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What counts as finished sq/ft for property tax purposes?

vi edit

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
As many know I'm building a house. Since we signed a contract and submitted plans (over a year ago) we've been able to see the last two years of tax assessments of similar houses in our area.

The only word to describe it is "disgusting". I'm talking like $12,000-$14,000 a year on a $300k-$350k house. They've gone up almost $4,000 per house in the last two assessments. Bleh.

That being known...and with my place being already framed...I'm wondering if I can leave some places "unfinished" so as not to count towards the living sq/ft.

I've got two rooms in particular that I would consider. I've got an over 300 sq/ft "bonus" room over my garage that I could just stick a door on leave framed out. I've also got an interesting floorplan that has a 220 sq/ft room that sits about 4' off of my basement floor and a couple feet into the "main" living space that I could easily hang a door on and leave.

Problem is that both have electrical and HVAC duct work run to them. How would an assessor count that? If it was bare studs and not "finished" does it count because of the electrical and HVAC being there? Neither room is really connected to any main living space. They are both in corners of the home and have no other connected rooms to them.

Not counting that sq/ft would probably save about $2k a year in taxes at this point.
 
when my parents built their place they had the room over the garage and just left it framed out, with ductwork, ditto for a bonus room next to the attic...neither room counted in the valuation.

both rooms are finished now
 
highland145 said:
Sorry. That is a FVCKING ridiculous amount of taxes.
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Preach it brother. When we were looking things over two years ago looking at sizes & plans we were looking in the $8,000 range. Which is still f'n retarded. But since then there's been two enormous hikes (dear IL...we're in a fucking recession with 16% unemployment!) taking up the bill around $4,000 more per house.

Looking to save where I can.
 
We have an addition on our house, and the upstairs counted because it is insulated (w/sheetrock), and has electrical and heat.

The downstairs is insulated, rocked, and has electrical but no heat, and it was not counted. So I think in my town that it only counts toward sq/ft if it was built with heat. When I asked the assesor, they stated it has to be a "living space", whatever that means.
 
Modelworks said:
Try living in a county where the county is broke and so they decide a remedy for the problem is to charge taxes for property TWICE in the same year.
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We don't get charged "twice" but our payment system is pretty f'd up. Taxes are due in June and Sept. WTF? So I'd pay $6,000 in June and another $6,000 in September.

There's 12 months in a year but they want them within 3 months of each other? What's up with that?
 
Modelworks said:
Try living in a county where the county is broke and so they decide a remedy for the problem is to charge taxes for property TWICE in the same year.
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And you live in the south where taxes is usually lower compared to the northern states. This is one of those things that leaves me with impotent rage against the system.

Sorry Vi. Not trying to hijack.
 
vi edit said:
Preach it brother. When we were looking things over two years ago looking at sizes & plans we were looking in the $8,000 range. Which is still f'n retarded. But since then there's been two enormous hikes (dear IL...we're in a fucking recession with 16% unemployment!) taking up the bill around $4,000 more per house.

Looking to save where I can.
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The assessment hikes are done by your local township (or county) assessor. You should probably contact them and ask what's up with the valuation hikes. My guess would be that your local gov is out of money (I know the state is too, but they don't directly control the official valuation of your property), or that your local gov is expanding and anticipates building schools / roads / sewers / etc in the (near) future...
 
vi edit said:
We don't get charged "twice" but our payment system is pretty f'd up. Taxes are due in June and Sept. WTF? So I'd pay $6,000 in June and another $6,000 in September.

There's 12 months in a year but they want them within 3 months of each other? What's up with that?
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Are you mortgaging with escrow for taxes? If so this won't matter to you.

Are you mortgaging without escrow for taxes? Maybe you should look into this option. Or just do your own "escrow", by saving an equal amount in a dedicated bank account each month, sufficient to cover the taxes.

Are you paying cash for the house, and therefore will be responsible for the property taxes only (no mortgage payment) in the future ? In this case, I don't think anyone is going to feel sorry for you about your 2 annual tax payments being within 3 months of each other, and you should stop whining. 😉

.
 
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ebaycj said:
Are you mortgaging with escrow for taxes? If so this won't matter to you.

If you are paying cash for the house, I don't think anyone is going to feel sorry for you about your 2 annual tax payments being within 3 months of each other.
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Still his $$.

You're from the same state. How's your tax bill in your county?
 
ebaycj said:
Are you mortgaging with escrow for taxes? If so this won't matter to you.
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Actually I'm hoping *not* to escrow if the lender goes for it. Every escrow I've ever had screwed up somewhere and they were constantly monkeying around with the payments to catch up. And since this is new construction it's not going to get fully assessed for a year and the catchup is going to be brutal with that large of a tab. I'd rather just stick the $1,000 a month taxes cost me away into a savings acount and then drive the two miles into town and pay it at the bank when it's due.
 
vi edit said:
Actually I'm hoping *not* to escrow if the lender goes for it. Every escrow I've ever had screwed up somewhere and they were constantly monkeying around with the payments to catch up. And since this is new construction it's not going to get fully assessed for a year and the catchup is going to be brutal with that large of a tab. I'd rather just stick the $1,000 a month taxes cost me away into a savings acount and then drive the two miles into town and pay it at the bank when it's due.
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In my experience having the escrow is nicer and much more flexible than not. But that's your call. Just don't be late for any reason on that property tax bill.

Also, the escrow only gets screwed up when the state changes the tax rate and doesn't inform the lender until the tax bill is due. The lender pays the (usually higher) bill, then has to amortize the extra (plus a very tiny bit of interest) over the next year following the rate increase. It's screwed up because property taxes are done in arrears.
 
Depends on appraiser in your area. Here you can put pavers out and it's unfinished until you put any mortar or cement between them. A room is unfinished until drywall is put up.
 
alkemyst said:
A room is unfinished until drywall is put up.
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That's kind of what I was hoping. Both areas are pretty easy to work with. I'd just use it as a project this winter to give me something to do. The HVAC & electrical is already there...and that's the only stuff I don't feel exceptionally comfortable with.
 
vi edit said:
I'm wondering if I can leave some places "unfinished" so as not to count towards the living sq/ft.

Not counting that sq/ft would probably save about $2k a year in taxes at this point.
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Also, you DO know that your sweet basement will not count in the sqftage, correct?
 
ebaycj said:
Also, you DO know that your sweet basement will not count in the sqftage, correct?
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Yep. I know that. I've got a little under 1900 sq/ft on the main level and another 1300'ish on the 2nd. Not finishing those two rooms would shave about 500 sq/ft off that total.
 
ebaycj said:
2.2% -ish per year. They just raised it though (new $75million high school). It used to be 2% on the dot.

So, $4,800-ish on a $220,000-ish house.
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Either I am so spoiled or you guys are getting the shaft. Maybe both. $300K commercial rate is $4400 for the county. Residential is way cheaper.

Agree on the escrow but I do keep an eye on them. They paid the tax on one of my rentals instead of the house. I had already paid the rental but the county was happy to take the $$ anyway.
 
How much land do you have? Build more! Build a large shed in the back yard. I'll sell you a few llamas (cheap). You'll never need to mow the lawn & maybe can get away with an agricultural assessment. 😀
 
DrPizza said:
How much land do you have? Build more! Build a large shed in the back yard. I'll sell you a few llamas (cheap). You'll never need to mow the lawn & maybe can get away with an agricultural assessment. 😀
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LOL! It's 1.5 acres but it won't get zoned agricultural. My neighbor to the south is actually outside of the subdivision (but we share a fence row) and he has about 5 acres. He had Alpacas when we first were looking at buying. He since sold them because he was getting too old to care for them properly.

🙂
 
vi edit said:
Every escrow I've ever had screwed up somewhere and they were constantly monkeying around with the payments to catch up.
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Wells sent us a check for a few hundred bucks earlier this year out of our escrow that they calculated was extra, and now they're telling us that we'll be short by a few hundred next April. Apparently basic math is too hard for a bank.
 
BoberFett said:
Wells sent us a check for a few hundred bucks earlier this year out of our escrow that they calculated was extra, and now they're telling us that we'll be short by a few hundred next April. Apparently basic math is too hard for a bank.
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Same kind of deal happened to us. They said "Oh hey, bank error your favor, here's a check for $500".

Then 6 months later they came back and said "oh hey, bank error not in your favor...your escrow just went up $200 more a month to catch up. Kthnxbye~!!!"
 
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