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House Value vs. Property Taxes.

Johneli

Johneli

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My house value dropped this year and Friday I got my projected property tax bill. My taxes went up $600! They argued for and got a rate hike because they had been losing so much money on declining home values. Nothing like subsidizing and keeping afloat your local tax collector. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.
 
Tell me about it - around here, the average was a 70% increase. Houses on the water went up 400%. They lowered the mill rate, but not by much.
 
National average is supposed to be about one percent of property value. Not in the northeast. Before the crash, we were at about 1.25%. Now I'm sure it's over 1.5%.

I'm always amazed when I see real estate listings in parts of the country where property taxes on ginormous houses are $600 or something. What kind of schools must they have?
 
The state or town you are in must collect a certain amount of property tax to meet the unfunded liabilities they have. They will get there, even if it means increasing the % when assessments go down. As gov't gets bigger this will increase. NJ is one of the worst in the country, maybe you can look at what is paid up here and feel a bit better.:D
 
If you read the fine print in most of your county and city tax codes you will see regarding things like property tax, etc they can increase the tax rate even if property values have declined because they have a guarantee built in that they can generate revenues at least equal to what they brought in the previous year. In other words they never have to make cuts no matter what is happening in the economy. Government is always allowed to grow. Nice, accountable system. :banghead:
 
You guys are scaring me. Our property tax bill in 2008 was 25% higher than it was in 2007!
 
Pretty much the same here. Homes are worth less, while taxes are higher this year over last year. It's not hard to figure because government employees get COLA adjustments regardless of the economy. Different divisions of government get more money each year to fund what ever it is they are responsible for.

Just as an example. While working my way through school many years ago, I was a counter person at a local HVAC supply store. The Clark County Court House Maintenance workers would come in near the end of their fiscal year, and spend what ever money they had left in their operating account. They would would spend money on things they did not need which was usually high dollar tools. The reason they needed to deplete their maintenance account was so they could ask for more money for next years's cost. :banghead:
 
Mine went up $500 over last year. I was going to contest it, but my sister-in-law (who's an attorney in Palm Beach) told me to take the $15 petition fee and go buy a pizza with it. No chance of winning an appeal.
 
Neighborhood associations here hired lawyers, but it didn't do any good. A neighboring town was smarter - instead of arguing the assessment - they argued the mill rate should be lowered and won.
 
Diane is the mill rate the same thing as personal property tax?
 
Diane said:
Neighborhood associations here hired lawyers, but it didn't do any good. A neighboring town was smarter - instead of arguing the assessment - they argued the mill rate should be lowered and won.
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That was very smart, but doesn't that mean that the town had to forfeit BIG money because every homeowner got that reduction....right?
 
AHacker'sHacker said:
Diane is the mill rate the same thing as personal property tax?
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A mill is equal to $1.00 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment. It varies depending on what part of town you live in. Our mill rate went down by almost half when the new assessments were done. The mill rate for personal property is higher.
 
Johneli said:
My house value dropped this year and Friday I got my projected property tax bill. My taxes went up $600! They argued for and got a rate hike because they had been losing so much money on declining home values. Nothing like subsidizing and keeping afloat your local tax collector. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain....its a wonderful life..lol
 
JB - shouldn't this thread be merged with the one about Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia?:zrofl:
 
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