Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know alot of people that are opting not to build because of the tax liability and are down sizing. Thoes in nice houses are going to get stung when they try to sell because no one wants the tax liability. If I own my home outright I should not be getting stung with almost 10 grand in real estate taxes, thats way to out of control, maybe a 1-2k for a 300k house but almost 10k thats going to cause people to live in small down sized housing to avoid the tax liability and it will totally cripple buienss. Anchorage is just as bad.
I dont know how everything is staying proped up, who has 10 grand a year just to **** out the window, I must be in the wrong profession, maybe I need to grow some weed to pay my tax bill lol.
The property tax in the valley is about 13 mills. That's $1300 for every 100,000 in value. So if you have a house worth 300,000 you will be taxed at about $4600 not $10K.
That's still high so I don't want to defend it. I hope it comes down. But it's not 10k.
I say about 13 mills because the actual borough wide mil rate is somthing like 10 mils but then they add on road service and fire service area taxes which vary according to your area. I tell people to count on 14 mils and it's almost always closer to 13 mils.
The property tax in the valley is about 13 mills. That's $1300 for every 100,000 in value. So if you have a house worth 300,000 you will be taxed at about $4600 not $10K.
That's still high so I don't want to defend it. I hope it comes down. But it's not 10k.
I say about 13 mills because the actual borough wide mil rate is somthing like 10 mils but then they add on road service and fire service area taxes which vary according to your area. I tell people to count on 14 mils and it's almost always closer to 13 mils.
A problem is that while the borough brings the property tax mills to a lower rate, the borough's assessors bring the value of the house sky high. Just look at the assessed value of your property 15 years ago compared to this year, and you will notice what the borough is doing. There is not property depreciation at all.
My house was built in 1980, and I bought it in 1994 for $106K. According to the Fairbanks North Star Borough, my house and land today is worth $300K.
Search "the boom and bust Alaska's economy" and then you will realize what the other posters are trying to say. Our economy is real good for a few years (boom) because of the oil and mining industries (oil, mostly). Back in the '80s our economy went bust, and people who were building their homes or just could not afford paying their loans packed their bags and left Alaska.
If we can't build a natural pipeline to the interior, and if we can't drill as is happening right now, our economy can collapse like it did in the '80s.
Well, I understand where you're coming from. I read a few articles just now, and I have read about it in some of the books I've read about Alaska, and you are definitely right that AK's economy has been boom and bust. But what I was suggesting is that perhaps there might be some other way to go about it. Gobrien brings up a very good point about the fact that building up industry in Alaska is cost-prohibitive, but there are companies out there that could afford it if they cared to. I mean, just look at Prudhoe. That's thousands of miles away from any major supply line, and they built it. I mean, that's a real feat, just the existence of the place. I guess that's the thing though: it's oil. If there aren't massive, quick profits to be made, it seems people aren't interested. (Or maybe that's overly cynical.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by wildchild_to
right-wing doom-and-gloom thing???
What????? Gold is the highest its been rolling around $1800 and OZ, forecloses, bankruptcies are both at all time highs, food is skyrocketing, taxes keep going up, jobs keep leaving the country. If you are worried about oil going into the sea, I have news for you. It has been leaking into the seas for thousands of years and will be doing it when we are long gone. This country has tent cities from coast to coast these days of people who lost everything. We are headed in to the Hyper-inflation times now.
But don't worry???
It is funny how the liberals ***** about saving the planet. Like don't drill for oil, don't cut tree, don't do this. But the very same things they ***** about they use. Like toilet paper, paper, new papers, OH gas for there cars, the keyboard they type on made of plastic by product of oil.
If the US don't get off foreign oil it is headed for real trouble down the road. With China being a very large economy these days, they need a lot of oil for fuel, plastics, petroleum products.
Oh lord, I knew I should have left out the "right wing" part. The only reason I typed that is because, well, most of the posts in here up to that point were coming from a right wing perspective. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Also, if you watch news channels, the conservative folks are the ones who are preaching most of the doom and gloom these days.
But like I've said, I'm no "liberal". I would consider myself an environmentalist in that I actually CARE about the environment, yes. There is a middle ground between "commie" and "Bill O'Reilly", you know. You protect your home, right? Well, why wouldn't you protect the Earth, too? It's what your home sits on, so I would say it's even more important. Also, unless I end up deciding to pursue commercial aviation, I plan to study natural resource management, so it's an area of interest for me. And it's not really the oil leaking into the ocean that I'm so worried about with the Beaufort rigs. It's the damage it would do to the migration patterns of the bowheads that swim past Point Hope, and the effect that would have on that village and their culture overall. That also matters to me.
I'm not "b*tching" about anything, actually. I'm calmly stating my opinion, thank you. I drive a car and type on a keyboard like everyone else, but the difference is I'm interested in developing new ways to go about these things BEFORE we run out of oil, and not to wait until it's already happened. Because it will. I agree with some of what you said, bud, calm down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest
.Alaska's economy is based on natural resources. If Alaska cannot develop it's natural resources it's economy will die...plain and simple.
I'm old enough to remember Alaska before oil...and I liked it. I would like it again, but the process of getting back to that point would be extremely painful.
Very true. And I'm not saying "no drilling anywhere ever". That would be foolish. I'm just suggesting we be very careful before we start drilling, and plan these things carefully. For instance, there may well be some way to extract that oil from the Beaufort Sea without disrupting the migration patterns of those whales, at which point I would have no problem with it.
There's a gold rush on right now, from what I understand. How much of that will be in/go to Alaska? Also, I haven't read up on it much, but a natural gas pipeline sounds like a great idea. The current pipeline certainly hasn't done much harm to the caribou or their habitat (or other animals that I know of), so I don't see why a new one would. But like I said, I need to read up on that one.
And yeah, I think most people now (myself included) wouldn't last very long if things were to be forced to return to the pre-oil days that I've read so much about. It sounded beautiful, peaceful, idyllic even, but it's not practical to try and go back to that. When I talk about trying to develop other industry, I mean getting serious about it. If you provide companies with incentive to come to Alaska, they will come, as long as the incentive is good enough. Maybe some of that surplus in the coffers could be put towards attracting business and industry to the state. But like I said, I'm not against oil, I just think it might be a good idea to see if something else could be developed as a fall-back in case oil stops paying the bills.
And really, this stuff is just my opinion. There's no offense meant to anyone here, honest to god/whatever you believe in.
The property tax in the valley is about 13 mills. That's $1300 for every 100,000 in value. So if you have a house worth 300,000 you will be taxed at about $4600 not $10K.
That's still high so I don't want to defend it. I hope it comes down. But it's not 10k.
Good point Marty. That puts things in perspective, big time. For instance, I have been told by several real estate agents in New Hampshire and Vermont (places I researched before I got so into Alaska) that a good percentage of folks pay a solid $15,000 a year (or a lot more, in some cases) in property tax alone. Now, NH has no sales tax or state income tax, but that property tax more than makes up for it. If I had to guess I would say the majority of Alaskans, if transplanted to somewhere like Vermont, might just lose it. Or their head might explode. Or something like that. So yeah, stuff is expensive in Alaska up front, but take solace in this: at least you're not in Northern New England. Not that it's not an awesome place to live, but you wanna talk about taxes...
A problem is that while the borough brings the property tax mills to a lower rate, the borough's assessors bring the value of the house sky high. Just look at the assessed value of your property 15 years ago compared to this year, and you will notice what the borough is doing. There is not property depreciation at all.
My house was built in 1980, and I bought it in 1994 for $106K. According to the Fairbanks North Star Borough, my house and land today is worth $300K.
In Alaska the assessments are based on actual market value. It has nothing to do with what you paid for it x number of years ago and very little to do with depreciation other than how much that might change the actual current market value. So if you don't think you could sell your property for $300,000 you might be able to appeal your property tax assessment.
I have served on the appeals board and can tell you that if you have a good case you will win the appeal. But you will actually have to have evidence of what your property is actually worth. Just your opinion or statement that it's worth less will do the deal. You need to show recent comparable sales that show your property is worth less than the tax valuation.
Well, I understand where you're coming from. I read a few articles just now, and I have read about it in some of the books I've read about Alaska, and you are definitely right that AK's economy has been boom and bust. But what I was suggesting is that perhaps there might be some other way to go about it. Gobrien brings up a very good point about the fact that building up industry in Alaska is cost-prohibitive, but there are companies out there that could afford it if they cared to. I mean, just look at Prudhoe. That's thousands of miles away from any major supply line, and they built it. I mean, that's a real feat, just the existence of the place. I guess that's the thing though: it's oil. If there aren't massive, quick profits to be made, it seems people aren't interested. (Or maybe that's overly cynical.)
Oh lord, I knew I should have left out the "right wing" part. The only reason I typed that is because, well, most of the posts in here up to that point were coming from a right wing perspective. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Also, if you watch news channels, the conservative folks are the ones who are preaching most of the doom and gloom these days.
But like I've said, I'm no "liberal". I would consider myself an environmentalist in that I actually CARE about the environment, yes. There is a middle ground between "commie" and "Bill O'Reilly", you know. You protect your home, right? Well, why wouldn't you protect the Earth, too? It's what your home sits on, so I would say it's even more important. Also, unless I end up deciding to pursue commercial aviation, I plan to study natural resource management, so it's an area of interest for me. And it's not really the oil leaking into the ocean that I'm so worried about with the Beaufort rigs. It's the damage it would do to the migration patterns of the bowheads that swim past Point Hope, and the effect that would have on that village and their culture overall. That also matters to me.
I'm not "b*tching" about anything, actually. I'm calmly stating my opinion, thank you. I drive a car and type on a keyboard like everyone else, but the difference is I'm interested in developing new ways to go about these things BEFORE we run out of oil, and not to wait until it's already happened. Because it will. I agree with some of what you said, bud, calm down.
Very true. And I'm not saying "no drilling anywhere ever". That would be foolish. I'm just suggesting we be very careful before we start drilling, and plan these things carefully. For instance, there may well be some way to extract that oil from the Beaufort Sea without disrupting the migration patterns of those whales, at which point I would have no problem with it.
There's a gold rush on right now, from what I understand. How much of that will be in/go to Alaska? Also, I haven't read up on it much, but a natural gas pipeline sounds like a great idea. The current pipeline certainly hasn't done much harm to the caribou or their habitat (or other animals that I know of), so I don't see why a new one would. But like I said, I need to read up on that one.
And yeah, I think most people now (myself included) wouldn't last very long if things were to be forced to return to the pre-oil days that I've read so much about. It sounded beautiful, peaceful, idyllic even, but it's not practical to try and go back to that. When I talk about trying to develop other industry, I mean getting serious about it. If you provide companies with incentive to come to Alaska, they will come, as long as the incentive is good enough. Maybe some of that surplus in the coffers could be put towards attracting business and industry to the state. But like I said, I'm not against oil, I just think it might be a good idea to see if something else could be developed as a fall-back in case oil stops paying the bills.
And really, this stuff is just my opinion. There's no offense meant to anyone here, honest to god/whatever you believe in.
They already have the cheap alternative to oil, nuclear power. The only waste off it is the radioactive cores that need disposed of. But the actual life of the fuel itself is by FAR longer than oil or coal power plants.
All that trouble they had in Japan was hype. The radiation leak at its worst was less than you having 50 xrays.
In ahort nuclear power is safe for producing power over long periods. Even the radioactive cores (in my opinion at least) is far better byproduct than air pollutants caused by oil and/or coal emissions.
Let me touch a bit on "renewable energy". Wind power- is effective while the wind blows to power the battery storages. An off shore wind farm was proposed not to far from the "great" creator of the internet, al gore's home. HE shot it down because he did not want to look at the turbines from his back door. (I dont remember where i read/heard thisthough) those large wind turbine farms located here in my state are something to see, however ineffective Wind Powering America: Illinois Wind Map and Resource Potential <that provides some info to the amount of energy wind here produces.
Then solar power. The cleanest power out there slightly better than wind actually. The fact is that again it is dependent on the sun shining. If the battery storages are not big enough to supply a huge surge of power and the sun isnt shining, black out, literally.
Another viable option is hydroelectricity dirived from either a water turbine spinning fixed in a river (as seen in "old west" photos) or in a dam. Both however have huge environmental impacts. Dams creat MASSIVE lakes upstream flooding towns and valleys that wild animals call home. Table Rock Lake History <facts on a dam near me.
In short i think the "only" way to supply our future needs is to use existing fuels (fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro, and what wind we have) and use them smarter and find ways to make them more efficient. The turbines in hoover dam could be upgraded to spin more freely or at a higher rate of speed, and fossil fuels can be filtered better (we may even find a use for their byproducts.
The property tax in the valley is about 13 mills. That's $1300 for every 100,000 in value. So if you have a house worth 300,000 you will be taxed at about $4600 not $10K.
That's still high so I don't want to defend it. I hope it comes down. But it's not 10k.
I say about 13 mills because the actual borough wide mil rate is somthing like 10 mils but then they add on road service and fire service area taxes which vary according to your area. I tell people to count on 14 mils and it's almost always closer to 13 mils.
See, I've always found that the taxes in AK were very reasonable, only because I compare them to where I'm at in MI. Our mill rate is at an astounding 22 mills. And to think this area is near to bottom of the tax rate. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/ta...s_353623_7.pdf
Oh lord, I knew I should have left out the "right wing" part. The only reason I typed that is because, well, most of the posts in here up to that point were coming from a right wing perspective. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Also, if you watch news channels, the conservative folks are the ones who are preaching most of the doom and gloom these days.
But like I've said, I'm no "liberal". I would consider myself an environmentalist in that I actually CARE about the environment, yes. There is a middle ground between "commie" and "Bill O'Reilly", you know. You protect your home, right? Well, why wouldn't you protect the Earth, too? It's what your home sits on, so I would say it's even more important. Also, unless I end up deciding to pursue commercial aviation, I plan to study natural resource management, so it's an area of interest for me. And it's not really the oil leaking into the ocean that I'm so worried about with the Beaufort rigs. It's the damage it would do to the migration patterns of the bowheads that swim past Point Hope, and the effect that would have on that village and their culture overall. That also matters to me.
I'm not "b*tching" about anything, actually. I'm calmly stating my opinion, thank you. I drive a car and type on a keyboard like everyone else, but the difference is I'm interested in developing new ways to go about these things BEFORE we run out of oil, and not to wait until it's already happened. Because it will. I agree with some of what you said, bud, calm down.
And really, this stuff is just my opinion. There's no offense meant to anyone here, honest to god/whatever you believe in.
No harm meant in the liberal thing. I use as much recycle products as I can. I also use as much stainless steel as I can, as I can be washed it and I am good to go for many years. I recycle every week.
With the world adding 134 million people a year, how long can the world sub-stain that growth? Then numbers are scary as the resources will be consumed in record numbers.
The world has and estimated 50 years of oil left if used at todays rate, but adding 134 million people a year to the world minus the 50 millin deaths a year, the 50 years of oil is sure to dwindle. How about our timber, fishing, etc. industry can it handle the new population growth. The US and world are going to have to resort to more nuclear plants to keep up with the demand for energy or more coal plants.
Oh lord, I knew I should have left out the "right wing" part. The only reason I typed that is because, well, most of the posts in here up to that point were coming from a right wing perspective. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Also, if you watch news channels, the conservative folks are the ones who are preaching most of the doom and gloom these days.
.
ffs
It's not the conservatives who are relieving their bowels in Zucchini Park.
And pointing out that Obama and his Weather Underground administration has set this country on a path toward economic devastation is not "doom and gloom" hyperbole. It is merely stating fact.
I drive a car and type on a keyboard like everyone else, but the difference is I'm interested in developing new ways to go about these things BEFORE we run out of oil, and not to wait until it's already happened. Because it will.
Here are some contrary opinions to consider regarding running out of oil any time soon. I like to read both sides of the issue and then make my decision.
Some estimate that there is enough for at least 140 more years.
I'm sure you have heard the saying that the stone age did not end because they ran out of stones...the same thing goes for oil.
They are drilling about 200 new wells a month in North Dakota and Texas and those aren't dry wells, they are producing more oil.
The oil age will end when we find more efficient energy, not because we are running out of oil.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
