Property Taxes
It's that time of year when I'm glad I rent, especially this year when property taxes are reflecting the "market value". I'm not talking about the current decline value, Washington State is grinning ear to ear for the bubble market value that will increase the states wallet for about 30 percent of Washington's total state and local revenue. What, your property tax value is more than you just purchased it for? Yes, you can make your plea to the state to reassess your property value, but you have to include the past 5 years of comp sales. Good luck!
Comments
http://dor.wa.gov/content/FindTaxesAndR ... x/#Changes
One more way to be priced out of a home.
"Who decides how much property tax will be?
Various taxing districts, including the state and local jurisdictions, levy property tax. The individual taxing districts determine the amount of money needed and the county assessor calculates the tax rate necessary to raise that money. The amount of property tax due on an individual property is based on the combination of tax rates and the assessed value of the property."
This fits in with my understanding of how it works, which I'm not entirely comfortable is correct. Basically, there isn't a set % that your tax is every year and therefore a 10% increase in the value of your home does not equate to a 10% increase in your tax. It *would* equate to that if the tax district decided it wanted 10% more that year, but that's separate and I'm not sure they can legally increase it that much (very unsure of that point).
Now, say your house is revalued at a higher rate than before. Perhaps you just bought it and it was massively remodeled prior to purchase. Then, your house has increased in value compared to others around it and therefore your tax will increase accordingly.
The house I was most recently renting went from about $5000 of tax a year to $5100 - about a 2% increase during a year with high appreciation in real estate. I'm guessing they have to include some kind of inflation adjustment in the taxes just to keep the revenue level. Then, if your local district decides it wants to add more (like a lot of the Eastside districts) it can add its extra chunks of tax on top of the county tax. This extra chunk can increase or decrease depending on your city and what it wants to do.
That's my understanding....
Look up your rental's property tax for this year and last. It's public information.