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Should a house be reassessed every year based on the current market value ? Couldn't that price a lot of people out of their house especially seniors or unemployed?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Are they not now? Ours are. We get a postcard in the mail every year from our County assessor, indicating the change (increase) from the previous year. While our state limits the property tax to 1% of the assessed value, our taxes go up by an average lately of $1,000/year with the big increases in property value. Our taxes were about $1,800/year when we bough this house in 1993, this year it was $7,500. Yes, we are now seniors, 67 and 66, but still working and well able to afford it.
When we retire in the next 2-3 years we will sell and move to a less expensive/affluent area.
If it is pricing people out, vote to change such rules then.
Mine is assessed each year, I thought this was the norm?
Not every where. I think a lot of municipalities avoid that for fear of pricing people out and a mass sell off in certain neighborhoods. Also if they say 'fair market value' many may not have renovated while others turn their home into a castle. Also many areas with a reputation for high taxes don't want to make their rep any worse because they need people to buy the homes of those who leave.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,553 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57723
Quote:
Originally Posted by anononcty
Not every where. I think a lot of municipalities avoid that for fear of pricing people out and a mass sell off in certain neighborhoods. Also if they say 'fair market value' many may not have renovated while others turn their home into a castle. Also many areas with a reputation for high taxes don't want to make their rep any worse because they need people to buy the homes of those who leave.
Much of this is caught and increases the value with the building permit. Of course new flooring, carpets or countertops don't require permits, so don't affect the value until the appraisal when selling.
Should a house be reassessed every year based on the current market value ? Couldn't that price a lot of people out of their house especially seniors or unemployed?
I can tell you in my area I ate been able to fight the reassessed value each year and 100% of the time my taxes have been reduced. Some by a little some by a lot but always by something
They are assessed every year in Texas and it sucks for most people. And, yes, it is pricing people out of their homes. I'm in Austin, which is one of the hottest markets in the country. In the 15 years I have owned my home, my property taxes have doubled. I now pay the same amount for property taxes as I do for my mortgage payment. We project that next year, our property taxes will be more than our mortgage.
Increases are capped at 10%, but assessments are not. So if your house is assessed at 20% more than it was last year, you will only be taxed on a value that is 10% more. However, it will keep increasing by 10% every year until it catches up to the assessed value.
School taxes are also capped once you reach a certain age, but other taxes are not.
There are a lot of people here who have lived in their house for 50 years, have had it paid off for decades, and can't afford to live in it anymore because they can't afford the taxes.
BTW, I appeal my appraisal every year and have always been successful in getting it lowered, but only marginally. It hardly makes a dent.
Every year assessment is only useful when the area is growing fast and all values are changing up and down quickly. If nothing is going on, you can keep the same assessment for quite a while. Everyone mentally adjusts a percent or so each year, while the tax rate/millage changes as needed. I lived somewhere about 30 years ago where the house was assessed at about $1800. Meanwhile the tax was about $100 a month. So the assessed value meant little.
Changing every year is meaningless if all the houses change the same percentage-wise. But if you have old crappy houses along with brand new ones, you can bet the new ones will get a boost that first year, so those new guys might pay a little bit more than their "fair" share.
Mil rates aside. Sure, people complain that annual assessments raise their tax liabilities too fast. However, if you happen to be in an area with declining values I can see people complaining that anything less frequent than an annual assessment is too slow.
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