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.
The Democrats have discovered a way around Prop. 13 in Calif. Bonds and parcel taxes. This last election a couple of weeks ago there were 3 that passed in LA. Its that way every election. They are added to your property tax.
Yep... my tax rate is 50% higher than my brother that lives 10 minutes away in the county... I live in Oakland and he lives in Castro Valley with a downtown, parks, library, very nice high school, sidewalks and street lights... that 50% amounts to about $4500 annually...
The voters in my city continue to be very generous and one of the new parcel taxes is for 48 years!!!
The "Lower" Value is temporary and reviewed annually.
The market value of my home decreased substantially and I filed multiple appeals for several tax years and won all of them... the kicker is the county has two years to hold a hearing and even having won it still took a couple of months to receive my refund...
It also cost $50 to file an appeal and ALL taxes as billed must be paid... truly baffling...
My 1725 square foot 1957 home is just shy of 11k...
I appealed my taxes and it was free. I don't get your 11k figure unless your home was what it was worth in 1957. 11k means it was worth 1.2 million when you bought it.
I live in Orange County CA in a 55+ community with a 27 hole golf course, several 9 hole golf courses, several club houses, several pools and spas. Also only about 6 miles from Laguna Beach and within close range of Newport Beach, etc. Cost is important but so is location. Average price in this area is over $700,000. You can buy a 2 bedroom / 2 bath 1,100sf place here which has been completely redone for less than $200,000. My association fee and taxes here run about $650 per month. Taxes are a consideration in Calif., but si is weather, utility costs, location,overall costs, etc.
I grew up in Orange County and love living here. Personally, I wouldn't consider a place to retire to with hot weather(Phoenix), cold weather(notheast) or humidity(Florida, Texas, etc.). But everyone has different ideas. To each his own with their choices in life. Cost of utilities here are very nominal due to the general warm weather. Personally, I haven't used my heater here for several years. If I get cold(around 60) I put a sweatshirt on. If I really get cold (40 or 50) I put two sweat shirts on.
Everyone here has different as to what's important to them.
I appealed my taxes and it was free. I don't get your 11k figure unless your home was what it was worth in 1957. 11k means it was worth 1.2 million when you bought it.
Good discussion and a chance to go over the differences of the tax rates...
I paid 600k for my home in 2003 and the assessor informed me it was was below Fair Market Value and eventually made 3 separate site visits.. unannounced at that.
I stuck to my guns and forced the Assessor to lower my value by the 2k for the private personal property that was included in the sale to arrive at a 598k basis instead of the 680k the assessor proposed.
The Alameda County Tax Assessor charges a $50 appeal filing fee... your county may be different.
When I bought the property tax went from $1200 to $8800 for tax year 2004
Every year my value increased by 2% and I filed several appeals and won after pleading my case before the Assessment Appeals Board... was able to get a temporary lower assessment by 180k one year and 160k the following year.
For Tax Year 2016-17 assessed property value is 710k and my tax due is $10,934... making the Oakland Tax rate with special assessments at 1.54%
My friends and family that live 10 minutes away pay a rate of 1.11%
So my point is the rate charge varies as Prop 13 only sets the Statewide base rate at 1%
Here in 'high tax' New England property taxes on my house $0.25/sq ft.
Your taxes are more than 25X our taxes.
Yes and it is going much higher for next year... all the special assessments and bonds sailed through with more the 66% voter approval... with means a huge jump...
The reason I am so outspoken is every time I hear California is a low property tax state it makes me want to scream...
Again... my East Oakland home is 1725 square feet and all original 1957 kitchen and 2 baths, Formica and Linoleum...
This summer I needed a new roof (Actually it needed one in 2003 but I kept after it to make it last) and since Shake is no longer permitted I had to do a full tear off and sheath the deck... I wanted a good 50 yr comp roof and it ended up costing 23k with permit which is what I can buy an entire home for in parts of the country...
As a side note the roof in 2016 was almost the same price it cost to build the home and buy the lot in 1957
I have the smallest home with the largest tax bill on my street... my neighbors are almost all original owners and most are pushing 90 or older... most have tax bills around 2k +/-
Here in 'high tax' New England property taxes on my house $0.25/sq ft.
Your taxes are more than 25X our taxes.
$750 tax on a 3000 square foot house? Really? How do you pay your firemen, policemen, road workers? Or do they work for free because they don't have to pay much in property taxes?
In Illinois my taxes are $10,000 on an 1890 square foot house.
All my rental property is in Texas. We are leaning toward Henderson, NV but love CA.
Being I'm from Las Vegas, I certainly wouldn't recommend a move here, but one plus to Las Vegas is the cheap air fares out of here, to anywhere in the country. On Southwest, $39 one ways to San Francisco and L.A. (weekday flights) recently, so that would enable you to fly up to see your brother, spend time there, quite cheaply.
Yes and it is going much higher for next year... all the special assessments and bonds sailed through with more the 66% voter approval... with means a huge jump...
The reason I am so outspoken is every time I hear California is a low property tax state it makes me want to scream...
I understand.
Progressives have controlled California politics for decades now. It is very lucky to have the good fortune of multiple strong industries that give it such a robust economy. If California did not have the Ag, international harbors, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood industries, as it's cash cows it would look a lot more like the rest of the states.
I grew-up there, I attended college there and I owned an apartment complex. The state has changed a great deal in recent decades. My siblings and classmates are mostly still there trying to get by. It has been interesting to watch the changes the state has gone through.
It would not make any sense for a low-income retiree like me to return to California.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Siegel
$750 tax on a 3000 square foot house? Really? How do you pay your firemen, policemen, road workers? Or do they work for free because they don't have to pay much in property taxes?
In Illinois my taxes are $10,000 on an 1890 square foot house.
That 25 cents per square-foot is just for our house. Our home sits on 150 acres of forest with riverfrontage, our land is taxed at $1.05 per acre.
Most towns in Maine are rural, spending is very conservative. We do not get any outside sourced subsidies to help with things.
The bigger cities here have gotten addicted to operating on Federal and State subsidy money. Subsidies help pay for municipal services that their budgets can not afford. Previous governors have been going along with 'revenue sharing' from the state, to prop-up the bigger cities. Rural taxes have been subsidizing the cities. Our current governor is cutting down on this 'revenue sharing', subsidies going to the cities are dwindling, and my property taxes have been dropping. City people cry a lot about how un-fair it is.
Metro-bus service can be nice, but when fare-payers only cover 1/3 of the operating cost of those buses, property taxes cover the rest.
Portland has it's own passenger rail service to Boston. The last time I looked, passengers pay less than 1/4 of it's operating cost. Our taxes pay the rest, and it only benefits one city, 1% of the land mass of the state.
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.
