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I have been looking at houses for relocation and am confused about the way property taxes work here. I understand you get a 50% decrease in taxes as a homeowner's exemption, but it seems like there are big variations in taxes charged for similarly priced houses in Boise.
For example, one house listed for $280K shows a tax rate of about $3,580 a year(!) Another listed for 260K only shows taxes of $1,360, but one for $263K has taxes of $2400. All of these have the homeowner's exemption in place.
I can understand some differences according to different locations in Boise, but this seems extreme and some taxes seem pretty high! I asked my realtor and she wasn't sure why some areas are a lot higher than others. (She's kind of a new realtor.)
Also, do property taxes go up every year according to new assessed values?
You can search a properties tax rate by searching the address at the Ada county assessors website. It is very detailed, so you will see the assessed value and all the individual taxes associated with that property. It is pretty easy to calculate. BTW the exemption is 50% of the assessed value up to an exemption of $94,745, so taxes increase steeply when you look at more expensive properties, because a higher percentage of the value is being taxed.
Great question and great answer by Pooks1976. Each property is impacted by different tax levy rates so the taxes will in fact vary from one property to another depending on school districts, fire department, library, city, cemetery, sewer & irrigation districts, etc. Each property has a "levy code" that adds all these up that apply to it which is multiplied by the tax value of the home. If the home is owner occupied, and the owner files the exemption form, their property tax rate is reduced in half up to a maximum deduction of the $94,745 that Pooks1976 mentioned.
The main things I see that are major impacts are: if they filed the Home Owner's Exemption; county (Canyon is much higher); Circuit Breaker Exemptions (greatly reduce taxes based on low income or disabled homeowners); and new construction since the tax on a new home is only based on the lot itself until the home is occupied, at which point you are taxed on the "occupancy tax" of the home for the remainder of the year from when you move in for the remainder of the first year.
It is easy to determine approximately what your taxes will be based on your purchase price multiplied by the levy code and then factor in if you plan on living in the home as your primary residence or not. Your Realtor (if they are a member of the Intermountain MLS) has access to the Ada County Property Tax Database so they should be able to help you calculate this. If they don't know how, they can check with the IMLS or with their broker to show them how.
The taxes are adjusted annually and the levy codes are set later to make sure we have enough money coming in to balance our budgets (since taxes in Idaho are collected in arrears, we always seem to balance our budget).
Thank you for the responses. I have looked at the property tax database and gotten some insights. IdahoBroker, how is the "occupancy tax" calculated for a new home for the first year? I guess you could use tax info for houses near new construcition to determine what would be the eventual tax rate for a new house.
Since Boise houses are appreciating fast, I am a little concerned the property taxes could end up pretty high in the future. A balanced budget is good, but sky-high property taxes aren't.
It's also worth noting that the homeowner's exemption is theoretically indexed to home prices and increases with rising property values, however, the state legislature decided to cap it at $100,000 going forward, regardless of increases in property values. So the future tax savings regarding the exemption will be greatly diminished in places like Boise where the average home prices is well over $200,000 in many areas.
IdahoBroker, how is the "occupancy tax" calculated for a new home for the first year? . . .Since Boise houses are appreciating fast, I am a little concerned the property taxes could end up pretty high in the future. A balanced budget is good, but sky-high property taxes aren't.
I think the Ada County Assessors office is doing a much better job on new homes these days. I have met many of the assessors personally walking through new homes while they are under contstruction to determine the quality of the home so they don't give a custom home at 2500 sq. ft. the same value as a production home of the same size. Once the house is occupied, they typically only do drive by appraisals and a review at least every seven years. Many times, I see the assessed value come in right at the sales price of a home, but not always.
If properties continue to increase, as long as we keep our spending in check, the levy code can actually decrease. I just checked my property taxes on my primary residence and see that my taxes are actually within $5 of where they were in 2006. They peaked in 2007 about $100 higher, dropped to a low in 2010 about $270 lower. My tax levy is 0.016037766. Unfortunately, I don't see a way to track the levy code changes over the years.
One other thing to keep in mind is that older homes tend to have lower assessed values relative to what those homes are actually worth. So a $350k new build is likely going to have quite a bit higher taxes than a $350k older home, even though they have the same real world value.
It looks to me like taxes are a lot higher if you are assessed by Boise City? They seem to be lower in the "Southwest Ada County Alliance" area. I have looked at that area and other than it being farther from downtown it seems nice, but houses there seem to stay on the market longer. Is there a reason I don't know about??
My tax levy is 0.016037766. Unfortunately, I don't see a way to track the levy code changes over the years.
You can see prior year's levy rates. Go to Ada County Assessor's website http://adacountyassessor.org/propsys/ and bring up the address you are curious about, and go to the Tax Districts tab to see current year mil/levy rate. Then go up to the top where it says 2016. That is a dropdown. If you change to a prior year, and go back to the Tax Districts tab, it shows the mil for that year. I just did it for my house, and my mil has gone down each of the last 4 years. My value has gone up, so my taxes have gone up, but the rate has gone down.
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