Friday, June 4, 2010

"What Will it Take?"

What will it take to turn on the proverbial light bulb? Revaluations are at the heart of the property tax problem, not local spending. Revaluations are always responsible for the perennial outcry from tax payers, that their "taxes have gone up more than the tax levy", and they are right. Of course, the people whose taxes go up less than the tax levy are silent, as any of us would be.

The only reason to revalue is to assure a fair tax rate for owners who have just purchased their home, NOT for anyone else; market values are valid for taxation only for people who purchase at market value.

We will never be fair with property taxes until we admit this truth. For more see my website.

Maybe it's just me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree in principle to your observation..."The only reason to revalue is to assure a fair tax rate for owners who have just purchased their home, NOT for anyone else."

But how about major renovations or additions to a house that was not recently purchased?

Anonymous said...

I agree in principle with your observation..."The only reason to revalue is to assure a fair tax rate for owners who have just purchased their home, NOT for anyone else".

Not to put too fine a point on it, but what about major renovations or additions to property that has not recently been purchased?

Harvey said...

Sorry I took so long. Your excellent observation is handles as follows.

Physical changes to the property are taxed as market value and this amount is added to the prior tax and becomes the updated basis for the next tax year.