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News
New Development: The Courts at Parthenon
Learn more about how this new building project, the first to be built within the guidelines of the urban design overlay, will fit in with the character of the neighborhood.
Property Assessments and Property Tax Information
Many of us have expressed concern about how the recent property assessments will affect our property tax bills. A Vanderbilt economics professor explained it this way:
“Here is a long version of how it works in Davidson County. Each property is appraised at fair market value. Note that you can appeal these, but it helps to have a recent appraisal (realtor CMA, mortgage or homeowner's insurance appraisal, etc.). Then, the appraisal is converted into an assessed value. For residential property, the assessed value is 25% of the appraised value. For businesses, industrial plants, etc., this rate is higher. If you add up all of the assessed values in Davidson County , this is the total assessed value. Now, Metro Council sets a tax rate per $100 of assessed value. They do this by calculating the size of the budget (how much money they need to raise) and dividing this by the total assessed value in Nashville. For example, if the total assessed value of property is $1 million and the town needs $50,000 to operate, they need to collect $5 for every $100 of appraised value, so the tax rate would be set at $5.
“What happens if your house appraises higher? If all properties are appraised higher by the same percentage, this has no impact on your tax since it will just lower the tax rate proportionally. What really is important is how much your assessed value changes relative to the rest of town. There is an online tool for comparing your value to others (perhaps neighbors or similar properties). Just enter the address in this tool and it will show you the appraisal.”
The short version of this is that our tax bills will probably go up, but fortunately, they shouldn't go up as drastically as we feared.
This article in the Tennessean explains how older residents can apply for tax relief.
West End Park Neighbors Seeks Nonprofit Status
The board has begun the formal process of organizing West End Park Neighbors as a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation. This endeavor involves many steps and could take us several years, but in the end, we hope to have our neighborhood group designated a 501(c)(3) by the IRS. This designation will make us exempt from paying taxes, and it will also allow members and donors to deduct dues and contributions. Another advantage of this status is that it makes us eligible for a much wider range of grants. The first step, which we plan to take very soon, is to register with the Secretary of State of Tennessee as a nonprofit corporation. If anyone in the neighborhood is an attorney who could review our charter and by-laws, that would be very helpful. Two board members have contributed $150 each to pay for the registration and to provide funds for opening a checking account. Having a checking account will make it easier to receive membership dues and to pay for future filings and other expenses, such as web hosting fees. The paperwork to file for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS is more involved, and we'll need to maintain careful financial records. If we have any accountants in the neighborhood who might be willing to review the records at least annually, that would also be very helpful. We think that taking these steps will make our group more effective at raising funds for projects. Several other neighborhood groups have done it and highly recommend it. If you have any suggestions or can offer some assistance with this effort, please contact Margaret Bean at 269-6873 or write westendpark@comcast.net.
New Italian Restaurant Set to Open in November
Developers have broken ground on the new Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant near American Centers One and Two at 31st and West End. Maggiano's is a high-end Italian franchise owned by Brinker International, which also owns On The Border, Macaroni Grill, and Chili's. The restaurant will be located in front of the property between the Blue Cross and American Center buildings. The construction project is scheduled to be finished around September-October and Maggiano's should be opened for business in November 2005. Thanks to Michelle Myers of CRI for keeping us up-to-date!
Detailed Neighborhood Design Plan Workshops
In November, as part of a larger study of the Green Hills/Midtown area, the Planning Department will be doing a detailed study of the corridor along West End Avenue adjacent to our neighborhood. Learn more at the Planning Department's webpage for the project. Fall Neighborhood Clean-Up Day - October 9, 2004
Check out photos and information about the event here.
Night Out Block Party a Success! - August 3, 2004
Read about the event and enjoy the photos here.
West End Park Signs Up!
Our new neighborhood signs were installed on Monday, August 2, 2004. The neighborhood association funded the signs with a Community Enhancement Grant from the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods.
West End Park in the News
Our neighborhood was mentioned in a July 2004 City Paper article about Urban Design Overlays. Read the full article here.
View
Property Assessments and Photos Online
This interesting new website
for the Davidson County Property Assessor office allows you to search
properties by owner name or address, and provides information on selling
price, year built, appraisal and size. It also shows a photo of the property.
Begin a search by typing a last name or street address into the search
box in the blue bar at the top of the webpage.
Parking Tickets
You may have noticed that parking enforcement officers are ticketing cars that are parked on the street facing the wrong way. To avoid a ticket, be sure to park with the flow of traffic.
Urban
Design Overlay approved by Metro government
A vision for our neighborhood: Download the Overlay
Part I (PDF):
Table Of Contents, Introduction, Site Description, Concept Plan, Development
Scenarios
Part II
(PDF): Transportation Network, Open Space
Part III (PDF): Buildings, Parking
And Access, Landscape, Streetscape, and Screening, Signage, Regulating
Plan, Standards, Process Metro
awards our neighborhood $4,140 enhancement grant
West
End Close Spurs Amendment of Urban Zoning Overlay
This new condominium development, which is located about a half-mile southwest
of our neighborhood, has created controversy because the building fronts
are extremely close to West End Avenue. In response to concerns, Metro
Planning wrote a new version of the urban zoning overlay that will ensure
that compatible setbacks are followed. The amended UZO has passed its
first reading in Metro Council, with second and third readings to come.
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