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I was just looking at one of the counties where we used to live and looking up houses to get an idea of where property taxes have went. In 1986, we bought a house in Geary County for $39,000 and the taxes were around $300 a year. Fast forward to 2017 and the taxes are now $1,700 with the valued at twice what it was then.
So curious, I started looking up properties and found that a house selling for $25,000 had taxes of over $2,000. This was a VA repo I would class as a "fixer upper". So, then I looked up a better neighborhood, a house for sale for about $80,000, much newer and neighborhood roughly equal and the tax amount was the same.
What everyone that pays taxes should realize is that if you don't challenge the appraised value, they just run with it year after year. The appraiser, who I called to ask about this interesting system they were using, claimed that selling price doesn't count, but it most certainly does as we went through this with the state appraiser 5 years ago when we bought a house for a price that was below the appraised value. Noting the shortcomings of the house, needed replacement and repair, etc. our amount was reduced. Actually in 3 different counties, our amount was reduced when I challenged it.
What appeared to be happening in the most recent situation was that those with nicer homes seemed to be getting a break over those that lived in lesser homes and in lesser neighborhoods.
Both real property and personal property in taxes are high, and I can't figure out where the money goes. When we lived near the stateline, people were registering vehicles, rvs, boats, etc. in MO where it was cheaper. I guess they must have used a relative or friend's address. I even see RVs here that are stored with out of state tags. We all pay more when they cheat.
You sure about those tax numbers? Property taxes are simply a percentage of the building and lands value. If a $50K property has higher property taxes then a $80K property in the same county, its most likely an error and not just an adjustment to the appraised value that needs to change. My house is appraised at $120,000 and my property taxes are $1,400 annually here in Shawnee County. It's easy to remember because it's almost exactly $700 every 6 months. We bought this house in 2012 and our taxes have increased about $100 since then, but our tax rate actually decreased by 0.02% over those 5 years, not much, but at least it isn't increasing.
Property tax rates shouldn't vary much unless they are zoned differently for commercial, industrial, residential, or agricultural. We looked at buying a commercial property in Topeka that was appraised at $150,000 and the property tax is $6,000 annually, thats because commercial property tax rates are much higher then residential tax rates. I believe commercial properties also take square feet into account, unlike residential or agricultural properties.
Here you can compare every counties property tax rates fairly easily, no promises it's 100% accurate, but Shawnee County is pretty close. According to the calculator Geary County has a lower property tax rate then Shawnee County. https://smartasset.com/taxes/kansas-...tax-calculator
Missouri's average property tax rate is right around 1% whereas Kansas's average property tax rate is 1.40%, so it is lower, but Missouri is still in the bottom half of states. Oklahoma is 0.88% Nebraska is 1.85%, Texas 1.9%, and Colorado is 0.60%
We receive via the mail a report on property taxes every year. Most property taxes go to schools (not typically universities), public libraries, regional airports, roads, etc.
The state of Kansas actually has a really good website and almost everything is on there you can think of. It's very transparent and you can go to the Department of Revenue, search your county, and find where the money goes.
As I assured the appraiser yesterday when I spoke with her, I am well aware of the way it is supposed to be, and the way the counties do it, IF the people let them get away with it!
What they do is "jack up" the appraisals to bring in more money. Many people that pay mortgages don't pay attention to the tax increases, many are afraid to challenge the county, so it just goes haywire.
I looked at several properties being familiar with Geary County (lived there for 8 years) and husband is from there, and it was obvious what they are doing. I know who they are exploiting doing this, it is just too bad too. As I said, I fought them in Geary, in Bourbon and in Lyon and won.
On the house we recently sold here in Lyon County, it was valued at about $60,000 and the property tax was about $1,100, that was after I got it lowered based on the price we paid + the photos I took of the inside, like basement and other things that needed repairs.
Also, no nice way to say that people that are more "educated" and have access to the internet are more likely to challenge the appraisals and that those with the lesser education, no access to the internet and the research options one has, well, they end up paying more than they should.
I think maybe the best person to answer this would be at the state level, which if I can find the time, I will adequately address this. I know the county appraisers have to answer to the state, since I got one appraiser all upset because she would have to answer to the state. Well, good!
So, they jack up the appraisals to bring in more money. Those lesser in the know of how to challenge or that they can do this end up paying more than their fair share. This was denied, but I have lived it.
All too often, because sales of homes are limited, they go back in time to determine what a selling price would be. There was a time where there was a shortage of housing in Geary County thus driving up the prices. When prices went up, it drove new construction, people bought newer, and the old sales figures from the housing shortage are being used on the older housing, or so it looks. You'll see this in counties where businesses were booming and closed leaving people who paid quite a bite for a house desperate to sell it at any price (currently in Coffeyville after Amazon closed, I'm betting one would see the same thing).
Kansas, all counties, have high personal and real property taxes compared to many states. I'm thinking cost of living figures must not take that into consideration.
Most properties I have seen here in Shawnee County are actually under appraised by 10-20%. We own some rental properties and are constantly paying attention to the local real estate market.
When the county appraises a home they simply take 3 "comparable" properties and use an algorithm to figure out an estimated value. If a county is really "jacking up" individual homes values, that would be a pretty big scandal in my opinion. People should aways pay attention to their possessions, and it's a huge problem in America that people get lax in their personal finances, its the same reason so few people have any savings and the debt ratio per household is so high. I personally wouldn't blame the county if someone doesn't pay attention to their home value, homeowners have to take responsibility for their own properties. It's easy to dispute the counties appraisal and it's completely normal and not a big deal. There are many reasons a home can be over appraised like if the comparable homes are actually more valuable or in a nicer/newer neighborhood for example.
I own an apartment in China where there is no property tax, and when comparing my house here, to my apartment there, it kind of sucks... but thats a whole different conversation. The fact is, the government is going to get tax money from somewhere, if not from property taxes, then by increasing other taxes. My overall tax burden has decreased in the last decade, even with undoing the previous tax cuts.
So much of your property taxes goes to schools the levy in your district may be much different than a neighboring district and taxes on an identical house might vary widely.
There are people in Johnson County who will research the appraised value of your home and represent you in an appeal hearing with the county appraiser. IIRC, if they don’t get it reduced for you, you don’t pay the guy, or maybe it was a reduced fee. I worked with a man who did this every time his house was reappraised and every time got his appraisal lowered.
So much of your property taxes goes to schools the levy in your district may be much different than a neighboring district and taxes on an identical house might vary widely.
There are people in Johnson County who will research the appraised value of your home and represent you in an appeal hearing with the county appraiser. IIRC, if they don’t get it reduced for you, you don’t pay the guy, or maybe it was a reduced fee. I worked with a man who did this every time his house was reappraised and every time got his appraisal lowered.
There are occasionally “special” taxes for new construction subdivisions which could be a lot of JOCO, but property taxes shouldn’t vary more then 0.25-0.50% within a county. The OPs example would have been a 2-3% tax rate difference and there isn’t going to be that much of a difference.
There are occasionally “special” taxes for new construction subdivisions which could be a lot of JOCO, but property taxes shouldn’t vary more then 0.25-0.50% within a county. The OPs example would have been a 2-3% tax rate difference and there isn’t going to be that much of a difference.
I know I’m a Missourian and shouldn’t be here, but property taxes are a particular pet peeve of mine. According to this https://www.jocogov.org/sites/defaul...stract%203.pdf the levy for the Olathe School District is $71.17 and Shawnee Mission is $53.66. That’s a considerable difference, in my opinion.
I know I’m a Missourian and shouldn’t be here, but property taxes are a particular pet peeve of mine. According to this https://www.jocogov.org/sites/defaul...stract%203.pdf the levy for the Olathe School District is $71.17 and Shawnee Mission is $53.66. That’s a considerable difference, in my opinion.
Olathe has been growing a lot more and thus has more cost of infrastructure development due to the population change.
This was also true when I lived in Chicago and the far outer burbs were growing like crazy and thus needed new schools, streets, sewer...yada yada yada. They had much higher taxes.
Olathe has been growing a lot more and thus has more cost of infrastructure development due to the population change.
This was also true when I lived in Chicago and the far outer burbs were growing like crazy and thus needed new schools, streets, sewer...yada yada yada. They had much higher taxes.
Olathe has a slower rate growth compared to Overland Park this decade according to recent census data:
Percentage Change: 9.0%
Overland Park 2010 Population: 173,325
Overland Park 2016 Population: 188,966
Overland Park always had one of the lower property tax rates in JOCO due to commercial tax base, but that doesn't always translate directly to overall quality of life for residents in other ways. You pay more in property taxes in Leawood, it has a much smaller tax base, but is far quieter and woodsy by comparison with well regarded amenities.
There are occasionally “special” taxes for new construction subdivisions which could be a lot of JOCO, but property taxes shouldn’t vary more then 0.25-0.50% within a county. The OPs example would have been a 2-3% tax rate difference and there isn’t going to be that much of a difference.
BUT, there is that much difference. As I said, I know what happened, those that were aware and educated enough to get their property taxes reduced by protesting, or brave enough such many I have known were too fearful to do anything about anything in general, ended up paying more while, mostly the "towns people" who families have been there forever end up not paying their fair share. My bet is they are using sales figures from maybe 10 years ago (or there abouts) when there was a housing shortage because housing has not been selling there.
It is simple enough to look up as it is posted online for Geary County, Bourbon County and Lyon County.
Another interesting detail about property taxes is that at 3 years delinquent, the property is supposed to go up for public auction. With some other individuals, in Bourbon County, we came across the fact that the public auction was cancelled one year and with research learned the reason, the Bourbon County Treasurer was 3 years behind in paying her taxes. Further research revealed that under what I termed "the friends and family plan", there were others. It appeared that when the Country Treasurer had paid for her daughter's wedding (they all went to Las Vegas for the wedding), well, she came up short even though her salary was twice what most people made in town. I have also noticed many past the 3 year cut off in other counties.
My example was based on actual figures, rounded up. As I said, I think this is something that should be looked at by the state appraiser's office. I am concerned, especially for the elderly and those that don't have computer access or maybe the ability to sort out the details. Everyone needs to be paying their share.
What needs to be disputed is the appraisal amounts that they base taxes on. While many of us would find the information on the county websites easy to use, one must realize that not all people are equally educated or even know it is possible to dispute or where to begin if they do.
I was looking at AL, similarly appraised homes and the real estate taxes were less the $300.00 a year. AL is one of the lowest in property taxes. We lived in that area temporarily for 2 years. I don't really understand why KS is so high as AL facilities, etc. were just as good.
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