Property taxes and other taxes make it hard to afford an expensive house. Property taxes are collected by the County Tax Collector for schools, county government, cities, and special districts. Property taxes are based on two factors: assessed value and mill rate.
The value of the property should be about 80 percent of the tax assessment. Or meaning to say at least in a vast majority of areas, if the property is assessed at 100000.00 the the milliage rate will be taken from the 80 per cent value. This is not set in concrete but should be very close. The two items. appraisal and millage go together to determine the taxable amount.
Most state governments have a law that establishes the milliage that can be charged. It was set before as a cap on maximum millage. Many local governments were somewhere in the middle of the allowed rate.
Then along came 9/11/01, at that time the federal authorities cut most of its state funding programs, some were cut in half some by twenty five percent and a lot were cut completely.
So now the states lost all of this money and what happened? Should not have to say it! Here comes the county and city governments who all of a sudden lost 50 to 60 per cent and some more of their federal grant funds. So what happened at that time?
Of course due to the federal governments huge expenditures on the war on terror, City and County governments had no choice but to raise property taxes, or cut back, way back on new schools, and everything else. A large part of these governments are now running just about on the limit of their constitutionally allowed milliage rate.
In many states if not most, the property taxes increased dramatically. In others the taxing authorities are fighting very hard for a constitutional amendment in order to raise the millage rate. All kinds of shenanigans usually goes on to get this done.
Property taxes are regressive with respect to income Although property taxes are proportionate with respect to property values, they are regressive with respect to family income.
Property Taxes are calculated based on the assessed value of your property, which is provided by BC Assessment. Many times these assessments are totally wrong, and others just barely close. We all need to check out our properties and determine if the appraiser is doing his job properly.
In many cases they are and in just as many others they are way off. So if you discover you are paying too much, you need to contest it immediately. Somehow some of these appraisers and employees try to really take advantage of the tax payers. When It should not be, after all, how are they paid?
Property Taxes Paid by Mortgage Company/Financial Institutions is the sole responsibility of the property owner to complete the Homeowner Grant application every year (if eligible). Property taxes do not fund either the state or federal government.
Property taxes are among the most regressive because they assume that just because you own something now you could afford to buy it again. Property taxes give the government the ability to behave like a landlord to all the citizens of the state.
Property taxes are one of the oldest forms of taxation, and disgruntlement over them doubtless dates from the time they were first imposed. The governor, in some states, has introduced legislation that would allow cities and towns to charge local taxes on meals and hotels and to charge property taxes on telecommunications equipment.
Because the State pays the property taxes for the homeowner in some states, and because the State must be reimbursed at some point in time, a security document in the form of a Property Tax Postponement Lien is recorded against the homeowner’s property.
If you are not paying your property taxes as a part of your mortgage, but are interested in doing it, talk to your bank. Currently churches and non-profit organizations, like the Salvation Army, are exempt from paying property taxes.
In conclusion, you need to look around in your area and determine how many other houses are from about the same plan as your home, construction wise. If there are several and all look about the same, go to the tax appraisers office and pull the appraisals on the ones you believe to be similar to your home.
If there are big differences find out why? You can investigate this on your on. When you have done a good investigation and you find things that are not as they should be, then is the time to confront the tax appraiser. Just be careful and do not step on too many toes during you investigation. Would be bad to get an unnecessary tax increase.