Apparently, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. Hence, I haven't posted any...yet. But I will.
However, I will grace you with an irritating turn of events about it. If I had to put a title up, it would be something along the lines of, "I should have been in politics".
After the deck was finished, I was graced by the property tax assessor. The nice person from the govt let me know they were there checking out the "new addition" to the house.
Me: ??? "NEW addition?"
TA: "Yes. The new deck."
M: That isn't a new addition, it is repair/replacement of the old deck.
TA: It is new. And, it is an addition. Hence, a new addition.
M: No. It is maintenance. The old one had a lot of bad boards, so we replaced it...maintenance, like replacing a leaky faucet or a burned out light bulb.
TA: Old one came down, new one went up. The deck is an addition to the house so it is a "new addition".
M: But we always had a deck. Since the house was built. How can you call it a "NEW addition"?
TA: As I said, it's new. And it's an addition to the actual structure of the house. A "NEW addition".
M: Taxes aren't going to go up because we ADDED a new addition, that was there since the very start, is it?
TA: Maybe. Not my call. I just assess. Besides, decks depreciate VERY quickly, so it might.
M: Well, my taxes didn't DEPRECIATE as the deck aged. In fact, they keep saying the house was worth more, and the taxes went up too.
TA: None the less. It has to go on the books as a new addition. If that raises your taxes, take it up with the county.
I was speechless at that point. That, to me, would be like saying everytime you change a light bulb, you just increased the value of your home with a "new addition" and the taxes are going to go up. I know, a little extreme, but same difference.
With a scam like that going on, I should have been a politician.
Now, line up and tell me, "Who wants some snake oil?"
Catch 22 happens.
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