Property taxes and politics

[928ram]

The state in which I currently reside recently change the tax assessment from once every 4 yrs to yearly. For me this is a good thing because although I pay higher taxes this year than last, the assessed value of my home has jumped considerable ( the market value considerably more).

THis whole thing, of course, is all over the TV ads since it's an election year for the Gov's seat,with challenger screaming " He raised your taxes by billions!!"

What I see is that if you assessed value has not changed, or even decreased, it's not costing you a cent more and might even save you a few pennies (prop taxes are low here).
My assessed value increased considerable, but not even close to the increase in market value of our home. Now in the whole financial equation, I feel that the few dollars I have to pay more per year are just dandy because they reflect such a substantial gain in net worth.

Am I seeing this wrong? Real estate is still very reasonable here and by no means overvalued. Are those complaining about the change just not looking at the big picture?

What do you guys think?

[HardDrive]

I disagree. We appealed to the city when they tried to raise our assessment, and won. The market does not care about the tax basis for your house. Having your taxes raised only costs you more money. It does not push your values up.

[Moneyguy1]

In theory, local government should not receive a windfall from property value increases that are not directly tied to general inflation or improvaments made by the owner. In other words, increases that result from speculation should not factor in. Think about it. If a municipality increases taxes based on speculative increases, it should be prepared to reduce them on downturns. Better they change the per $1000 basis to reflect differences in value.

If, for example, the average value went up by 50%, what would the municipality spend this extra income on?

[widebody911]

Originally posted by 928ram
What do you guys think?

I think you're crazy.

I boiled what you wrote down to "I'm going to pay more taxes, but that's groovy because it shows I'm worth more"

[928ram]

I don't feel that the increase in values is unreasonable, if anything assessment and housing prices here and at the beach end of the county are currently more in line with actual values when compared to similar economies in other areas of the country; by no means overvalued and still cheaper per dollar earned than most from what I can tell.

What we're getting for our money is expansion of roads and schools and such that is ahead of population growth, so increased tax revenues seem to be going to the right place at this point.

Maybe I feel it's more of a market adjustment, prices and taxes in the county have been flat for about a decade in the midst of strong economic growth, and feel that the current assessment does bolster (or reflect?) current prices and values. By no means would I expect a similar jump in assessed value to drive house prices/values up next year.

[legion]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
In theory, local government should not receive a windfall from property value increases that are not directly tied to general inflation or improvaments made by the owner. In other words, increases that result from speculation should not factor in. Think about it. If a municipality increases taxes based on speculative increases, it should be prepared to reduce them on downturns. Better they change the per $1000 basis to reflect differences in value.

If, for example, the average value went up by 50%, what would the municipality spend this extra income on?

Yep.

The thing is, they will ramp up spending when revenue is up, then raise taxes when revenue falls.

Congress and my state legislature are notorious for doing this.

[928ram]

I boiled what you wrote down to "I'm going to pay more taxes, but that's groovy because it shows I'm worth more"

If we were talking inflated or bubble prices, I'd have to agree.

I could just be not seeing the whole picture because the out of pocket is miniscule, and the return on investment , pecentage wise, if I sold today would be the best I've ever done in a year's time (well, 16 months). I might be singing an entirely different tune next year.

[Superman]

Land owners have always been the greediest folks in that society. Fish swim, birds fly and property owners whine about taxes.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Superman
Land owners have always been the greediest folks in that society. Fish swim, birds fly and property owners whine about taxes.

Less so when we were the only ones that could vote

[Taz's Master]

Supe, we both have $250,000 to invest. You buy a house, I buy a gun collection. For $15,000, I make an improvement on my house, you get a used 911. Why is it ok to tax real property differently than personal property?

[fastpat]

Originally posted by 928ram
The state in which I currently reside recently change the tax assessment from once every 4 yrs to yearly. For me this is a good thing because although I pay higher taxes this year than last, the assessed value of my home has jumped considerable ( the market value considerably more).

THis whole thing, of course, is all over the TV ads since it's an election year for the Gov's seat,with challenger screaming " He raised your taxes by billions!!"

What I see is that if you assessed value has not changed, or even decreased, it's not costing you a cent more and might even save you a few pennies (prop taxes are low here).
My assessed value increased considerable, but not even close to the increase in market value of our home. Now in the whole financial equation, I feel that the few dollars I have to pay more per year are just dandy because they reflect such a substantial gain in net worth.

Am I seeing this wrong? Real estate is still very reasonable here and by no means overvalued. Are those complaining about the change just not looking at the big picture?

What do you guys think?

Accessed value is in inflated dollars, which aren't real money since they're not back by hard money. The only true value of a home is it's value in gold, which is real money. Most home values haven't changed their real value since about 1930. Yes, that includes homes built recently.

Property tax reevaluations are a government rip-off.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Superman
Land owners have always been the greediest folks in that society. Fish swim, birds fly and property owners whine about taxes.

Anyone who wants to be a land owner in America can be a land owner.

The greed is by government, and the envy is by those who haven't the guts to acquire property, and want to punish those who do.

Class warfare is nothing more than the politics of envy.

[Don Ro]

Originally posted by fastpat
The greed is by government, and the envy is by those who haven't the guts to acquire property, and want to punish those who do.

Class warfare is nothing more than the politics of envy.

Bingo!