New Hampshire Property Taxes !!!!

[cheekyerica]

Originally Posted by buck naked

once land has a building on it, the property value goes up. Yes, the land is taxed. Barns and outbuildings do get assessed into the value.

Thanks, this is what I was hoping to find out.

Originally Posted by buck naked

Current use is a label for tree farms, and other types of farms. It means the taxes are lower if the land is not developed. For example, a 500 acre tree farm would be taxed less than a 500 acre estate. There is a promise made not to break up the 500 acres into 500 house lots. The property is taxed at it's current use, not it's marketing potential as house lots. 60% of NH's private land is labeled as current use.

Ok, that's also really good to know. I'd looked online but I found a variety of explanations and definitions and this at least makes clear sense.

Originally Posted by buck naked

Some people offer conservation easements on their property. It is also a promise not to develop the land. These easements are generally passed down generations. There are tax incentives. The land owner can deduct up to 50% of his earned income for federal taxes for a number of years. If the land is a working farm and the landowner makes all of his income from farming, he is allowed to deduct 100% of his income from federal taxes for a number of years. Therefore, he would owe no taxes at all.

Huh. Ok, it sounds like it's not a bad thing, but certainly something to look more closely at on the properties that list that. Thank you for that information!

Originally Posted by steveusaf

I guess I'm just worried that people like Cheekyerica are going to think that kids are not welcome in NH with statements like the one you made.

No worries SteveUSAF. Everyone has an opinion, and an option. If I were going to have kids I'd be very interested in the schools, and how the property taxes factored in. However, I took the option to have cats & a husband instead of kids. So I can understand some of the frustration expressed. Not agree with it, but I can understand it.

Originally Posted by steveusaf

Yes, property taxes are expensive. Yes, schools are expensive. Worth funding? I've already made my feelings known about that - not going there again.

I'd never argue against using that money for public education. It is MO (as we all have one) one of the best things is that we have a public school system that allows access to education. Whether families and students make the most of that--that's a different story, but the opportunity to have it is ace. And part of what makes the American dream possible.

[lreznick]

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

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Well,

Quote:"It seems to me that the solution is in your support of the municipal & other government representatives."

There have been so many liberal 'tax-and-spend' MA transplants here, that I am outnumbered 10 to 1, so my 'support' of the representatives goes unheard. People who think the government can solve all injustices... well, I will just use the term 'lemming'

Quote:"If they are not assessing the properties appropriately, you and all the others in your community have to do something about it."

Since most of the tranplants WANT to have exotic schools, playgrounds, police and fire stations and libraries that look like the Taj Mahal, they LOVE to soak those that use very few resources in the town, so their vermin (oops, offspring) can live big.

Quote:"Certainly the ultimate "do something" is to move away in loud protest, reminding them that their practices are reducing their tax base."

Umm, that doesn't reduce their tax base. The houses and land are still there, and they build a ridiculously expensive school to draw in a new set of suckers (oops, I meant residents)

The only thing to do with these problems is, as I said, move away, taking the opportunity if available to loudly let them know why.

And, yes, it does reduce their tax base. Taxpayer flight does that. Your property gets reassessed when the next person buys it. Even if you sell it at auction, they're not necessarily going to get the tax that they got with you there. The next person may not pay so much because the purchase price may be far less.

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

Quote: " What are you doing about it, other than writing about it here?"

I moved to an area where there is very little taxation, providing only the services I need.

And so, the community lost another one. Did the property get reassessed downward after you sold it?

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

Quote:"What are you doing about the expenditures they're continuing that cause them to believe they need to increase the taxes?"

Fully supporting Planned Parenthood, and fully supporting the VAT (i.e. pay as you go), for ALL services provided by the town. Let's start with schools being funded by those who use them (that is 75% of the property tax).

I couldn't support either the abortion factory or a VAT, which is a tax on living. I do agree that schools should be funded solely by those who use them, not by government taxation. Government at every level should be out of the school business.

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

Quote:"As for an "effective rate" -- your 4.5% based on what? Your purchase price? What a real estate agent told you your property is worth?"

Geez, you don't know much about property taxation. It has nothing to do with purchase price, it has nothing to do with any real estate agent. This town is based on 100% valuation, on what the house is worth if you sold it on the open market. Housing prices have dropped dramatically. If they re-assessed them to account for this, the revenue to the town would drop drastically. If that happened, all the 'tax-and-spenders' would be up in arms, causing a lot of grief to all the representatives and town officials, which in my observations work under the 'don't rock the boat' strategy.
My effective rate is based upon the tax I am actually paying to the town, based on their assessed value, compared to the tax I would be paying based on the actual market value of the house, using the same tax rate.
You learn how to do this in 8th grade.

You seem to be irony-free here. My latter was a tongue-in-cheek rhetorical question.

And, yes, I have owned homes and paid property taxes.

Your very answer provides the anecdotal evidence that their tax thievery knows no bounds. If they decide the tax based on current market value assessment, the taxes would come down with the value. That they get away with the baloney you describe is the argument against their terrible method. Because you're dealing with a legal entity you have to either move away or find a way to change their methods.

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

Quote: "That doesn't stop the legitimate dispute you have about the assessment."

I did dispute it, they dropped it a little bit, and the only way I can attempt to make it correct is through litigation. Forget it. Time to bail out of the town.

As I said....

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

I don't see how anyone can consider it 'fair', when a single guy (with a 5lb dog) can live in a house (granted, rather large), using only police, fire and town services (such as show removal, road repair), should be expected to pay $2000 a month in property tax, where the vast majority goes to services I never use and don't care about. Talk about socialism. Geez.

But that's exactly why government support of those services must stop.

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

I did consider one option, to help society, if they wouldn't make the taxation fair. Since the school system is very good, and I have a bunch of high-school relatives and quite a few bedrooms, they could have their residency established at my home, and all attend the local high school. I could at least get my money's worth. (actually, with 5 of them, it would cost the town a fortune).

heh heh. That would be a subtle revenge, but would the education be worthwhile?

[NHForester]

Cheekyerica,

Easements have more meanings than just a conservation easement. An easement is any right someone else has to your property. Here are several instances.

- a legal owned driveway over your property to get to a back property. You own the land but can not impede their right of access. Also known as a right of way.

- Utility companies hold easements on many lands in order to run powerlines, gas lines, telephone lines, etc.

- A neighbor may have the right to take water from a spring located on your property.

And on and on and on...