Not unlike most taxpayers who bothered to challenge their over-inflated property assessments last year, my first reaction to my successful appeal was euphoric.

That lasted for about a nano-second, until I asked myself why I should have to shell out the cost of legal representation to correct an error made by Winnipeg's assessment department.

In the long run it was worth my time, money and trouble. But why should anyone have to foot the bill to prove the city over-valued one's property

There's no such shakedown in a regular court action. In fact, the loser usually picks up a significant portion of the winning party's legal expenses.

So, before you roll the dice and launch a costly assessment appeal, you might first want to decide for yourself whether you're paying too much in property taxes.

In the spirit of David Letterman, here are the top-ten whimsical indicators of how you know you're being taxed to the max:

10.When the provincial government decides that the growing cost of university education should be borne neither by students nor society at large but by a $17.5 million subsidy courtesy of local property taxpayers.

9.When your fixed-income grandmother struggling with the property tax payments on the family home starts to romanticize the life of a bag lady over the life an impoverished property-owner.

8.When you buy a house on the Winnipeg-side of Glenway Avenue (the city boundary) and later realize you could have had twice the home for half the taxes had you located on the East St. Paul-side.

7.When the Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray takes credit for a two percent tax cut as plummeting property values in the ever-expanding core promise to push tax rates to record-breaking heights for the rest of the city.

6.When local politicians repeat the tiresome old mantra that they've cut costs to the bone. Meanwhile, money abounds for street festivals, a controversial arena project and increased ward allowances and pensions for councilors.

5.When the cost of a well-needed renovation to your mould-infested bathroom is outstripped over time by the property tax hikes issued from a higher reassessment.

4.When the few services that you consider worthy of your property taxes, like garbage pick-up and road repair, are suddenly targeted by the Mayor as prime candidates for user fees and an extra gas tax levy.

3.When your neighbors spend more time and money with appraisers trying to bring down the assessed value of their homes than they do with painters and landscapers trying to increase their property values.

2.When it takes five days to get the cops to investigate vandalism of your own property because they're too busy shutting down rowdy house parties in neighborhoods that hardly pay any property taxes.

And finally, the number one indicator of how you know you're being taxed to the max:

1.When it gets so unbearable that you actually consider putting your St.Vital home on a flatbed truck and move it to an empty low-tax lot on crime-infested Langside Street.

If you know of any other indicators of "how you're paying too much in taxes," email me at [email protected].