Property Tax (Re)Assessments

[mister d]

Town just did a reassess and I don't love our number relative to the rest of the block. Home and lot size we should be near the bottom but we also are one of the most recent buyers and I'm assuming the latter hurts us in an area with rising values. Anyone have any experience here in terms of how to go about understanding/reducing the number? (Appeal is Saturday so don't sit on any knowledge.)

[Sabo]

We went through that last year. Fortunately for us, we had just refinanced our house and the reappraisal was lower than the county was claiming. We sent in the reappraisal figures and the county reduced the tax bill valuation by a couple thousand dollars.

So, my advice is to refinance your house and get a new appraisal before Saturday. Piece of cake.

[mister d]

I just ran the numbers. 27 houses on the block, we're 20th in square footage, 14th in assessment and 7th in $/sq ft. And we don't have a fucking garage. Either we'll "win" this or they'll say the calc penalizes recent sales and we'll have no real recourse.

[sancarlos]

By law our property tax can only go up a small amount per year, unless you've made improvements. So, in California, new purchasers pay way, way more than long-time residents.

[GoodKarma]

You should be able to protest or appeal the amount. I did that in CO and it reduced the taxable value ~5% or so.

[The Sybian]

You mean you haven't gotten dozens of letters from attorneys telling you they can help?

[BSF21]

Does anyone else live in an area where this is capped?

Indiana (or Marion County...can't remember) -- has residential property taxes capped at 1%. I pay right near the 1% mark, but overall it's not bad.

[mister d]

Capped at 1% of assessment?

[BSF21]

Capped at 1% of assessment?

I believe so.

Property owners are entitled to a cap on the amount of property taxes over 1 percent of the gross assessed value for homestead properties, 2 percent for other residential and agricultural land and 3 percent for other real and personal property. However, it is important to understand that local government budgets still determine property tax rates in your area. The caps ensure that a property owner does not pay more than a fixed percent of the property's gross assessed value in taxes but the caps do not change the local tax rate. So let's review how a tax bill is calculated and what is shown on your bill.

[A_B]

Capped at 1% of assessment?

I believe so.

Property owners are entitled to a cap on the amount of property taxes over 1 percent of the gross assessed value for homestead properties, 2 percent for other residential and agricultural land and 3 percent for other real and personal property. However, it is important to understand that local government budgets still determine property tax rates in your area. The caps ensure that a property owner does not pay more than a fixed percent of the property's gross assessed value in taxes but the caps do not change the local tax rate. So let's review how a tax bill is calculated and what is shown on your bill.

Man. Cliffhanger much?

[mister d]

I think I'm at like 3%, although I can't complain because we intentionally chose this state/town because the public schools are good. We've also more or less scheduled our next move for 17 years from now.

[duff]

Yup, Indiana caps at 1% for residential, 2% for farms/property units, and 3% business.

Ask how our schools are doing with the loss of tax revenue?

[BSF21]

Yup, Indiana caps at 1% for residential, 2% for farms/property units, and 3% business.

Ask how our schools are doing with the loss of tax revenue?

I wouldn't lay it all on the tax caps, as the state government has made it abundantly clear they don't care about public education or health in any way shape or form. Indiana isn't broke.

[duff]

No, Indiana is not broke. But schools main source of tax money was from property taxes. They did not change that. So what is happening is an even larger gap between the haves and have nots of public education. Hamilton county schools did not see any significant drop because their tax base is extremely high. But if you look at any urban school district you will see a huge drop of tax revenue. Public housing and slums do not have the highest of property value.

Since the cap took place, my wife had not received even a COL raising until this year. And that is all it was. She has over 10 years plus a Masters. Beginning teachers were getting just over 30 to start.

[BSF21]

No, Indiana is not broke. But schools main source of tax money was from property taxes. They did not change that. So what is happening is an even larger gap between the haves and have nots of public education. Hamilton county schools did not see any significant drop because their tax base is extremely high. But if you look at any urban school district you will see a huge drop of tax revenue. Public housing and slums do not have the highest of property value.

Since the cap took place, my wife had not received even a COL raising until this year. And that is all it was. She has over 10 years plus a Masters. Beginning teachers were getting just over 30 to start.

I'd wager that's true as well. But I'd wager you weren't exactly making bank before the cap as far as direct teacher wages go. The state gov't has proven time and time again that they don't value education or educators. That is such a large problem that I don't even begin to know where to take a bite off of it.

And you're right about Hamilton county. I grew up there and went to public school my entire life. It is an incredibly wealthy area overall. I was for the tax cap when it happened, but mostly our of the fear or horror stories I heard where people were ending up at an incredible tax rate due to unfair assessment or the like. I personally don't care for property tax in general and would support a higher tax on income or a flat tax across the board. I don't like the idea that I owe the gov't money every year for owning my own land. It's not the money I care about, it's the principal of why I'm being taxed and would prefer to see it done by other means.

[Jerloma]

My town has my house assessed at 25k more than my mortgage company and I fail to see how that is not some bullshit.

[A_B]

My town has my house assessed at 25k more than my mortgage company and I fail to see how that is not some bullshit.

If you've been in the same place for a while and your neighbors have sold for higher prices that makes a lot of sense to me. The mortgage company has no incentive to assess your house except when you get financing. The city has a huge incentive to reassess if values are going up.

[Jerloma]

Oh, I'm well aware of the incentives for both entities, but that doesn't make it cease to be bullshit.

[A_B]

Oh, I'm well aware of the incentives for both entities, but that doesn't make it cease to be bullshit.

You're wanting to legislate all the hard-working appraisers out of business!

[The Sybian]

Oh, I'm well aware of the incentives for both entities, but that doesn't make it cease to be bullshit.

You're wanting to legislate all the hard-working appraisers out of business!

Forget it, Big Appraiser's lobby is way too strong.


NJ has a cap on property tax increases. I think it is 2 or 3% a year, but there are some loopholes. My taxes have gone up almost 50% in 8 years, and we don't have any service increases. The town doesn't even provide garbage pickup.