Have property taxes gone up dramatically everywhere?

[survivor999]

Like they have been in MA? This is the best example of Republican BS about taxes. No tax increases, but then towns have to hit you with huge tax property increases to keep things going. Why don't people get this? Or perhaps they did in the end.

Taxes to jump as Hub revalues homes, properties

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | November 18, 2006

Boston property owners, already shocked by the cooling real estate market, will see their property taxes go up by more than 10 percent next year because a new citywide assessment is based on year-old real estate values, city officials said yesterday.

The annual tax bill for the average single-family house will increase from $2,755 this year to $3,093, starting in January. The estimated bill for the average two-family house will jump from $3,307 to $3,857, while the bill for the average three-family house is expected to increase from $3,725 to $4,309.

Letters with the new valuations and estimated tax bills were mailed this week. Property owners have until December to appeal the new assessments.

"We certainly recognize that in many residential neighborhoods, the real estate market has weakened, but by law we have to use 2005 real estate sales to set home values," Assessing Commissioner Ronald W. Rakow said.

The increase follows the city's first comprehensive revaluation of properties since 2003, Rakow said. The fiscal 2007 assessments released this week assign residential property values on Jan. 1, 2006, which were calculated based on 2005 activity in the real estate market.

According to the city's calculations, the assessed value of a single-family house shot from $368,626 to $420,900 in the year ending Jan. 1, 2006. A two-family house went from $418,256 to $490,986 and the average three-family house assessment increased from $455,839 to $532,441.

The actual property tax rate is expected to drop from $11.12 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $10.90 in the new fiscal year, but because of the higher assessments, many will be paying more. The total property taxes expected to be billed is $1.27 billion, up from $1.21 billion.

The city sets residential property values once a year, but every third year, officials use a more comprehensive process. For the past two years, Rakow said, assessors have based values on trends in particular neighborhoods of the city. For example if sale prices of two-family houses in a certain section of Dorchester increased by 10 percent in a given year, then the assessments of all two-family properties in the area would generally increase by the same amount the following year.

More: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/18/taxes_to_jump_as_hub_revalues_homes_properties?mode=PF

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. It's not that the tax *rate* has gone up...

The problem is that the tax amount is based on the assessed value. As prices have skyrocketed in the last few years, so has the assessed value and thus so have the taxes.

If your home increases 30% in value from one assessment to the next, you will see a 30% increase in your property tax.

[angstlessk]

3. The assessed value of my home went up 100%

From about 52,000 to 110,000 as did my taxes!

[acmavm]

15. Mine went up from 52,000 to 89,500 and I thought that was

ridiculous for a two-bedroom Southeast Omaha two-bedroom (with POTENTIAL additional bedrooms in the attic). It was built in 1910. Is starting to have problems (plumbing, etc.).

But someone sold a ranch-type house here in the neighborhood for 158,000 and right after that they re-evaluated the homes in the area.

[Rosemary2205]

9. You are incorrect.

The city or county can easily lower the millage rate so that the taxes you pay are the same regardless of the assessed value of your house. They can also use exemptions and tiered systems to lower taxes.

Say my house is worth $100,000 last year and with exemptions and a 11.2 millage rate I paid $1200 in taxes. But this year my house is valued at $140,000 but the county lowers it's millage rate to 9.4 and my taxes are $1238. -- by the way I picked numbers out of the air to illustrate, but this is basically what goes on in my county.

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. Of course, it varies in different locales

I was speaking generally :hi:

It's been in and out of the news for several years, about how increasing house prices (and thus values) are forcing people to sell their homes because they can no longer afford the taxes.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Your example is unrelated, although it's good for a different topic

Post #1 is explaining how taxes can go up without an increased tax rate (AKA millage rate.) You described how the effect of rising values can be mitigated by lowering the millage rate.

Another way that states and municipalities can adjust the property tax is to lower the level of assessment (LOA.) For instance, if the assessed value of your house is $150,000 but your community has a 90% LOA, the tax will be computed on $135,000 valuation.

How it's done is influenced by state and local laws.

[Rosemary2205]

27. Taxes are not going up because of home values.

Taxes are going up because the county/city was not PROACTIVE in lowering their millage rate to compensate for higher values. I just think it's wrong for people to think of taxes as being the fault of the housing market. Taxes are the responsibility of government not investment. If the government fails to amend it's tax policy then fault them not the housing market......

I'm just saying.....

[Gormy Cuss]

29. Your earlier post said a post was incorrect, and that's not accurate.

Your point is well taken, but the simple answer is that municipalities can claim truthfully that the tax rate (millage) has stayed the same even though the revenues have increased because of increased assessments.

Some local governments are limited by statute to the schedule for making adjustments to the tax rate or the LOA or the exemptions, etc. Some are required to adjust them in the same year, some are required to wait several years. If you've lived in more than one state you've probably experienced it.

Then there's California. Until we sell our houses the taxes are based on assessed value based on purchase price and a 2% increase per year, and the basic tax rate is capped, although voters can choose to add parcel taxes and bonds. In my area the effective rate is 1.5% There's been a new parcel tax every other year, usually to pay for schools.

We end up having highly predictable tax bills, which is an advantage. The disadvantage is that we are required to vote in special taxes and bond measurements to pay for basic infrastructure and we have a relatively high sales tax rate because of local add-on for services.

[survivor999]

22. Exactly. The town needs more money

And will use whatever calculation it needs to to get it out of people.

[Warpy]

2. Mine went up 50% in 10 years

Tax cut, my rosy red rectum.

[porphyrian]

4. Florida certainly has. - n/t

[Not Me]

6. Florida has, UNLESS you are shielded by SOH

'Save Our Homes' limits property tax increases to not more than 3% a year. While designed to give relief primarily to Seniors and those on fixed income, there are no income or property assessment limits. The longer you stay in your home, the more you save.

I have owned my existing home for 8 years, and pay roughly 40% of what the person who were to buy my house would pay upon transfer.

It is grossly unfair, and needs to be reworked. btw, SOH is only available to fulltime, owner occupants.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. The money has to come from somewhere.

Up here in NH we are 'tax free', meaning no sales or income tax, so instead we have HUGE property taxes, business income and profit taxes, and a school funding legal nightmare that has been ongoing for at least 15 years. There is no free lunch. Schools, police and fire, roads, etc all have to be paid for.

At some point citizens are going to have wake up and realize that politicians are lying to them with their stupid mendacious tax cut demagoguery. Every time some damn politician says that he or she is going to cut taxes that politician needs to held to account and forced to explain exactly what services are going to be cut to fund the tax cut. Enough is enough. 30 years of Republican bullshit has got to stop.

[OneBlueSky]

7. my property taxes doubled this year . . . n/t

.

[Tracer]

8. I'd LOVE to pay $3,093 in property taxes!!

Instead, I pay $6,000 on a small Cape Cod-style house here in MA.

And that's on an gross income of about $35,000.

[tcfrogs]

10. How were you able to afford the house? n/t

[Tracer]

11. I bought it many, many years ago.

n/t

[tcfrogs]

13. Just asking, not being critical

If you were just purchasing it, I would have been suspicious of whoever gave you the loan for the house. :)

[Tracer]

16. I didn't take it as criticism.

In fact, if the house wasn't paid off (thank heaven!) I wouldn't be able to live here. My town has become McMansionized over the years, which has driven property values and prices through the roof. The increase in home value doesn't do me a whit of good --- I'm not interested in selling --- and couldn't find a smaller, less expensive house in this area if I tried. Falling down crap sells for $400,000 and up.

[Ilsa]

12. Ours have gone up 45% since we moved here nine years ago.

Schools are still crappy, though. More need to be built. City services are okay, though.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Same here.

[MissB]

18. Ours are restricted to a 3.5% increase per year

or something like that.

[MADem]

19. Basically, you have to scrape like hell, at least until you hit senior citizenry

...and then the 'circuit breaker' taxes kick in. So, if you're living in a house that cost, say, twenty or thirty grand in the sixties, but it's worth four hundred and fifty K now, you will get about a grand off your taxes.

That said, those circuit breaker benefits only apply to homes that are valued at something under six hundred K. And if you make too much money, you're also screwed! http://www.massresources.org/pages.cfm?contentID=69&pageID=12&Subpages=yes

[yellowdogintexas]

20. yes they have, except in very rural areas and in other select

location.

I assist homeowners with property tax and escrow account issues for a mortgage company, so I see on a daily basis the differences from one year to the next on their tax totals. The worst ones to handle are new construction, because the first year the taxes are paid on empty land and the second year on the full value of house and land together. Without good planning that can slam hell out of a family's budget. And the builders sweet talk folks into building these homes, sucker them in with low introductory mortgage rates or interest only loans and don't help them plan ahead for the taxes and it really gets rough.

In New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Nevada, Maryland, Idaho and California, the added valuation for the first year of occupancy is prorated and billed back to the homeowner also. Beware of the construction tax !!!

However in California, once your home is assessed, that assessment value is locked in for as long as you own the home, subject to change only if you enlarge the home or add an external improvement such as a pool, garage, large deck etc. You get a bill for the added value in the first year after the construction, then your assessment is frozen again. However when you first buy the house, the first tax year your bill is the previous owner's tax amount, then you get the supplemental bill which catches your first year up to the full assessment value. Then your second year is a full value amount and you are locked in.

In Texas, like all the rest of the states, your property value may be assessed again and again, thus raising your taxes, even if your actual rates never change.

[leftofthedial]

21. many local governments have had to raise taxes

to compensate for reduced federal funding for necessary social programs

[williesgirl]

23. Just got new assessment, house + land value DOUBLED in 2 yrs - this is bullshit - am fighting it.

I live in a rural area just outside of Fairfax, VA in the mountains. I'm on a fixed income. Moved here to get out of concrete city and $4,000/yr property taxes. Now this happens.

We have zero services. No trash pickup, no snow removal to speak of, I'm lucky to get cable/high speed internet service - 2 houses down the street can't get it.

[NOLADEM]

25. This is another attack on the middle class by Bush

Local governments get their income from two primary sources, sales tax and property tax, both of which are regressive.

Many states try to balance this by exempting non-prepared food, prescriptions, diapers and so forth, and some states also exempt the first 75K or so of value on a home. The states also often have income taxes.

When Bushco cuts social spending, police money, school money, etc. the local governments have to make it up, both by increasing the milage and sales tax, but also by being more 'thorough' in assessments.

Combine this with the nationwide run up in real estate values, and you can see that the tax burden has been dramatically increased while taxes on capital gains, high incomes and other top 1% taxes are cut.

Make no mistake. This is a regressive tax by design. Shrinking the federal government's social spending does not reduce the demand, and local governments look to the individual to pay up.

[jannyk]

26. Yes, everywhere. We have a rural home on Vancouver Island, BC

which we bought in '99 for $460k, it is now valued at $1.5mil - great if we ever want to sell - but we don't.

We are about as rural as you can get - scattered population of 200, half hour to the nearest grocery store/town of 10,000. We have NO services. We have well water, septic for sewage, no garbage pick up - we have to drive it to 'town' and get charged $4 a bag!! Completely volunteer fireforce and a 50 yr old firetruck which the community raised money to buy, stored in a garage the community built themselves. We have no police, street lighting, sidewalks, bus service - nada! Our property taxes have more than doubled to nearly $3,000 in just 7 years.

While that is low compared to our San Francisco home ($7000 - gulp), at least in SF I can get a handle on what the money is paying for, in BC it's a mystery.

It's going to get much worse too, half a mile away they are now selling one acre, bare, oceanfront lots for $899k. (We have 10 acres) There are 15 of them and they are selling, can't wait to see what that does to our 'value'.

[upi402]

28. Yes, to pay for Republican luxury car tax elimination

The Republican initiating these anti-worker initiatives was caught embezzling contributions. Ten$ of thousand$. Public transit went WAY up and road upkeep went down.

But the tax to own a Jag is now the same as a Dodge Dart.

[ThomWV]

30. Our Kill Devil Hills Property Tax Went Up 10X Last Year

But here in West Virginia our taxes on the house and 100 acres really hasn't changed much in 20 years. We own some undeveloped property in the middle of the state too, its taxes about double in the last 5 years.

[MercutioATC]

31. Mine have gone DOWN over 20% in the last 15 years.

God, I love Westlake


:)

[slaveplanet]

32. Heck, I'd gladly take those tax rates

we pay $3700 a year for a single family home assessed @ $186k value around these parts, and they just claimed the school is beyond repair. This November, they tried to push through an 18 mil tax levy to secure a $30 million bond to build a new school. It would have tacked on another $900 per year. They claim the heating system needs parts that are obsolete and no longer available, and that the electrical system is old and it cost 30 thousand last year to repair a fried line. At the same time, they neglected to tell the taxpayers it was due to their negligence, that while spending our millions from the last levy, installing a new computer lab without installing a modern electrical service, that it was they who overloaded the lines. Luckily the measure was defeated five to one.

$308 a month, ten bucks a day, to rent the dirt under our house that we've owned out right for over 20 years now, is more than enough. They want to be negligent with our school, they break it, then they need to get creative and have an old fashioned Amish schoolhouse raising, I want to see them sweat.

On top of that we have city income tax too...

According to the city's calculations, the assessed value of a single-family house shot from $368,626 to $420,900 in the year ending Jan. 1, 2006......The annual tax bill for the average single-family house will increase from $2,755 this year to $3,093, starting in January.

Even with the increase they'll pay $600 less than us with our home assessed at half the value? and I bet they didn't neglect their schools till they started falling apart.

[dapper]

33. Crap, I was at 10k per year.

On Long Island. In the 4-5 years I owned the house my taxes went from $7k to 10k, Then there was day care $1k per month, - Since the houses are so over priced, I wasn't able to save money.

However, I purchased the house at $250k and sold it for $400k, paid off the mortgage and bought cheap elsewhere.

My taxes in Indiana are $3k per year, I have to pay extra for services such as Garbage Disposal but it was the best move I ever made.

In retrospect, there are many things that have caused property tax increases all over.
-Value of the house is part of it

-Federal programs getting cut- Resulting in local governments having to cover the expense.

-In our school district, teachers received pay increases, their pension funds needed an increase in money, special projects. We had a good deal of people vote no on the school budget but a prosperity budget was passed which was only .05% different from the one they tried to get passed originally, we basically got screwed. The budget really wasn't geared for the Children - it was geared towards the teachers.

...and it's not just about Property taxes. Gas was higher, Oil was higher, because of these higher prices the electric company added a surcharge, day care added a surcharge and various other services went up.

Personally, I would have liked to see if the Budget cuts saved us money in the long run or cost us more in the long run. By the feel of it, it cost me more money.

Dapper