Family of Deaf Boy in Home Extreme Makeover Struggle with Property Tax Problem

Remember the Vardon family with the two deaf parents, a hearing son and a hearing, blind and autistic son on Extreme Home Makeover? There was a similar family in another Extreme Home Makeover episode with two hearing parents Vic Llanes and his wife Maria, who has thyroid cancer now in remission, their 16-year-old deaf son Zeb and their two nearly blind daughter, along with Vic's blind mother Isabel. This time it is a property tax problem when the value of the newly renovated house was assessed to much more greater than the Llanes can normally afford.

It was assessed at $222,200, and they were paying about $6,110 a year in taxes, according to Bergenfield Tax Assessor Art Carlson.

'Rosie' the computer

The new state-of-the-art home has about $100,000 worth of technology built into it, including solar panels and a computer called "Rosie" -- named after the robot maid on "The Jetsons" TV series -- that ostensibly runs the place.

The Llaneses no longer have to deal with sewer water in the basement, the children finally have their own rooms, and everybody loves the new home "very much, very, very much," Maria Llanes said.

But the value of their property has more than doubled: Carlson estimates it's worth about $497,000, putting the Llaneses' tax bill in the new year somewhere around $14,550.

The Llanes family simply cannot afford to pay the increased propery tax of over $6000 a year. The Llanes family isn't happy about this at all. They love their new home and don't want to lose it. However, New Jersey lawmakers are trying to do something about this.

Some state lawmakers are trying to calm the family's fears through a proposed law that would permit short-term tax exemptions for homes that were renovated for disabled residents by charitable groups. Measures have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly, and the sponsors are hoping for approval early this year.

"When we heard that their taxes would be going up and they wouldn't be able to keep this beautifully new, improved home, we just felt that we should try to do something in the Legislature," said Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, D-Englewood, one of the co-sponsors.

Under the proposals, homeowners' property taxes would remain at the level they were paying before the makeover. At least half the residents in the home must qualify for federal tax credit as a result of being disabled, and the improvements must be made as charity to accommodate the residents' disabilities.

A similar bill was introduced by Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, in July to help a family in Irvington, where a woman with 12 disabled adopted and foster children was facing a huge tax hike after "Extreme Makeover" built them a home twice the size of the original.

This is in stark contrast to ABC's claim that the Llanes family was the most "happiest" among the 80 families they have helped in their Extreme Home Makeover program. Then why don't ABC add a few tens of thousands of dollars to help new owners of renovated houses to help pay their property taxes over the next several years allowing them to adjust and be able to pay and afford property tax payments on their own down the road?

I wonder how the Vardon family is doing with their new house. Are they able to pay their increased property tax as well?