Taxes going up (Baltimore, Germantown: foreclosure, credit, townhouse)

[jayman1981]

Heard on the news that despite the forclosures and the recession good ole Maryland is going to increase property taxes. They are trying to catch up due to the housing boom. Now I'm not an economicist, but how does this make since. I feel bad for both Montgomery and P.G. county residents cause taxes out there are already sky high. Anyway the Mrs and I thought this is only going to continue the foreclosure rate to go up because of the increase. Please share your thoughts, maybe I might learn somethings new.

[psychofan]

Maryland Property Taxes to Go Up|NewsChannel 8

BALTIMORE, Md. - The sagging housing market doesn't necessarily mean Maryland homeowners will see a decline in their annual property tax bills.

More than 700,000 Marylanders will receive new property assessments later this week. And state and county officials say virtually all of those will be paying higher taxes in 2009. That's because tax collectors have not yet accounted for the huge increases in assessed values from earlier in the decade.

Maryland has a Homestead Tax Credit, which prevents homeowners from seeing huge jumps in tax bills in a single year. But that protection also means taxes are likely to keep increasing even when the housing market stagnates or declines. Nonetheless, the director of the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation says many homeowners are expecting lower tax bills.
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Information from: The (Baltimore) Sun


-Wonder if property tax would ever go down after they've accounted for the rise in property value from 2000-2006 and then the subsequent drop in value of 2007-current? I say unlikely. . .

[TeamBenya]

It has the potential to hit people hard. I don't think MoCo is going to have too much trouble, because the government has already ruled out an increase there for next year according to the recent washington post article. The article also mentions just how confusing the way in which the changes may be seen throughout the region. It's a good read, but this is going to incense a lot of people.

[North Beach Person]

MD property taxes work this way:
$x.xx/$100 of assessed value in 2008.
2009 tax year rolls around and what is called the constant yield comes up. The assessment rises the tax rate falls to $x.xy to reflect the same dollars as were brought in the year before. Governing body decides to keep the rate at $x.xx. "We didn't raise the rate, your assessment went up." Painless way to raise taxes and most people's eyes glaze over when you talk about it. What will really hammer people this year is the assessment increases from the last couple years (limited to 10%/yr on owner occupied) and the assessments don't yet reflect the dump housing prices have taken recently in a lot of places.

[firefightermom]

When I sold my townhouse in Germantown this spring, I had to sell it for about $20,000 less than my most recent tax assessment...and prices have dropped even more since then.

[westsideboy]

I read in the paper today that the state has authorized 75 million to purchase additional land for conservation. Typical MD politics; huge budget deficit, furloughs for state employees, what do we do? Keep raising taxes and authorize more unwarranted spending!

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

I read in the paper today that the state has authorized 75 million to purchase additional land for conservation. Typical MD politics; huge budget deficit, furloughs for state employees, what do we do? Keep raising taxes and authorize more unwarranted spending!

That's what happens when Democrats have absolute power in state (though, on the federal level, the GOP is hardly any better).

[North Beach Person]

Different pot of money, mostly from Project Open Space which is funded through deed recordations. Think about this for a minute, I forget how many acres this is but it comes from three different counties on both sides of the Bay. If the Jesuits put it on the market and a developer buys it and McMansions it there would be screaming on this board about that. Why is anyone surprised at the taxes here? O'Malley was real open about what he planned to do when he ran for governor and even then his numbers didn't add up. And Ehrlich was criticized for pointing that out. And nobody was screaming when your house values were going up 25% a year.

[4anewworld]

I own an investment multi-family property in Baltimore City. The property taxes just went up from $2,791.72 to $4,977.25 for 2009. That's a $2,185.53 increase!!!

The question is, would I avoid paying this much if I just sell the property and go into the county or is it going to be pretty much the same story? I know Baltimore City taxes are higher than Balt County but if they are gonna keep going up everywhere in Maryland then there is no use in selling and buying something else.

Gosh the city is killing me... but I don't blame the politicians. I blame it's residents... police is running around 24/7 trying to control drug dealers and criminals, the city is doing it's job issuing citations on residents who don't dispose of their trash accordingly, don't mow their lawns, etc... this business of keeping residents a little civilized costs a lot of money and they have to collect that from somewhere.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by 4anewworld

I own an investment multi-family property in Baltimore City. The property taxes just went up from $2,791.72 to $4,977.25 for 2009. That's a $2,185.53 increase!!!

The question is, would I avoid paying this much if I just sell the property and go into the county or is it going to be pretty much the same story? I know Baltimore City taxes are higher than Balt County but if they are gonna keep going up everywhere in Maryland then there is no use in selling and buying something else.

Gosh the city is killing me... but I don't blame the politicians. I blame it's residents... police is running around 24/7 trying to control drug dealers and criminals, the city is doing it's job issuing citations on residents who don't dispose of their trash accordingly, don't mow their lawns, etc... this business of keeping residents a little civilized costs a lot of money and they have to collect that from somewhere.

The bold is the reason for the increase. Owner occupied residences are Homestead limited while investment properties are subject to the total tax load due to increased assessments. Sell that property and buy another, or do a like kind exchange, in the County, your tax rate may go down but you still get hit with the full re-assessment. This is the last year of this last round of assessments, the State starts the new ones in January-expect a decrease, predictions are mixed for how big a one, starting next tax year (7/1/10).