Property Tax Increase Weigh-In Here!

[hackwriter]

I'm starting a thread on property tax increases since Bush's tax cuts took effect.

I'll start.

My property taxes (NJ) have gone up about $200/year for the first seven years I've lived here. This year my property taxes have gone up $494.

[trotsky]

1. Here!

In Minnesota, Governor Pukelenty kept true to his pledge that he wasn't going to raise state taxes. So what happened? He instituted massive fee increases across the board and passed expenses to localities, forcing huge property tax increases.

My tax went up $1000 this year.

[wildmanj]

2. property

no such thing as a free lunch----when taxes are decreased in one place they show up in another place----all taxes are increasing not just property---garbage,sewage, water---you name it it cost more----and guess what---average wages don't even come close to offsetting the increases so guess what again-----you standard of living is going down down down

[Frodo]

3. What was the tax rate? And what has it moved to?

The point I'm getting at is: Did you're county raise the tax RATE, or did the value of your property go up?

[German-Lefty]

4. Sounds like Gov. Bush of Texas

He cut funds to the counties so they would have to raise taxes, so he could look good by passing a "the biggest tax cut in Texas history" at the state level.

Someone here said you can't cut taxes.

Yes, you can cut taxes. A good conservative would take a look at government bureaucracies and figure out how to make them provide good services with less waste, by modernizing structures or taking advantage of new technologies (computers). He would then take the money he saved and give it back to the tax payer, pay off debt, or provide some new useful service. There sure aren't any good conservatives in our conservative party these days.

Being a good conservative requires competence.

[wishlist]

5. My N.C. property taxes rose 25% eff Jan 2002 after years of stability

They have announced that next revaluation will be in 2005. They always lower the tax rate somewhat to compensate for the increases in value but their last revaluation/tax rate change announced in late 2001 had the net effect of being a 25% increase for most home owners. Local sales tax went up 4% about the same time. Other fees have gone up also.

I remember that after many years of stability, the local tax rates also took a dramatic jump after Reagan took office and federal tax rates fell.

[ramapo]

6. Just got my bill today:(

I was going to start this exact same thread.

My NJ property tax went up almost 10% this year. Total increase since
2001 is around 25%! There have been no improvements to my property during this time.

This is a true example of trickle-down economics. Somebody has to pay the bills.

I'll have to look back to my first tax bill 20 years ago when I bought the house. I think it was less than 10% of what I pay today. Yes I've made major improvements but the increase in taxes after those improvements were not that bad.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Don't forget the impact of No Child Left Behind

Because of that famously unfunded mandate, local school boards have to raise millage in order to pay for the "improvements" that NCLB demands.

Even Republican school board members are no fan of NCLB.

[mrbill]

8. beware this property tax slight of hand.........

My county appriasal district (in north central texas) has been steadily raising the assessed value of property for the last four or five years.

Nobody likes higher taxes and the populus whines bigtime when the school district, county, city, hospital district, community college, etc. raises their respective "tax rates".

The solution? Have the appraisal district just keep jacking up the values of the property. Most local taxpayers here haven't figured out the correlation between the set "tax rate" in the Fall and those notices they get early in the year informing them that the value of their house or lot has just increased and they have until June to protest. Along the lines of the frog in boiling water theory.

Each year the school board, the county commissioners, the city council, the hospital board, the communtiy college board, etc can all say "we kept our tax rate(s) the same, look how efficent we are." Nobody ever mentions the 12% increase in assessed value. So when you get the bill you are paying twelve percent more but "we didn't raise your taxes." Some kind of circle logic going on here.

Property values are continually going up, yet a house down the street that is assessed by the local tax office for $120,000 has been on market for six months with a listed price of $92,500. So far not even a nibble.

This year to add insult to injury my county commissioners added 4-cents to their actual "tax rate" to pay for the 256-bed new jail. Looks like the city might have to add 2-cents to their rate to pay for reduced water usage this summer and the cost overruns at the new zoo.

Answer to original poster's question. When it comes time to write the check about a 15% increase. However the combined total of the various taxing entities is going from last year's rate of $3.00/$100 to about $3.05/$100. That's hardly a 2% increase.

Bottom line sez the biggest increase in the last ten years.