Property Taxes (sales, real estate, assessor)

[daniellefort]

How are property taxes assessed in N.H. on a home. My sister pays more simply because she's within 2 miles from a school. The people up the street pay less for equal home value.

Here in FL, the state has a cap of 3% raise each year assessed at the time you bought the place BUT if you do any kind of upgrades, additions or anything that requires a city permit, they re-assess the value of your home and can change your taxes at that time to equal the current value even if it's more than the 3% then after that the 3% rules begins again.

That's the reason we haven't done any major remodeling on our little fixer upper we bought 7 years ago. Our taxes would probably be 3 or 4 times as much as 7 years ago.

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

How are property taxes assessed in N.H. on a home. My sister pays more simply because she's within 2 miles from a school. The people up the street pay less for equal home value

This is in NH? They must be in different towns if the the values are assessed the same, otherwise they'd be taxed the same.

[TootsieWootsie]

ValerieC gave this to us to use awhile ago, and I bookmarked it. This should tell you what each cities tax rate is.
By the way, the people in NH on this board seem to think they have the highest rates in the nation; but it is New Jersey that has the highest property tax rates. Texas, which is known for high property rates, really has the highest rates in the Houston area where I lived in a Drs./lawyers ghetto for 20 years (Bellaire) and I paid $19.01 per $1,000--which seems to be pretty much in line with alot of NH.
Anyway, look at these figures:

http://snhhome.com/2006NHTaxRates.pdf

[buck naked]

NH has no cap on raising property taxes. They DO go up every year. I currently live in a town that has 100% assessment and the taxes are constantly adjusted. I THINK NH passed a law that says all properties must be taxed at 100%.


Prior to that, some homes were not taxed at current market value so the tax rates were enormous but the payments ended up approximately the same. Example: a house valued at $200 but actually worth $300K at CMV might be taxed at $28/1000. But with 100% valuation, the home is adjusted to $300K, but the tax rate would drop to a lot less than $28.

I've never heard of a home be taxed more because it is closer to a school.

[399083453]

Originally Posted by buck naked

I've never heard of a home be taxed more because it is closer to a school.

Yep, I heard that one from someone who lived in NH. I bet its true. Probably depends on the city.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by 399083453

Yep, I heard that one from someone who lived in NH. I bet its true. Probably depends on the city.

Course it's true. I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't. My sister lives in the northern woods of NH and pays $4000 in taxes. Move up the road a few streets and they pay less because of the proximity to the school still being in the same city limits.

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

Course it's true. I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't. My sister lives in the northern woods of NH and pays $4000 in taxes. Move up the road a few streets and they pay less because of the proximity to the school still being in the same city limits.

Well if it is the same town, then their house must be assessed by the town at a different value to your sister's. Towns don't have sliding scales on tax RATES, but an assessor will value a property based on normal real estate drivers. E.g. location and convenience is a factor in value.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by rmcewan

Well if it is the same town, then their house must be assessed by the town at a different value to your sister's. Towns don't have sliding scales on tax RATES, but an assessor will value a property based on normal real estate drivers. E.g. location and convenience is a factor in value.

like you said, it must be her location which is why she pays more than most because she's close to an elementary school.

[Valerie C]

Assessment value is certainly not an exact science. Buck Naked is correct that New Hampshire assessments are 100% of property value , actually many homes are listed for quite a bit UNDER assessed value. The re-assessments were done in 2005, when homes had their highest value ever. Accident? I don't think so...

Anyway I would suggest pulling the assessments and comparing the value. An identical house will higher in value because of location, ie: near a school, fire station, etc. In many towns, the squeaky wheel does get the grease--file for an abatement and you have a good chance of getting some money back...

Originally Posted by daniellefort

How are property taxes assessed in N.H. on a home. My sister pays more simply because she's within 2 miles from a school. The people up the street pay less for equal home value.

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

it is New Jersey that has the highest property tax rates.

You're right Tootsie, NJ has the highest tax rates. NJ follows the same "rule" that the assessed value should be 100% of the market value...but it's up to the municipality to reassess. In my township we have not been reassessed since 1994; instead they just keep upping the tax rate. Currently in my township it's $3.85 per $100 value. I actually have lower rates than most other areas of NJ; my parents pay about $12,000/year.

When I started looking at NH to possibly move there I read a lot about their high taxes; I've seen a lot of complaints on the boards here. When I saw how much it actually is I laughed...my taxes would be LOWER or COMPARABLE if I moved there. Add to that no income tax (I currently pay 5.52% state income tax) and no sales tax (in NJ it's 7%) it seems like I'd come out ahead! Now I just have to convince my husband to move