New Property Assessments -> Property Taxes!

[Midpack]

With all the increased property values over the past few years, next assessments may be eye opening for some/many of us.

New assessments are done every four years here, and we’ve all gotten our new property values recently. Of our friends, there are reports ranging from +20% to “ours doubled!” DW and I were hit with a 46% increase! Ouch. Not enough to consider moving, but the downside of rapid property appreciation.

Not that we have any desire whatsoever to go back to Chicagoland, but taxes on our old house there are only up 15%…

[bobandsherry]

In Florida they limit the annual increase in the assessed value of homesteaded properties to 3% or the change in the National Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. .

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobandsherry In Florida they limit the annual increase in the assessed value of homesteaded properties to 3% or the change in the National Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. .

I'm in florida too, but a 3% property assessment increase can easily translate to a 40% insurance rate increase. They definitely don't have a linear relationship.

Without the property assessment caps, Florida might be be an uninsured state by now, which would then reverse the values... problem solved!

[FLSUnFIRE]

While assessments are going up, millage rates should go down unless your gov't is just having a field day and BTD. Mine have gone down for several years as property values have risen. From 2020 to 2022 my property tax bill has decreased by $30 due to reduced millage rates. -Revenue is also up as many new buyers from out of state are having value that was previously homesteaded being marked up to market prior to them claiming their FL homestead.

[dmpi]

I try not worry about inflation because as a retired person I feel I can better control my spending and avoid buying items that have shot up in price. However you cannot avoid property tax. Mine has gone up 8% in the last year and it's my largest reoccurring expense by far.

[Spock]

When I was a fresh out of college new hire, one of the older guys in my dept commented: "If you have to pay taxes on it, you never really own it".
The corollary is: "you rent your property from the government."

[MarieIG]

Alerting the tax collectors to a change in ownership for my parents' home was somewhat scary.

The deed was filed with the county years ago, I had written to the town, which issues the property tax bill several times - which communications they ignored. Although, to be fair, they did cash my checks. I finally went down to the town ladened down with proof for the change - and the lady behind the counter responded, oh it's you, I don't need anything from you, we've been getting your check for years.

This year I alerted the county to the change in ownership of my parents' home, and received an assessment letter addressed to "new owner." The assessment letter indicated that the property was transferred from me to me. My heart sank when I saw the letter, but the assessment remained the same, which was a huge relief. Now, that doesn't mean they can't raise my taxes - they are rather good at that, but at least they did not raise one part of the equation.

I'll find out next October whether I'm getting an(other) increase but our property taxes are already quite high - in the 15k range. Our marital house, same house, was in the 16k range. (Zillow has the inherited house as under 1,500 sq. ft, although I believe that it is slightly larger.)

[jazz4cash]

Interesting how it’s done in various locations. Every 3 yrs here in MD. Very expensive here. No cap on assessments but a 10% ish cap on taxes. There’s another limit (constant rate) that keeps the state/county from reaping a windfall due to property appreciation. The increase is phased in 1/3 per year.

We just received ours but we successfully appealed the previous assessment. That relief carries forward for the life of our ownership. When I researched the state property tax data to prepare an appeal I found many inconsistencies in how different properties were assessed. With resources like Zillow, etc. it was not that hard to find favorable comps.

[Gumby]

Here, everyone gets reassessed every five years. The values go up and the mill rate goes down to compensate. It's only if your particular house has increased in value greater than the town average that your actual taxes will go up. Overall, taxes do creep up a little every year for everyone as the town budget increases, but the actual quinquennial reassessment is usually no big deal.

[bobandsherry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides I'm in florida too, but a 3% property assessment increase can easily translate to a 40% insurance rate increase. They definitely don't have a linear relationship. Without the property assessment caps, Florida might be be an uninsured state by now, which would then reverse the values... problem solved!

I guess anything is possible, cost of living in paradise - LOL. But I've been in FL for 8 years, haven't seen anything close to 40% insurance increase. Highest I saw was just over 10% one year. This year change was flat.

By comparison, look at homes in Chicago suburbs in area I moved from. Here's an example, $10K in property taxes. Not unusual for the Chicago suburbs at all, some even higher.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3.../4380901_zpid/

The taxes there are more than the total I pay for my taxes and homeowners insurance in FL. So it's all relative to begin with.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLSUnFIRE While assessments are going up, millage rates should go down unless your gov't is just having a field day and BTD. Mine have gone down for several years as property values have risen. From 2020 to 2022 my property tax bill has decreased by $30 due to reduced millage rates. -Revenue is also up as many new buyers from out of state are having value that was previously homesteaded being marked up to market prior to them claiming their FL homestead.

I was hoping that would be the case, only seems fair. But the published millage rate for 2023 is the same as 2022 & 2021 for our country and city despite new property values. Taxes aren't due here until Sept, so maybe there will be change?

[Trailwalker]

Our assessment went up significantly but the mill rate dropped, resulting in a slight decrease in taxes. Assessments were supposed to be complete inspections inside and out, but we saw or heard from no one. Last time, about half a dozen assessor congregated at my newish pole building, and I went up to see what was going on. They teased me about getting clobbered with a much higher assessment but it ended up being a fair one. They just wanted to see the view from the top of the hill.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobandsherry I guess anything is possible, cost of living in paradise - LOL. But I've been in FL for 8 years, haven't seen anything close to 40% insurance increase. Highest I saw was just over 10% one year. This year change was flat. By comparison, look at homes in Chicago suburbs in area I moved from. Here's an example, $10K in property taxes. Not unusual for the Chicago suburbs at all, some even higher. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3.../4380901_zpid/ The taxes there are more than the total I pay for my taxes and homeowners insurance in FL. So it's all relative to begin with.

We were hit with a 15% increase in ‘21 and 42% in ‘22.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobandsherry I guess anything is possible, cost of living in paradise - LOL. But I've been in FL for 8 years, haven't seen anything close to 40% insurance increase. Highest I saw was just over 10% one year. This year change was flat. By comparison, look at homes in Chicago suburbs in area I moved from. Here's an example, $10K in property taxes. Not unusual for the Chicago suburbs at all, some even higher. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3.../4380901_zpid/ The taxes there are more than the total I pay for my taxes and homeowners insurance in FL. So it's all relative to begin with.

We went up about 25% last year (coulda been more, DH keeps track of that) and went over to Citizens. We've routinely faces smaller increases before that and had our broker tweak things and shop around, but that was a bit too much then.

[bobandsherry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB We were hit with a 15% increase in ‘21 and 42% in ‘22.

Wow. What area in FL? I'm in Tampa Bay area. Maybe area and/or company specific?

I took a look and our homeowners went up by 50% over the 8 years we owned our place. And that was with adding a pool, etc. Recently moved into a newly built home, slightly smaller and less in replacement costs, premium about 20% less.

Anyway, to stay on topic what's also nice about FL is the "Save our Homes" cap is portability. So when we moved into our newly built home we were able to transfer all that built up assessment cap to our new home. Definitely saves us on property taxes.

[bobandsherry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides We went up about 25% last year (coulda been more, DH keeps track of that) and went over to Citizens. We've routinely faces smaller increases before that and had our broker tweak things and shop around, but that was a bit too much then.

Curious, what area? Are you on the coast?

As I mentioned in another post I'm in the Tampa area so perhaps region specific increases. I'm not on the coast by choice, about 10 miles from the bay, to minimize the type of issues that hurricanes can bring. Yet close enough to drive to a great beach or water front area.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack With all the increased property values over the past few years, next assessments may be eye opening for some/many of us. New assessments are done every four years here, and we’ve all gotten our new property values recently. Of our friends, there are reports ranging from +20% to “ours doubled!” DW and I were hit with a 46% increase! Ouch. Not enough to consider moving, but the downside of rapid property appreciation. Not that we have any desire whatsoever to go back to Chicagoland, but taxes on our old house there are only up 15%…

One thing to keep in mind is that, all else being equal, and increased assessment doesn't necessarily result in an increase in property taxes.

Say for example that the municipal budget is $2.5 million and your assessment is $400,000 and the grand list is $100 million... your taxes would be $10,000.

They reappraise and the municipal budget is still $2.5 million and your assessment is $500,000 (25% increase) and the grand list is now $125 million... your taxes would still be $10,000 despite a 25% increase in your assessment.

Many people don't understand that.

ETA: But after reading the posts above it's clear that many people here do understand it... not unexpected at all.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I was hoping that would be the case, only seems fair. But the published millage rate for 2023 is the same as 2022 & 2021 for our country and city despite new property values. Taxes aren't due here until Sept, so maybe there will be change?

How is that possible? How are your municipal and county budgets approved?

Around here, the voters approve the municipal budget, then that gets divided by the total assessed value of the town to arrive at the mill rate. Counties around here aren't a big thing so that is just a small line item in the municipal budget.

We benefit from the fact that new homes in our area are invariably much larger and more expensive than us "townies" who've been here a while. Their values go up faster than ours, so our taxes don't jump as much as theirs. I've never actually seen them go down though.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spock When I was a fresh out of college new hire, one of the older guys in my dept commented: "If you have to pay taxes on it, you never really own it". The corollary is: "you rent your property from the government."

Stated by people who are clueless about how things really work.

[Chuckanut]

My property tax is Up 12% this year.