[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Dhult

I would also add that she just sold a rental property she purchased outright in 1972 for 20K for 675,000. Her last five years of taxes on the property was
$1,138- $1190. The assessment was only 56,000 because of WHEN she purchased it not what it is valued at today so the other poster is absolutely correct.

You can have similar valued houses on the same street paying vastly different amounts of property taxes. Maybe he should have used the words "current market price" instead of assessment.

Just for clarity...

The date when a property is purchased is irrelevant in this discussion.

What is relevant is the value at the time of transfer if some one owns or plans on owning retirement property in California or States with similar statutes.

In my case, I bought several years ago and my new neighbors up the street recently bought and their home/lot is much better than mine.

I bought 7 years ago, they bought 3 months ago..;

I have a much higher Assessed Value... even though have owned my older, smaller home for much longer.

Since 1978... property owners in California have the added peace of mind knowing property taxes are limited to the amount of increase without voter approval...

Many retired find this most valuable because of the stability it provides.

I have friends that moved to Washington State that had limits in place regarding Property Tax called I-747... When it was overturned... my friends experienced an 80% assessment and tax increase from what they had paid for the property 14 months prior.

They now longer live in Washington because of the Property Tax situation...

[Aquaboy]

My prop taxes have increased only slightly in 15 years. Mostly from Sac County schools and bond measures. Its a good thing...

[lan3]

Doesn't Ct tax pensions? My mom and my inlaws are all retired and looking to live in Westchester/CT to be near family. I think CT only has tax breaks for military pensions. That also plays a factor if you are living off a pension and SS.

[DanBev]

I did have home in Vernon which had bubble 2008 assessment,I have posted on this before.We sold it in May,taxes to high.We are still looking,homes are available but have bubble assessment's.The towns are not willing to accept reality.
The homes are $50,000 to $100,000 below 2008 prices being listed but carry high assessment with high taxes.We will not buy into this situation.If you look at history of property there is no justifaction for what happened,greed.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by DanBev

I did have home in Vernon which had bubble 2008 assessment,I have posted on this before.We sold it in May,taxes to high.We are still looking,homes are available but have bubble assessment's.The towns are not willing to accept reality.
The homes are $50,000 to $100,000 below 2008 prices being listed but carry high assessment with high taxes.We will not buy into this situation.If you look at history of property there is no justification for what happened,greed.

This is a problem all over the county... a changing tax burden can wipe out the best retirement planning.

I'm fighting mine now...

The only twist is in California... it would be much easier for me to sell my over assessed home and buy a similar one on my street and lower my assessment 25%.

In doing this... I would lock in the lower value going forward where as, even if I'm again successful on my appeal... my taxes would only go down for that calender year and the kicker is the county has 24 months to act on my appeal. Meanwhile, I have to pay the full tax as shown on the bill.

I have seriously consider doing this... thinking of the long term retirement issues...

My 1700 square foot California home built in 1957 is taxed at $750 per month... my new neighbors with the bigger and better home are taxed at $500 per month.

So, even though I'm going on 7 years ownership... my tax burden is 50% higher then the new family on the block...

One thing I have come to appreciate is there are many things to consider when looking at the financial aspects of retirement...

My friends thought they had it all figured out in Washington State and then the court threw out a key provision of I-747 and they found they could no longer afford their retirement home when taxes increased 80% in one year... they went from $600 a month to $1,080

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by jimazee

A good local 'support system' of family and/or friends becomes invaluable for many people as they age, financially, physically, and mentally.

You also have to consider that some areas have high taxes and also very good senior services, paid for by the taxes. Seniors are usually good for a community. THey seldom commit crimes and have no young kids to raise school tax money. They produce less garbage and cook less. Some areas attract them and consider providing senior services a good trade off.

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by JayCT

My inlaws are in one of those retirement communites in Florida and when they were in good health they were fine. Now that they are older though they are finding how bad the quality of health care is near where they live. They now travel great distances to get quality care. Imagine being in your 80's and 90's and traveling to New York for doctors. It just does not make sense to me and really should be a high priority when considering where you retire to. Jay

I have heard this. Pretty scary if you ever are in an emergency situation.

I recently read a blurb from the AARP about retiring in St.George, Ut. It said there were not good medical services in the area and that for anything serious a person would have to go to the Las Vegas area. Of coarse, if you did research on that, LV medical hospitals had dropped some serious critical care functions because they no longer paid for themselves and people from LV sometimes flew to California for care.

I'm so glad that I am not living in that area it must be a nightmare. Oh, but folks in St.George had a very good longevity in spite of crummy health care.

[Aquaboy]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

This is a problem all over the county... a changing tax burden can wipe out the best retirement planning.

I'm fighting mine now...

The only twist is in California... it would be much easier for me to sell my over assessed home and buy a similar one on my street and lower my assessment 25%.

In doing this... I would lock in the lower value going forward where as, even if I'm again successful on my appeal... my taxes would only go down for that calender year and the kicker is the county has 24 months to act on my appeal. Meanwhile, I have to pay the full tax as shown on the bill.

I have seriously consider doing this... thinking of the long term retirement issues...

My 1700 square foot California home built in 1957 is taxed at $750 per month... my new neighbors with the bigger and better home are taxed at $500 per month.

So, even though I'm going on 7 years ownership... my tax burden is 50% higher then the new family on the block...

One thing I have come to appreciate is there are many things to consider when looking at the financial aspects of retirement...

My friends thought they had it all figured out in Washington State and then the court threw out a key provision of I-747 and they found they could no longer afford their retirement home when taxes increased 80% in one year... they went from $600 a month to $1,080

750.00 per month?? My home is only $1600.00 per year!

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by DanBev

I did have home in Vernon which had bubble 2008 assessment,I have posted on this before.We sold it in May,taxes to high.We are still looking,homes are available but have bubble assessment's.The towns are not willing to accept reality.
The homes are $50,000 to $100,000 below 2008 prices being listed but carry high assessment with high taxes.We will not buy into this situation.If you look at history of property there is no justifaction for what happened,greed.

If the assessed values of all the homes drop then the mill rate will increase. The town needs a certain level of revenue and will get it one way or another. If the mill rate goes up then you'll be paying higher taxes on your cars as well.

It is unlikely that one's total tax will decrease for any extended period of time if all the homes are reassessed lower.

[ctwhitechin]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

If the assessed values of all the homes drop then the mill rate will increase. The town needs a certain level of revenue and will get it one way or another. If the mill rate goes up then you'll be paying higher taxes on your cars as well.

It is unlikely that one's total tax will decrease for any extended period of time if all the homes are reassessed lower.

Agreed you think all these towns will just lay down and take lower property taxes, they will raise the mil and get it one way or the other. For us anyway, we are in our 40s and don't see us being able to retire here....geeze I am keeping my old truck because I don't want to pay an extra $800 or so a year for a new one in taxes, and no im not overestimating that, I checked with my town...that's what it would be.

Just taxes alone with the way it looks is enough to drive retirees away..hopefully they can sell their home, retire somewhere cheaper. Medical care is obviously better here but a retiree can do a lot with the extra 8k or so yearly less in taxes.

Not like I can retire ever anyway