|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 8, 2015 19:06:11 GMT
Can anyone tell me how to determine if a mistake has been made on a property tax bill? We relieved ours the other day, and it's about 3 times more than what we thought we would be paying. Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Jul 8, 2015 19:07:28 GMT
Can anyone tell me how to determine if a mistake has been made on a property tax bill? We relieved ours the other day, and it's about 3 times more than what we thought we would be paying. Thanks! I'm not sure how you chaeck, but I know with the construction and housing prices going ip, ours went up because the value of the house did.
|
|
|
Post by lbp on Jul 8, 2015 19:08:54 GMT
Call the Treasurer of your county and she/he should be able to assist you.
|
|
|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 8, 2015 19:08:54 GMT
No construction or anything in or anywhere near our neighborhood. But that would totally make sense.
|
|
|
Post by twistedscissors on Jul 8, 2015 19:11:15 GMT
Go to the PVA office and ask. There was a big change in mine after my divorce and we split some property. I went in and talked with them and they lowered the value of some empty lots and dropped my taxes by a couple hundred dollars.
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 8, 2015 19:14:11 GMT
Many counties have a lot of info online. You can start there and see if they have the detailed assessment online. The treasurer will have details on what's owed and paid but if it's a problem with the assessment, that's a separate office (assessor) at least in our county.
|
|
|
Post by Restless Spirit on Jul 8, 2015 19:18:56 GMT
Did the assessed value of your house go up? (ours did, so our tax bill went up). Did any of your "exemptions" drop off? i.e., did you pay off your mortgage? (We have a "homesteading" deduction that lowers our assessed value of our house and therefor lowers our tax bill. We are planning on paying off our house in the next six months and we will lose that exemption.)
Can you go online and check your neighbors assessed value and tax bills? Ours are available for viewing on our country assessors website.
|
|
|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 8, 2015 19:22:57 GMT
We just bought this house last summer. For the life of me I cannot remember if they disclosed what the property taxes were the previous years. They had to right? I will check our closing paperwork. I will also poke around online and see if I can find it. If not I'll call the office. Thanks peas!
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 8, 2015 19:27:31 GMT
We just bought this house last summer. For the life of me I cannot remember if they disclosed what the property taxes were the previous years. They had to right? I will check our closing paperwork. I will also poke around online and see if I can find it. If not I'll call the office. Thanks peas! It's very, very common for assessed values to go up dramatically after a sale - particularly when prices are increasing - some areas also limit the annual increase, so the previous owners could have enjoyed an understated value - the new assessed value would reflect the price you paid.
|
|
back to *pea*ality
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys ~refugee pea #59
Posts: 3,149
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:11 GMT
|
Post by back to *pea*ality on Jul 8, 2015 19:29:27 GMT
Taxes are based on your assessment and the mill rate. Generally, the mill rate increases every year but not to the tune of 3 times. The property value could have been reassessed but you generally receive a notice of the change.
|
|
|
Post by mzza111 on Jul 8, 2015 19:29:54 GMT
Can anyone tell me how to determine if a mistake has been made on a property tax bill? We relieved ours the other day, and it's about 3 times more than what we thought we would be paying. Thanks! This is one reason I hope Prop 13 is never repealed in California.
|
|
|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 8, 2015 19:30:01 GMT
But wouldn't that increase also have been reflected in the property taxes bill we paid in Feb? That one was more inline with what we were told to expect...
|
|
|
Post by bianca42 on Jul 8, 2015 19:38:39 GMT
But wouldn't that increase also have been reflected in the property taxes bill we paid in Feb? That one was more inline with what we were told to expect... When we bought our first house, they disclosed what they paid for taxes, but we didn't realize our town automatically reassesses for the amount paid. They only change assessments once a year, so it was about a year before we saw an increased tax bill. Since our escrow wasn't funded correctly for the higher bill, we had a huge shortage and our mortgage payment went up considerable for a year to pay off the shortage and then fun it correctly.
|
|
back to *pea*ality
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys ~refugee pea #59
Posts: 3,149
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:11 GMT
|
Post by back to *pea*ality on Jul 8, 2015 19:38:49 GMT
But wouldn't that increase also have been reflected in the property taxes bill we paid in Feb? That one was more inline with what we were told to expect... We pay township, county (in Feb) and school taxes (in Aug), the assessed property value is the same for all three and the mill rate changes. When you go to settlement, the taxes are prorated. You pay the seller back for the property taxes they paid in advance from the time you become the new owners. Could you be confusing the proration on the settlement sheet with the actual full year of taxes? If you escrow property taxes, your mortgage company looks at prior year taxes and more than likely has escrowed enough.
|
|
|
Post by magentapea on Jul 8, 2015 19:39:59 GMT
Where I live, our taxable value is capped at a certain amount each year, but our SEV (state equalized value) can change as necessary. We pay property taxes based on our taxable value. So for instance, looking at our current tax bill, our taxable value is $40k less than what they say our SEV is, so we are paying taxes based on the lower taxable value. If there is a transfer of ownership, the taxable value will increase to the SEV or market value, whichever is higher and that new owner will have a higher taxable value, therefore higher property taxes than what we currently pay. The longer we stay in this house, the less property tax we will pay compared to someone who purchased a similar house at market value after us. (I hope I explained that well.)
|
|
basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,619
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:09 GMT
|
Post by basketdiva on Jul 8, 2015 19:42:14 GMT
We just bought this house last summer. For the life of me I cannot remember if they disclosed what the property taxes were the previous years. They had to right? I will check our closing paperwork. I will also poke around online and see if I can find it. If not I'll call the office. Thanks peas! That's your responsibility to ask about. We always check the county website for property tax information before making an offer on a house.
|
|
|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 8, 2015 19:47:09 GMT
But wouldn't that increase also have been reflected in the property taxes bill we paid in Feb? That one was more inline with what we were told to expect... Could you be confusing the proration on the settlement sheet with the actual full year of taxes? If you escrow property taxes, your mortgage company looks at prior year taxes and more than likely has escrowed enough. Oh, I wonder if that's it! Thank you for mentioning this!
|
|
|
Post by jemali on Jul 8, 2015 19:52:32 GMT
Your property taxes are a lot of components. There is the state portion, the county, the city, the school district. Any of those could have increased. Our tax statement shows a comparison of what we paid last year for each part and what we are paying this year, so it is easy to see where the increase comes from. It also shows what the market value and the taxable value are from year to year. We also got new streets and city water and sewer put in, we pay an assessment for that. We had the option of paying it in full (yeah right, it was $20,000) or spreading it out over 20 years (plus interest) on our property taxes.
|
|
|
Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 8, 2015 20:04:53 GMT
We just bought this house last summer. For the life of me I cannot remember if they disclosed what the property taxes were the previous years. They had to right? I will check our closing paperwork. I will also poke around online and see if I can find it. If not I'll call the office. Thanks peas! It would be in the Preliminary Title report you received.
|
|
|
Post by Dictionary on Jul 8, 2015 20:27:26 GMT
|
|
keithurbanlovinpea
Pearl Clutcher
Flowing with the go...
Posts: 4,275
Jun 29, 2014 3:29:30 GMT
|
Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Jul 8, 2015 20:39:09 GMT
I used to manage a very large property tax department for a mortgage servicing company so I know lots about property taxes, various state laws, reading bills, tax sales, you name it (more than I ever thought I would know LOL). If you need more assistance, please feel free to PM me.
|
|
|
Post by Freefallfast on Jul 8, 2015 21:07:19 GMT
Also in MN you need to go and apply for homestead tax status right after closing. That makes a huge difference I am told. But you have to do it.
|
|
|
Post by compeateropeator on Jul 8, 2015 21:20:07 GMT
In my area you could call the town clerks office. It would mean that there was an increase in the tax rate from the previous year. Unless our property was reassessed recently the value is from the last assessment. Our are done at least every ten years and you will know it as you will get notification and people coming to your house. The tax bill usually gives the assessed value and the tax rate on it so it is easy to check. If there are big tax increases you usually hear a lot about in the local paper around here...it is always a big brouhaha and people write scathing letters...hahaha.
|
|
|
Post by pierkiss on Jul 9, 2015 14:12:26 GMT
Thanks everyone for your wonderful advice! After closer inspection of the bill we discovered that the clerks office billed our house as Not the Primary Residence. In February with the other bill they billed it as This is The Primary Residence. We'll take it in next week and get it straightened out. Sooo relieved!!!
Thanks again!
|
|