How simple is the property tax calculation?

[micky]

Someone on nextdoor posts "property tax is based on value of the property, not county services. "

It couldn't be this simple. Some of the houses around here** have public streets that the county patches and repaves and plows the snow from, public street lights that the county pays the electricity for and repairs when broken, public trash collection.

Where I live we have public trash collection but not the first two.

And where the guy at the top of this post, Top, lives, they have none of them.

In nearby Howard County, "residences that pay a yearly trash and recycling fee ($365 per year) on their property tax bill. Fees for Main Street, Ellicott City may vary." That's the kind of adjustment I had in mind, but there are none such for my tax bill. No extra fee for trash, no discount for no street plowing or paving, or county street lights

All things being equal, Top's condo's assessed value (and market value) should be less because of the high HOA fee he has to pay (well over

300/month), but I have the feeling that it's not. I certainly didn't know or consider HOA fees when I bought this house (In fact I was from out of town and didn't know there was an HOA until the closing.)

(If his HOA fee is 4000/year, that's a 5% return on 80,000. So shouldn't his condo cost 80,000 less than if he had these services? Does the county assessor make an adjustment in his valuation, and does he do so for not owning one's own streets, or does he just go by the typical sales price?)

**(Baltimore County fwiw, but isn't the whole country pretty much the same?)

[Cindy Hamilton]

No, the whole country isn't pretty much the same. You'll have to actually investigate the conditions at your location.

My property tax doesn't include trash pickup. For those who live within the City of Ann Arbor, their property tax includes trash pickup. It's conceivable that two people who live across the street from one another would have different arrangements for payment of those services.

[micky]

And are your property taxes lower because of that?

[Ed P]

Simple. The post shows how ignorant he is. The people doing the taxes love him as they can get away with a lot.

First is the budget. What is in it? What services? What is the total cost? Once you have that, you divide it among the appraised realestate value and set a mil rate. That is the good part.

If the value of houses on the market doubles, ignorant people assume the tax will double too, not the mil rate lowered. So, people expect to pay more, so, lets take more and toss in some extra services.

[Retirednoguilt]

Micky, I live in the down-county section of Montgomery County MD. Although my monthly condo fee pays for private haulers to pick up both trash and recycling, my county property tax bill contains a line item "Solid Waste Charge". It's a trivial amt. and I suspect goes to support our county's excellent recycling and disposal locations, called "transfer stations". Your expense for trash/recycling pickup will vary by your local jurisdiction. If you're in boundary of an incorporated town, your fees very well may differ from someone who lives just outside that boundary even if they share the same local post office and first 5 digits of zip code.

[hubops]

If a person were to consult their Municipality's web site, that person might find an explaination of the property tax or even a simple calculator ! that provides some insight and can give an estimation :

Random strangers on the web might also be a valuable resource for such local detailed information, but I doubt it. John T.

[trader_4]

Depends what they mean. If they mean it's not based on what services you actually use, eg whether you use the library or police or not, that's true. But the cost of those is part of the total budget which is paid mostly through property tax based on property assessed value.

Sure, unless they spent the same amount of money on something else instead. Like we could pay less income tax if Democrats didn;t want to give money away to people that don't want to work and for all the other crazy pork barrel programs that both parties engage in.

Municipalities figure out what the total they need to run is, then the portion that will come from real estate tax is divided up across the the properties based on their valuation.

[trader_4]

Good point, you see that hysteria when the towns do a revaluation of all the properties every ten years or so. A lot of people are running around with their hair on fire, thinking if the value of their property goes up by $50K, their property tax bill will go up too. It could go down, it all depends on the relative valuations. If you live in an area that was undeveloped, but now is improved, your taxes could go up. If you live in an area that hasn't changed, isn't special, they could go down because some others are going up.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Lower than what? The City of Arbor is completely different from the township where I live. Millage rates are much higher in Ann Arbor. You might as well ask if property taxes are lower in New York City or Peoria.

Garbage collection is a line item on my water bill.

Once upon a time, the township didn't have any organized trash pickup. People contracted with a hauler, took it to the dump, or conceivably, burned, buried it, or let it pile up on their property. Eventually, there was enough growth that this "system" became untenable. The township contracted with a private hauler to come pick up the trash for single-family dwellings. At this point, it was expedient to add it to the utility bill rather than to try to wrangle it into the property taxes. When I first moved here, I didn't have a water bill (I was on a private well), but I got a utility bill for trash pickup.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Not here in Michigan. Taxable valuation increases are limited to 5% or the CPI, whichever is lower. Until the property is sold, at which time the taxable valuation is based on the selling price.

[Scott Lurndal]

The final "property tax bill" is split into two chunks: - A percentage [ad valorem at 1% of the purchase price] which is adjusted by no more than +2% every year (or it could be reduced temporarily if greater than the market value). Plus bond redemption costs.

- A fixed component consisting of various fees: - Sewer - Trash in some towns/counties. - Parcel taxes (e.g. library) - Water district - Open Space authority - Local school district measures - etc.

[micky]

We're neighbors. We should do something together some time. Where is "down-county"?

Well iirc Baltimore County has no incorporated towns, but I would think the same variations would apply to those who have to pay for their own streets, lights, and trash collection. Alas, Balt County doesn't itemize the bill afaict and afaicr. Maybe if it did, it would be easier to mollify that poster, but otoh, it would give me more things to think about and I don't want that.

BTW, I came across one page that listed all the tax rates, including for personal property, 1%. What? I didn't know about that, haven't been paying it.

After a lot of hunting, I concluded it's only business personal property, sort of a contradiction in terms but I'm off the hook.

[micky]

By the same, I meant the general manner they caluculate the tax, and if they include in the assessment how many county services one gets.

I was hoping for Perth West, but Perth East will do.

I couldn't find for Balt. County but ones for neighboring county

And while looking I found that Maryland has a dicount for some people over 65, so I sent a friend the information. If it applies to her I'm sure she'll be grateful to you all

But they are the only ones who will talk to me without making me wait on Hold.

[micky]

That's what I thought. But the webpage where I pay gives no itemization. Maybe someplace there is one. If I ever find it, I'll post back. And I'll point this out to the guy on NextDoor, although I think he deleted his last post where he said how big his apartment is and how much property tax he paid. LOL

[Ed P]

Last month I got the breakdown for the proposed tax in December. They list 11 different taxing authorities, such as schools, mosquito control, water authority, etc. They list where the hearings for final budget will be if you want to attend.

Since I am over 65, I also get a $50,000 exemption on the assessment and a 3% cap.

[Bob F]

Lucky you! My property taxes went up over 10% this year.

[Retirednoguilt]

Relatively close, but certainly not neighbors if you live in Baltimore county. I live walking distance from Strathmore Hall, north of Bethesda and south of Rockville. Our favorite special occasion restaurant is "Charleston", at the western edge of Fells Point, south of Little Italy. Depending on traffic, it takes us 50 min to 1 hr 15 min to drive there.

[Clare Snyder]

The tax rate - or mill rate, is set by the municipality as so many dollars per thousand dollars assessed value. The assessed value is a rather artificial property value based on a formula plus the value of the lot. The formula takes into account the structure of the home, the age of the home, the number of square feet of space, the number of square feet of finished living space, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, if you have a single or double drive, and if it is paved. Also presense of garage, outbuilding subject to permit, pool, and fencing can figure in. It is NOT the resale price of the house.

The municipality sets the mill rate by deviding the buget by the total assessment Lets ay the budget is 5000000000 - five hundred million - and the total assessment is 5 billion - device 500 million by 5 billion and the mill rate is $0.10. If your assessment is $50000 your annual tax bill from the municipality will ammount to $5000.

It's not QUITE that simple because there will be residential assessments, commercial assessments and industrial assessments with mill rates sometimes different for each one because, lets say, industrial properties cost more for water treetment infrastructure, or roads (or maybe less) but that's the basics

[Clare Snyder]

OUCH for Michiganders!!!!

[Bob F]

I appealed my assessment once, citing other homes on other big lots that had sold in the previous year for significantly less that my assessment. They did lower my assessment.