representatives, who told him that they get their numbers from measuring the outside of the home, but not the inside.

According to Newton, the County Assessor’s Office appeared to have assumed there was an upstairs or bonus room based on the presence of high windows, rather than confirming this with him.

"Yeah, I've got windows up there, but they open into my living room," he told office staff. They then asked for proof that the home was, indeed, only 2,200 square feet without an upstairs level or bonus room.

After presenting an appraisal from when he originally moved into the home in 2014, Newton asked what could be done about the previous years that he was overcharged in property taxes. Unfortunately, according to him, the office said nothing could be done.

A final warning to Oklahoma's property owners.

It's important to pay close attention to all of your paperwork, especially when it comes to the specifics of your home and property. Although property taxes do play a vital role in funding things like local schools, vocational-technical education, libraries, and city and county government, you want to make sure you aren't being overcharged.

Although, according to Newton, the yearly evaluation may not include the square footage of your home, you can contact your county assessor's office to find out what they have it listed as.

Hopefully you won't be shocked by the news like this Oklahoma home owner was.