[briansgi]

Just got my annual property tax bill for my house in Stillwater, which I just sold BTW, and my taxes increased over last year. How in the world can Payne county, or any other county in this state increase property tax with the current economic conditions and the housing market in a depressed state? Everybody else seeing the same thing?

[StillwaterTownie]

Go to the County Assessor's office to ask if they made a mistake.

[Three Ducks]

Was your home valued the same or did it increase? We live in a different part of the statem but the value of our home has steadily increased over the last six years. Of course, so have our taxes as a result...

http://www.paynecounty.org/assessor/display.php

You should be able to plug your information in here and get more info.

[briansgi]

Originally Posted by Three Ducks

Was your home valued the same or did it increase? We live in a different part of the statem but the value of our home has steadily increased over the last six years. Of course, so have our taxes as a result...

http://www.paynecounty.org/assessor/display.php

You should be able to plug your information in here and get more info.

I found my property on there, but it gives you nothing useful except my address.

[Three Ducks]

Originally Posted by briansgi

I found my property on there, but it gives you nothing useful except my address.

My bad. Oklahoma county gives quite a bit of information on the assessor's page. I assumed this would do the same. Sorry for the error.

[windowphobe]

Basically, it's this: There's a cap law in this state which prohibits the taxable value from rising more than 5 percent in a single calendar year. (Improvements and transfers are exceptions.) Over a period of rising real-estate prices, a gap grows between the actual market value and the amount of market value on which you can be taxed. (If you bought a $100k house in 2005, they couldn't base the tax in 2006 on more than $105k, even if the house was then worth $109k.) As prices plateau or even fall, the gap diminishes; on my house, it disappeared completely in 2010.

The actual tax rates are set by the individual counties. In Oklahoma County, it went up about one percent; my tax bill will rise by about $20.

[karibear]

In my county, taxes are supposedly based on purchase price. I paid less for my place than the people I'd bought it from did. My property tax was supposed to go down by about 15%, instead they've gone up by 33%, even with a double homestead exemption. I don't believe anyone about anything anymore, especially local government employees who are supposed to have the right answers and know what they are talking about.