patrick.net

I-man says

Every year, there’s a fight between the “nothing’s too good for my kids” and the “let’s be reasonable about expenditures” crowds and there are usually several budgets that get voted down before enough cuts are made.

If they want to spend more on schools in CA just go out and buy more CA lottory tickets.. thats what its for...

thomas.wong1986 says

I-man says

Every year, there’s a fight between the “nothing’s too good for my kids” and the “let’s be reasonable about expenditures” crowds and there are usually several budgets that get voted down before enough cuts are made.

If they want to spend more on schools in CA just go out and buy more CA lottory tickets.. thats what its for…

Redding, CT not Redding, CA. Schools are funded by local taxes in CT.

Move, on CO property tax is 1% and we have a higher quality of life then Chicago.

eee says

Move, on CO property tax is 1% and we have a higher quality of life then Chicago.

Oh sure, move....Give up two jobs, leave our church, leave all of our family here...It's easy to suggest it, but at the end of the day, our life is here. (A fact that is being exploited by the taxing body.)

maire says

I’m in a Kansas ‘burb of KCMO. My property tax bill has been flat for three years but my property’s value has fallen by 30%, partly because it followed the pattern of the nationwide real estate crisis ... This coming spring when the next year tax info is sent for review, I fully intend to protest the tax and take it as far as it goes up the “leg” of the state.

You can't have it both ways. When I had my first house, the assessment amount was something like half the market value of my house at the time. I questioned why that was, but in reality the tax assessment has little to do with the market value of your house. OK, so your house is worth less every month and you demand that the tax assessment should follow the downward trend of the market. Fine we can do that, but when the housing market takes off again and your house is worth more every month, then your taxes should increase every month as well.

So you can have it one of 2 ways, #1 assessments have little to do with actual market value of your property, or #2 assessments closely follow the market value of your house. It might be great for you right now what housing is going down, but it's going to hurt when houses start going back up.

I vote to allow every home owner to decide for themselves which way they want to be taxed, #1 or #2, but once you pick, you can't change your mind later on when things become unfavorable for you. Personally I prefer #1, it gives you a nice stable monthly rate to pay, rather than wildly fluctuating rates depending on what the market is doing.

As for me personally, I've seen my tax rate go down about over last $1,200 year. The township reassessed all of the properties last year and a new tax rate was set. People who were not paying there fair share are paying more now and people paying too much got a break. I'm sure there are lots of people up in arms about increases in there property taxes, but being on the other end of things, I can see the fairness of it.

TechGromit says

So you can have it one of 2 ways, #1 assessments have little to do with actual market value of your property, or #2 assessments closely follow the market value of your house. It might be great for you right now what housing is going down, but it’s going to hurt when houses start going back up.
I vote to allow every home owner to decide for themselves which way they want to be taxed, #1 or #2, but once you pick, you can’t change your mind later on when things become unfavorable for you. Personally I prefer #1, it gives you a nice stable monthly rate to pay, rather than wildly fluctuating rates depending on what the market is doing.

With # 2, defining the taxable value is quite straightforward, leaving any dispute to what the true "market value" is. For most properties, that can be found fairly accurately and objectively using recent comps. With # 1, who and how defines that "stable" value?

he he,

Ya'll should check out Oregon's property tax structure. We like, California revolted against taxes through the ballot measure system. Measure 5 passed in 1990, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Ballot_Measure_5_(1990) , capped property taxes at 15 dollars per 1000 dollars of assessed value. It also made school funding statewide vs. local, now all the money goes down state and then is sent back on a per student basis. This has screwed Portland schools. Next up is measure 47/50 passed in 1996/97,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Ballot_Measure_50_(1997) , reduced property taxes to the lesser of the 1994–95 tax or the 1995–96 tax minus 10 percent and limited future increases in assessed property values, except for new construction or additions, to 3 percent per year.

So now old ladies are protected from rising taxes do to rapid gentrification, however there is no reset clause like in prop 13, all taxes are based on historical values, so the yuppy who buys the house next door for a half mil, still pays little tax.

This has caused wild tax inequalities across cities, homes in neighborhoods that were nice in 1995 have taxes twice to three times that of a home with the same sale price in a neighborhood that was crummy in 1995 and is now nice.

This has depressed values in old established neighborhoods, and inflated those in rabidly gentrifying areas.

hehe distorted markets caused by bad tax policy

unstoppable says

rabidly gentrifying areas

Heh ... "rabidly" was probably a typo, but it describes some gentrified parts of the Bay Area very well...

Fisk says

With # 2, defining the taxable value is quite straightforward, leaving any dispute to what the true “market value” is. For most properties, that can be found fairly accurately and objectively using recent comps. With # 1, who and how defines that “stable” value?

Number #1 is established with property assessors once every ten years, this is the way it's been done in New Jersey for decades.

isaaclang says

One county employee actually told property owners at the public school board budget hearing, “If you don’t like your taxes, sell your home and leave the county!” Those property owners present could not believe the audacity of this government employee.

That type of attitude is rampant amongst all government "workers." I'm convinced that if most of the parasites that "work" for the government were forced into the marketplace where the rest of us mere mortals have earned a living, they'd starve.

I've said it before, I'll say it again; nothing on planet earth is more wasteful than government.

What Jeff O is saying is absolutely true!

In IL, the corruption is rampant in every level of government and that includes Chicago. My property taxes went up $800, even though my home value dropped by over 50%.

Part of the reason that I defaulted.

romeotybalt says

What Jeff O is saying is absolutely true!
In IL, the corruption is rampant in every level of government and that includes Chicago. My property taxes went up $800, even though my home value dropped by over 50%.
Part of the reason that I defaulted.

And I will again restate my position, if you tie property taxes to the value of your home, then you shouldn't be bitching when prices (and your property taxes) skyrocket again. It costs the same or more to run government regardless of what the paper value of out home is.

apres93550 says

HEY PATRICK! I LIVE IN NEIL CODELLS SCHOOL DISTRICT AND NOW PAY $20K PER YEAR PROPERTY TAXES! HOORAY CROOK COUNTY!

20k seems high, but is this for a typical average house or do you live in a mega mansion? 20k seems excessively high... high that is until you know just how big the house you have is. I read another posting were someone said there 2009 tax bill was 6k, for cook county Illinois, so it makes me think your real estate property is no average house.

Just had to comment on schools since that's the #1 argument the counties always use for new taxes. My daughter is in preschool. It costs $250/month. They bring home crafts every day. We never pay extra for those. How can a non-funded organization run a preschool like this (higher student teacher ratio than public schools); when the United States Department of Education can not? Somehow the public school adminstrators need to look at what is happening with preschools and learn.

TechGromit says

apres93550 says

HEY PATRICK! I LIVE IN NEIL CODELLS SCHOOL DISTRICT AND NOW PAY $20K PER YEAR PROPERTY TAXES! HOORAY CROOK COUNTY!

20k seems high, but is this for a typical average house or do you live in a mega mansion? 20k seems excessively high… high that is until you know just how big the house you have is. I read another posting were someone said there 2009 tax bill was 6k, for cook county Illinois, so it makes me think your real estate property is no average house.

$20K is very high for Cook County. My relative has a very nice house--$500K valuation and pays ~$8K. So, this person definitely doesn't live in the average house. One thing to keep in mind is that property tax rates vary within the county--depending on city, school district, fire district, etc.

maxweber says

My daughter is in preschool. It costs $250/month.

Does she got to preschool all day for 5 days/week?