johnk
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2003
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- 2,618
- Location
- western NY
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- Kubota GST Grand L3130 w/ 723 loader, Ags
$2.79 in western NY. Thinking of moving... Taxed to death.
Yahoo !!! Gas crisis Over
- Thread starter pennwalk
- Start date
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DCJL
Silver Member
Gas just hit $2.75 in northern Vt.
Taxed to death here also. Property taxes went from $1800 in 1995 to... get this... are you sitting down.... $13,600 now!!!!!! The worst part is our schools now have no money and if we want to pay extra for anything we have to tax ourselves something like $1 and get to keep only .20¢. So guess what, our schools now get jack. A friend of mine volunteered, bought the paint himself and painted benches and tables that are outside. Finally our school grades have not diminished but the receiving towns school grades have not improved. I guess throwing money at some things just don't improve them.
Taxed to death here also. Property taxes went from $1800 in 1995 to... get this... are you sitting down.... $13,600 now!!!!!! The worst part is our schools now have no money and if we want to pay extra for anything we have to tax ourselves something like $1 and get to keep only .20¢. So guess what, our schools now get jack. A friend of mine volunteered, bought the paint himself and painted benches and tables that are outside. Finally our school grades have not diminished but the receiving towns school grades have not improved. I guess throwing money at some things just don't improve them.
scott_vt
Super Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2004
- Messages
- 7,417
- Location
- east wells,vt
- Tractor
- 1986 MF 1040, 1942 Farmall A, 1949 Farmall Super A
Good Afternoon Guys,
Yep taxes are the sad truth around this part of the country ! I honestly dont know how they get away with such small tax bills in some of the southern states ?
It seems that the educational costs are absolutely killing many small communities, although Im sure larger cities are struggling just the same. If we all moved to where the taxes are low now, Im sure when we got there they would go up !
Gas prices in Ct $2.33 the other day but may have dropped since then ! We will check out Vt gas prices tonite !
Yep taxes are the sad truth around this part of the country ! I honestly dont know how they get away with such small tax bills in some of the southern states ?
It seems that the educational costs are absolutely killing many small communities, although Im sure larger cities are struggling just the same. If we all moved to where the taxes are low now, Im sure when we got there they would go up ! Gas prices in Ct $2.33 the other day but may have dropped since then ! We will check out Vt gas prices tonite !
Bird
Rest in Peace
Just the raw numbers of the amount of property tax paid doesn't really tell you whether one place's taxes are higher than another because the property being taxed may be of an entirely different value. In other words, your home in Vermont may (or may not) be worth 2 or 3 times as much as mine is in Texas. Different appraisals make a difference, too. I can remember a time when our tax appraisals were a small percentage of market value, but now supposedly in Texas, they're all to be appraised at market value. But then you have "homestead exemptions" and in Texas an "over 65 homestead exemption" or "disabled veteran homestead exemption" and that varies with the taxing entity. For example: I have an "over 65 homestead exemption" which means the county exempts
$55,000 from taxes, the city only exempts $20,000 and the school district shows a "homestead exemption" of $15,000 and an "over 65 homestead exemption" of $10,000 for a total exempion of $25,000.
Our county tax rate is $0.23577 per hundred appraised value, the city tax rate is $0.57698 per hundred, and the school tax rate is $1.49 per hundred. However, when you get the "over 65 homestead exemption" that freezes your school taxes, so mine is $1.434 per hundred. So theoretically at least, the city and county taxes may go up, but my school taxes (which are by far the highest amount of tax anyway) cannot be raised as long as I live here. If or when I should sell the house, the new owner would be stuck with whatever the current tax rate is at the time.
Of course when the appraisal district notifies you of their appraised value of your property, you have a certain time limit to challenge that appraisal. You can go talk to one of the appraisors, who may or may not change the appraisal. If you lose there, you can file a protest and will be given an appointed time to appear for a formal hearing. Of course they know that most people will not go to the trouble of protesting. This year they raised the appraised value of my home at a time when home values have been going down so I went to challenge it, and with no static at all, they not only reversed the increase, but lowered it a tiny bit below last years appraisal.
Is that confusing enough? Incidentally, my total property taxes for this year are a whopping 20 cents less than last year.
$55,000 from taxes, the city only exempts $20,000 and the school district shows a "homestead exemption" of $15,000 and an "over 65 homestead exemption" of $10,000 for a total exempion of $25,000.
Our county tax rate is $0.23577 per hundred appraised value, the city tax rate is $0.57698 per hundred, and the school tax rate is $1.49 per hundred. However, when you get the "over 65 homestead exemption" that freezes your school taxes, so mine is $1.434 per hundred. So theoretically at least, the city and county taxes may go up, but my school taxes (which are by far the highest amount of tax anyway) cannot be raised as long as I live here. If or when I should sell the house, the new owner would be stuck with whatever the current tax rate is at the time.
Of course when the appraisal district notifies you of their appraised value of your property, you have a certain time limit to challenge that appraisal. You can go talk to one of the appraisors, who may or may not change the appraisal. If you lose there, you can file a protest and will be given an appointed time to appear for a formal hearing. Of course they know that most people will not go to the trouble of protesting. This year they raised the appraised value of my home at a time when home values have been going down so I went to challenge it, and with no static at all, they not only reversed the increase, but lowered it a tiny bit below last years appraisal.
Is that confusing enough? Incidentally, my total property taxes for this year are a whopping 20 cents less than last year.
DCJL
Silver Member
Confusing, yes..... geez....
Well the raw numbers tell you how much they increased over the past 13 years. Around 10 years ago Vermont decided that tax rates were not fair for some school districts because they did not have a large tax base. So they put in Act 60 which raised our taxes a lot, but there was a loophole. The local community could raise money above and beyond the tax and keep all of it for our schools. Well that did not go over so well so they came out with Act 68 which did away with being able to raise private money. The real problem is there is no reason for some counties to reign in spending because if they don't spend it they loose it. So guess what happens....
Well the raw numbers tell you how much they increased over the past 13 years. Around 10 years ago Vermont decided that tax rates were not fair for some school districts because they did not have a large tax base. So they put in Act 60 which raised our taxes a lot, but there was a loophole. The local community could raise money above and beyond the tax and keep all of it for our schools. Well that did not go over so well so they came out with Act 68 which did away with being able to raise private money. The real problem is there is no reason for some counties to reign in spending because if they don't spend it they loose it. So guess what happens....
Bird
Rest in Peace
Of course that's true, assuming you're talking about the same property and nothing has been done to the property to increase it's value, such as swimming pools, additional buildings or improvements, and such. I don't know about your Act 60 and Act 68, but it sounds as if it might have something in common with the Texas "Robin Hood" laws. Wealthier districts get to share their tax income with poorer districts.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
When I lived in California, I had a 1,069sq ft 3/1 house in a city lot 50x100 that backed up to a Freeway and under the light aircraft landing path for Oakland Airport. It was an ugly house, but the same as all the ones around me. I paid $3,000 a year in property tax for it and sold it for $375,000 in 2002.
Here in Texas, I have a brand new 1,040 sq ft 3/2 house on 68 acres and I just received my property tax bill last week. The house was appraised at $60,000 and with my ag exemptions, my total property tax bill for the year is just under $1,500.
I honestly don't know how you guys do it in the New England area. You seem to pay way more then the rest of us, but I can't belive that your standard of living is any better. For $200,000 you can have a very , VERY nice home here. For $300,000 you can have an AMAZING home. My brother just looked at 42 acres of mostly pasture with two half acre pond and a 1,700 sq ft, older 1970's fixer upper home for an asking price of $139,00
Eddie
DCJL
Silver Member
Basically the same house etc. Our property value went up 4x in the 13 years but our property taxes went up 7.5x. My salary certainly has not kept pace!!!!
Bird
Rest in Peace
If my property taxes were $13,600 I'd just have to let them have my house and I'd go join the rest of the homeless living under a bridge somewhere.
Or get a tent and go live on the back of Eddie Walker's place.
Ductape
Elite Member
Did Vt. finally copy NH's "view tax"?? Wait till that starts making its way across the country !
You'll all want to be living in a deep gully.....- Status
