Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Sacramento
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-27-2015, 09:09 PM
 
8,909 posts, read 11,690,481 times
Reputation: 10820

Advertisements

I paid like $500 more this time. Out of nowhere, a $500 increase. Is this city pulling a "city of Bell" scam on us?

City of Bell scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"Property taxes

An investigation into the city's property taxes found that the homeowners of Bell were paying a rate higher than those of the affluent Beverly Hills. Homeowners in Bell pay the second-highest tax rate of any city in Los Angeles County.[113] Wendy Watanabe, Los Angeles County's auditor-controller, stated that residents of Bell pay as much as 1.55% of their home's assessed value in taxes, 34% above the norm. State Controller John Chiang said the raised rate was illegal.[114] Wantanabe said the average for the county is 1.16%. Auditors had discovered that taxpayers were overcharged the $2.9 million for a "retirement tax" to fund city employee pensions.[115] Under California's state tax code, the nearly $3 million overpaid by Bell homeowners, should be redirected to local schools, however, on September 1, 2010, lawmakers approved AB 900 by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D- Los Angeles), which returns $2.9 million in property tax refunds directly to the overcharged city residents.[116] On September 13, 2010 Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, approved the bill.[117] Because the Montebello Unified School District's boundaries include a small area of Bell, it was to receive a portion of the $2.9 million property tax refund slated to be returned to Bell under A.B. 900, which was signed into law by Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado. In a show of solidarity with the residents of Bell, the Montebello Unified School District has refused its legal share of the refund.[118]"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-27-2015, 09:24 PM
 
2,963 posts, read 6,242,536 times
Reputation: 1577
What?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-27-2015, 10:28 PM
 
Location: Carmichael, CA
2,409 posts, read 4,427,405 times
Reputation: 4379
Property taxes here are due December and April. Did you end up paying a late fee?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-27-2015, 11:11 PM
 
8,909 posts, read 11,690,481 times
Reputation: 10820
I paid property taxes on time. I guess I am posting about the increase a little late. The city of Bell scandal illustrates how easily you can be overtaxed illegally and not realizing it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-27-2015, 11:14 PM
 
Location: Living rent free in your head
42,752 posts, read 25,982,008 times
Reputation: 33866
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidt1 View Post
I paid property taxes on time. I guess I am posting about the increase a little late. The city of Bell scandal illustrates how easily you can be overtaxed illegally and not realizing it.
Why was your tax bill $500 higher, it should show a break down of your property tax and assessments- were there new assessment? Was there an underpayment from last year? Did you buy the home recently?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-28-2015, 08:32 AM
 
276 posts, read 362,326 times
Reputation: 392
Did you get a decrease in previous years because of a drop in value? If so, the Prop 13 2% per year does not apply until your property value and tax assessment has caught up with the Prop 13 value (approximately equal to purchase price plus 2% per year after that).

So if you bought the house at $500K in 2000 the Prop 13 value would be about $670K. If your value dropped to $300K during the recession and you got a break on your taxes, the assessed value will rise with inflation until it hits the $670K. A lot of people are getting hit because the housing value are climbing.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-28-2015, 10:55 AM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,460,800 times
Reputation: 23224
Maybe the voters in your district approved new assessments... happens all the time in my city... 24 at last count.

Or it could have been a temporary market reduction to reflect lower values that no longer applies.

I won two lengthy appeals on my residence and now with values rising I'm back to full Prop 13 calculated value...

Just last night my neighbor was out walking the dog... they have a magnificent home on several acres... large and extensively remodeled 7 years ago... they pay $2,300 annual taxes and I'm back to $9,400 for my cottage... no surprises because I bought when Real Estate was high and they bought when prices were down 35 years ago...

At least Prop 13 keeps taxes predictable and requires voter approval for new assessments.

Last edited by Ultrarunner; 05-28-2015 at 11:13 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-28-2015, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Sacramento
323 posts, read 1,005,446 times
Reputation: 151
It's likely you got a break when your house went underwater and now it has regained value, as mentioned it can go up by quite a bit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-30-2015, 12:28 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,322,822 times
Reputation: 38565
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Ozo View Post
It's likely you got a break when your house went underwater and now it has regained value, as mentioned it can go up by quite a bit.
No, because of Prop 13, the property can't be reassessed at a higher value. Taxes are based on sales price. As Ultrarunner said, there might be local assessments, but sounds like this should be fought.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-30-2015, 01:19 AM
 
276 posts, read 362,326 times
Reputation: 392
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe View Post
No, because of Prop 13, the property can't be reassessed at a higher value. Taxes are based on sales price. As Ultrarunner said, there might be local assessments, but sounds like this should be fought.
The Prop 13 value is based on the purchase price and climbs 2% each year. That formula does not change. If the market value of the property drops, below the Prop 13 value, the owner can ask for an assessment to lower the property taxes. This is a result of another initiative, Proposition 8. As the property rises back up in value, the assessment rises with inflation until it reaches the Prop 13 value. At that point, the 2% per year kicks back in. Here is the Sacramento County Assessor's full explanation: DeclineInMarketValue_ProcessOverview
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Sacramento

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top