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There are also, here at least, school district taxes. So when you look at the auditor's website you will see a breakdown and one identical house over might be in school district A the next in school district B and the taxes might be even DOUBLE for the "good" school district house.
higher real estate tax rates does not equate to.........the "good " school district
Some poorer districts have less property to tax so they need higher rates.
There's not enough information provided by the author to do anything meaningful.
All it would take is to go into the tax record for each property and I'm not assuming they're in the same jurisdiction since that hasn't even made clear through his writing. It could be that they're in different counties and they would have different tax rates. It could be that the two properties reside in the same county but one sits in a special tax district for an incorporated town. Those things are displayed in the tax record.
It could also be that the second has a special designation for historic preservation and receives a favorable tax rate.
One house we looked at has a very tiny lot. It barely extended beyond the house. My agent called it a"zero lot line" house. Taxes $5600. House was in a community with a pool etc and HOA. Newer build but not brand new. In fact taxes are about this for every house in the community.
House downtown in historic city where taxes are higher due to a both county and city tax with a bigger lot and similarly sized house is $5000. Cheaper than the no lot house.
What is the difference here? Is it just that the planned community house is newer?
Some localities offer tax deferrals. In Oregon some vets qualify for a tax break, but then it goes back up for regular home owners. The lower tax amount is listed in public records, but it you don't take the time to see if there is a deferral, then you would think it is lower than it really is.
Some localities have bonds that are for a specific school district, fire station, police, library, etc which raises their tax rate.
The real factor you have to consider is how taxes are determined.
1: The home must have an assessed value. This is the value the home is worth for tax purposes, as determined by the local tax assessors office.
2----Taxes are determined by the mill level set by the taxing authorities. Taxes in the city, have mill levies for the city added to the tax bill, and can have higher taxes than those located across the street from the city and located in the county.
3----The property tax is determined by multiplying the mill levy by the assessed value, less any deductions allowed such as a discount for the elderly, veterans, etc.
A true story, to help you understand how taxes may vary in a neighborhood. Back in my real estate days, I had a regular investor tell me his tale on his home located on 5 acres in a country subdivision of 5 acre tracts. His taxes had taken a 20% jump one year as the county had reassessed the homes from drive by inspections to see they still existed. He thought that was too much, so he did an appeal to the county to lower them. They agreed to send out an assessor to do a new appraisal on the home. They did, and the appraiser found out that he had added a big wing on the home, and some other major improvements they did not have on record. As there were permits for the addition and improvements, they should have been in the tax records but they were not. They raised his assessed value to cover the improvements, and his taxes jumped 60% instead of 20%.
Assessed value may not have anything to do with the homes value, as it is determined by their records. My home assessed value jumped 12 1 /2% this year, as county sales records showed homes had increased by 12 1/2% over the previous year. They used this information to jump all assessed values in the city and county by 12 1/2%. The home is 3,700 sq. ft. luxury 4 level contemporary home, with less than $3,000 a year property taxes. In many parts of the country it would be taxed at several times that amount, so we are happy with our low taxes. Our mill rates are very low, which makes us happy. Across the county road and we would be in the city, and our taxes would about double.
Infrastructure costs money. New roads, new street lights, new sewer lines, new fire stations, new libraries...
Exactly... this is why my Prop 13 1% Statewide Rate is approaching 2%
I have 26 special voter approved assessments and one is for sewer another for street lights though my street has NONE, two for fire, another for libraries... several for Oakland Schools/Youth...
So Prop 13 sure has not stood in the way of these items being funded...
As for neighborhood roads the city has us on a 100 schedule... the road here was paved once and that was in 1955
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