80% Property Tax Increase... Loosing my Home? (Yakima: sale, real estate market, lease)

[KidBlue]

Sorry to hear about your property tax scare. It is one thing that makes me nervous about WA. Here in CA, the property tax starts at either one percent of the sales price or building/land cost. The rate increases by one percent per year. The appraised value is limited to an increase of 2 percent per year. I'm not sure why CA's property tax law was upheld in court and WA's wasn't, but hopefully the tax problems will be fixed in the future.

I'm not sure how expensive or large your home is, but my taxes are just about half of your's for a home on acreage. But states are good at getting the revenue they need, so CA makes it up the loss in other taxes---like income tax.

[chris]

That's some crazy taxes Ultrarunner! I would hope there is some relief soon. I would definitely make a stink about it with the county.

I just received a new appraisal from the county (Mason) a few weeks ago and I got hit with a one-year 25% increase in evaluation, although like Rocco said, I won't know what the actual increase is until I get the tax bill.

[Fat Freddy]

Property owners never seem to complain when out of control development and real estate hype make their property values soar out of sight, especially if they plan to sell and make a killing.

But they cry and whine when they realize that they have to pay taxes on the inflated values.

[yakker]

Property owners never seem to complain when out of control development and real estate hype make their property values soar out of sight, especially if they plan to sell and make a killing.

But they cry and whine when they realize that they have to pay taxes on the inflated values.

I'd be crying too if I had to pay over 8k in property taxes, especially if I had to hold off on doing improvements for fear of being assessed too highly. Not everyone is a speculator in real estate. Some of us are looking for a place to retire where we won't be bled dry, paying the equivilent of a mortgage every month just to be able to stay in a house that's paid off.

California has proposition 13 which, good or bad, at least gives the home owner some ability to plan their lives toward retirement without the specter of never ending tax increases that are computed at the whim of the State. I have looked at Texas, Oregon, and now Washington as prospective retirement locations and have noted the increased uprising of dissatisfaction from residents in all three States over confiscatory property tax policies. At some point the voter's will has to be honored, and officials who don't value that will should be forced to look for another job. That tenet holds true no matter where you live.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

Property owners never seem to complain when out of control development and real estate hype make their property values soar out of sight, especially if they plan to sell and make a killing.

But they cry and whine when they realize that they have to pay taxes on the inflated values.

In Washington the Seller is required to pay an excise tax on the total sales price when sold in addition to yearly property tax... and you're right, I am crying and whining, but most of all I'm angry...

I'm angry because this is my home and this is where I "Planned" to stay... 80% increase this year and only God knows how much the next year...

Don't be fooled, people can be taxed out of their home... especially here.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

Property owners never seem to complain when out of control development and real estate hype make their property values soar out of sight, especially if they plan to sell and make a killing.

But they cry and whine when they realize that they have to pay taxes on the inflated values.

This is what Fat Freddy posted on the subject...

"Our house is a place to live our lives. It is not an investment, nor an equity, nor collateral for loans. We have no interest in ever selling it nor profiting from it.

Increase in property values means increase in property taxes. This in itself is a negative, especially for those on fixed incomes.

But, more important is the fact that high appreciation is usually a result of market manipulation and real estate development schemes which are always detrimental to both the natural and the social environment.

Many of us, especially those from California, chose Washington to spend our last years to get away from exactly that."

[MotleyCrew]

What a shame. My husband and I are coming up to WA to see some of the Grays Harbor areas. We had planned on possibly building a small retirement home there, but now I fear the trip will be a waste of our time. Prop 13 in Ca years ago came too late for my in-laws and they did lose their home. It did save my parents home. People, please wake up and be careful who you vote for. Ultrarunner you really should take that to the media, it is beyond belief and I think people need to know these things are taking place. I feel like we are being herded into some little Government co-op down the line. We will have a choice of "grey or gray." Best of luck to you.

[sean98125]

"overturned by the Washington Supreme Court on (what looks to me like) technicalities"

The state constitution isn't a "technicality". It's the foundation of our state laws.

[sean98125]

If your land is truly not buildable, your property taxes may not go up that much. If it is buildable, then it probably falls under the average 41% increase in land value that the newspaper articles linked to earlier mentioned.

It is possible to craft an property tax cap initiative that doesn't run afoul of the state constitution, but so far no one has done it yet. That's part of the problem when you have people that earn a significant portion of their income off of the initiative process - it's better for them personally to have an initiative overturned by the courts than it is for the initiative to be constitutional the first time out of the gate.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by sean98125

"overturned by the Washington Supreme Court on (what looks to me like) technicalities"

The state constitution isn't a "technicality". It's the foundation of our state laws.

So explain the ruling... here is the best explaination I have found...

Washington Policy Center • Publications (broken link)