Property Tax Sticker Shock

[Dirigible]

One thing CA law is good about.

My property tax bill is 1/3 of my neighbor's and my house is worth more than theirs.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[boomerang]

My property tax bill is 1/3 of my neighbor's and my house is worth more than theirs.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Let me guess, you've lived there for a number of years and they recently bought?

That's what happens in Michigan. Like I said earlier, flawed legislation. It lowered everyone's taxes a ton but the bottom fell out of the real estate market in a heartbeat. People are not moving from home to home upgrading as they go because they will be taxed to death on the new purchase. It resets the valuation. Everybody is just sitting tight.

It wasn't just the pitfalls related to the auto industry that did us in.

 

[OCGuy]

Let me guess, you've lived there for a number of years and they recently bought?

That's what happens in Michigan. Like I said earlier, flawed legislation. It lowered everyone's taxes a ton but the bottom fell out of the real estate market in a heartbeat. People are not moving from home to home upgrading as they go because they will be taxed to death on the new purchase. It resets the valuation. Everybody is just sitting tight.

It wasn't just the pitfalls related to the auto industry that did us in.

That is circular logic. "We need higher taxes on real estate, because otherwise people will stay put for fear of higher taxes"

No.

 

[Sonikku]

It appears that the costs of living in America are spiking at a rate greater than pay raises.

 

[CLite]

That is circular logic. "We need higher taxes on real estate, because otherwise people will stay put for fear of higher taxes"

No.

The stupid logic is putting the brunt of paying for the community on the shoulders of new residents. Why does staying in the community for more years mean you need to pay less for the same services as a new resident?

Prop 13 could be one of the most asinine laws ever passed.

 

[Scarpozzi]

A story and I'll try to make it brief. We used to vacation in Hawaii every other year. We went a dozen times. The first eight or nine trips, we could have bought a very nice ranch style home in the north part of Kauai for about $175K to $185K. We could have rented it sooo easy too. But we never bought. Every time we went back, the prices remained stable so we figured it would always be there.

Suddenly, the prices started ratcheting up. And up and up and up. People were coming over from California where they were used to extremely high RE prices and they were driving the market up. A condo where we stayed on one trip that had sold for $380K, just two years later went for $799K and on our last trip identical ones in the same development had sold for $1.1 million. The result was that native Hawaiians that had owned property for generations were being forced to sell because they could no longer afford the taxes. But then, where do they go? It's an island after all.

Anyway, a friend we made there said that they were proposing legislation to give the native Hawaiians a big break on their taxes. We have not gone back so I don't know how that all worked out.


Bet you get to pay higher insurance premiums too. I know I do because there are no fire hydrants in this rural township where I live.

That's hilarious from my viewpoint but I can fully understand that you look at it differently.

Very sad considering the tourism market there generates a bunch of revenue for Hawaii. It's a shame to see the locals ousted due to high prices...kind of reminds me of the movie "The Decedents".

I was in Kauai in 2006 and saw then how things were shaping up around Lihue and Kapaa. I'm sure prices have doubled since then, but food and specialty items shipped in are expensive enough in a place like that. If I lived on the island, I'd probably just eat locally caught, roasted chicken every night.

 

[waggy]

Bet you get to pay higher insurance premiums too. I know I do because there are no fire hydrants in this rural township where I live.

That's hilarious from my viewpoint but I can fully understand that you look at it differently.

yeah i pay about $150 a year more then a buddy who has same size house in town.

oh yeah its funny. but every time i drive by the school and see the windmill and knowing it's not hooked up pisses me off.

 

[Genx87]

I'd appeal that. What a joke. They may get you to 144K but at least make them work for it over the course of a few years.

 

[CLite]

Suddenly, the prices started ratcheting up. And up and up and up. People were coming over from California where they were used to extremely high RE prices and they were driving the market up. A condo where we stayed on one trip that had sold for $380K, just two years later went for $799K and on our last trip identical ones in the same development had sold for $1.1 million. The result was that native Hawaiians that had owned property for generations were being forced to sell because they could no longer afford the taxes. But then, where do they go? It's an island after all.

Anyway, a friend we made there said that they were proposing legislation to give the native Hawaiians a big break on their taxes. We have not gone back so I don't know how that all worked out.

This honestly confuses the hell out of me, maybe NJ is a unique butterfly but here if your valuations go up your % tax simply decreases.

The process is:
1) Budget decided
2) Property Valuations complete
3) Property tax set each year = budget/valuation

An increase in property valuation has no effect on property taxes unless you are purposely driving up the county budget. Our town just had a valuation reset that quadrupled our valuations but % tax plummeted.

If you fix the yearly increase in budget there should be no squeezing out of old time residents.

 

[SearchMaster]

Where at?

North GA - Hall County, on Lake Lanier.

Can you get the lot combined on your existing plat at your local county office?

This is my favorite suggestion here, and we should probably do that. It was a coincidence really that the lot was in my wife's grandmother's estate; the grandfather had developed much of the neighborhood, including our house (which is one of the reasons my wife wanted to buy it), and they still had scattered lots around the neighborhood that they owned. Our house has a lot more lake frontage, with a dock permit, and its lot is over 3x the acreage of this other lot. So appraising the lot at over half the value of my house + 3x lot is crazy.

FWIW, my wife had the lot appraised by an independent appraiser last year for another matter, and it appraised at $12K. That's why the $143.7K assessment is so ridiculously laughable. It also shows their previous assessment in the $26K range was way off too, but at <$400 tax it was tolerable. I'm not paying almost $1700/year in tax for that lot. The property tax on my HOUSE when we bought it 18 years ago was just over half that.

 

[boomerang]

Hey, maybe it's just a clerical error?

 

[highland145]

North GA - Hall County, on Lake Lanier.

Nice place. Went there last summer to the resort and the Falcon's training camp.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

BOOOHOOO $1700 IN PROPERTY TAX.

Try 10x of that in California.

But yes, the point remains that it really sucks as property values increase.

 

[SearchMaster]

Hey, maybe it's just a clerical error?

I hope that's all it was. A friend of ours called one of the county commissioners when he got his tax increase, and the commissioner tried to absolve himself and the board of any responsibility. "It wasn't us; we had an independent consultant come in to propose ways to increase revenue." I doubt any of these commissioners will survive the next election (a pretty high percentage of county residents are on the lake and all I've spoken with are outraged), but the damage may be done for this year and the future.

We will certainly appeal, and I will be shocked if the assessed value isn't cut at least in half (and really should be decimated).

BOOOHOOO $1700 IN PROPERTY TAX.

So if your taxes quintupled in a year, you'd have no issue with it? $1700 isn't my total tax liability, it's the liability on an unbuildable lot.

 

[highland145]

I hope that's all it was. A friend of ours called one of the county commissioners when he got his tax increase, and the commissioner tried to absolve himself and the board of any responsibility. "It wasn't us; we had an independent consultant come in to propose ways to increase revenue." I doubt any of these commissioners will survive the next election (a pretty high percentage of county residents are on the lake and all I've spoken with are outraged), but the damage may be done for this year and the future.

Spent $$ to bring them in to make more $$. Wonder how much that cost.

 

[boomerang]

Very sad considering the tourism market there generates a bunch of revenue for Hawaii. It's a shame to see the locals ousted due to high prices...kind of reminds me of the movie "The Decedents".

I was in Kauai in 2006 and saw then how things were shaping up around Lihue and Kapaa. I'm sure prices have doubled since then, but food and specialty items shipped in are expensive enough in a place like that. If I lived on the island, I'd probably just eat locally caught, roasted chicken every night.

The guy I mentioned earlier posed the question to me, "where is the money going"? The state was somewhat suddenly awash in exponentially more tax dollars. Where was it going?

He had purchased a piece of property in Kauai and was building a home there. His property had mountain views from one side and ocean views from the other. The road he was on ended just past his property because the bridge was out and had been for about a decade. No money to fix was the official story. To reach his neighbor two houses down one would have to drive way south back onto the main road head north, get back on the secondary roads and head south again. A trip that would take about twenty minutes. Just looked on Google and the bridge is still not fixed.

Really interesting story about construction on the house and all that he went through if anyone is interested. Very different considerations must go into a home built on an island. It will be a long story and I don't want to take over the thread.

 

[boomerang]

Spent $$ to bring them in to make more $$. Wonder how much that cost.

Probably so much that they'll be less than excited about lowering his tax bill.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Property taxes are a complete joke. Its just another way for the government to steal from you every year... + some extra % they feel like taking to remind you whos in charge.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with educating stupid peoples' kids. Public education is the biggest expenditure on city/county books for which property taxes pay for.

 

[highland145]

Probably so much that they'll be less than excited about lowering his tax bill.

"Bet we spent all of this $$ so we can't lower your bill. We're having a budget issue, you know."

 

[SlickSnake]

Texas uses a separate property tax assessment board for all lake front lots, and they are notoriously hard to get your valuation lowered on because they want that property tax revenue stream to continue and they milk the lake front owners for all they can.

 

[OCGuy]

The stupid logic is putting the brunt of paying for the community on the shoulders of new residents. Why does staying in the community for more years mean you need to pay less for the same services as a new resident?

Prop 13 could be one of the most asinine laws ever passed.

Oh no...are you one of those morons who thinks the answer is for everyone to pay more, instead of forcing .gov to spend less?

Hint: They will always spend everything they get.

 

[Markbnj]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with educating stupid peoples' kids. Public education is the biggest expenditure on city/county books for which property taxes pay for.

Also worth noting that all local government deals with a ton of state and federal mandates that have no dollars attached. The way state and federal politicians "fix" a problem is often by passing new rules that local government has to follow, so they can issue press releases about the problem they solved.

 

[CLite]

Oh no...are you one of those morons who thinks the answer is for everyone to pay more, instead of forcing .gov to spend less?

Hint: They will always spend everything they get.

Hint: you are a moron who puts words into peoples' mouths. The county budget should be set first and be completely independent of property taxes.

Property taxes should be set after everything is done, tax % = budget/valuation. This should be done yearly. This is how it's done where I live. Property crash? doesn't matter budget doesn't change, property value skyrocket? doesn't matter budget doesn't change.

I think it's asinine if a property bubble causes your county budget to skyrocket and likewise if a housing crash halves the county budget. The county budget should simply be a completely separate item voted on for which the cost is equally distributed among property owners. Not a stupid system that puts the burden on new property owners.

County, municipal and school budget costs determine the amount of property tax to be paid. A town's general tax rate is calculated by dividing the total dollar amount it needs to raise to meet local budget expenses by the total assessed value of all its taxable property. An individual's property taxes are then calculated by multiplying that general tax rate by the assessed value of his particular property.

^system independent of bubbles/crashes

 

[Golgatha]

Property tax assessments should have a claiming rule. If they say it's worth X dollars, you should be able to sell it to the county for that amount.

That's not a bad idea actually...

 

[Xonim]

Ours went up ~$500 (~20%) because apparently my house is worth $50k more this year than it was last year. My assessed value is now ~8% higher than a best-case market value....I've never had that happen. Usually it's a bit behind.