Property tax woes

Are not those low-cost and free lunches underwritten by the Feds?

Only partly, according to the lady at the county office. I will have to wait for the treasurer to get home from work, so MAYBE i'll get a call this evening. If I don't, I will get on the phone to the neighbors (all 3 of them ) and find out if their taxes went thru the roof.

We'll see what happens. thanks for the advice.

by the way, I tried to make it clear in the OP, the assessment did NOT go up. (well, only by a couple thousand), it's the city, and school taxes (and other smaller tax things) that went up. We don't have city water, sewer, garbage or most other services. Fire/emergency and roads. oh. and mail if we wanted it. (don't want it tho)

I will get info from neighbors, and contest the bill. We'll see what happens. Ya'll might be writing to me in the pokey if this gets me ticked off enough.

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I got my property taxes cut in half. I bought my place at half the appraised value and the town accessor had no problem cutting my tax bill accordingly (actually valued the property less than what I paid for it). My bill is 450 dollars. I also live in a run down shabby house on a little under 6 acres that I only paid 30,000 for. I would hate to fix it up too much and get hosed come tax time.

If my taxes tripled you bet I would be getting on the town's case about it. Starving kids or not I have to eat to. I live in a very low income area too. And those starving kids have to live somewhere so higher property tax bills would only serve to exacerbate the problem. Hard to afford food when your getting the crap taxed out of you. Sure would be nice if my own finances operated like the government's. When I run out of money I cut back, when the government runs out they just tax more.

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.................Sold my little 5 acre piece of heaven , three years ago , this month!! I'd almost forgotten , WHY , Now I remember very vividly cause it was either , Sell , or Jidhad the tax office !! Property taxes are the bane of my existance , because it's almost impossible to make a dent in their omniverious rates and collection procedures ! My heart goes out too everyone who is surviving on SS or very little income and then gets Raped by the property tax issue ! , fordy

The problem around our area is that a lot of the tax cuts on the state and federal level lead to less money on the local level (mostly schools). Therefore, the local governments aren't getting the money from the federal gov't and state gov't and have to make it up some how. They cut where they can (we have had a lot of local gov't layoffs) and have to raise property taxes to make up the difference. It is very possible that a property's assessed value can stay the same and in many cases, go down and the taxes go up. There is a budget and it has to be met somehow. In our school district they can barely make payroll and when teachers are sick many times the principal or superintendent end up teaching the classes.

I am quite sorry to hear that you have taken offense (correct spelling). Facts are facts. Too bad.

I am sure that your mother has done the best that she could with what she had. Many of us have. We have been taken advantage of, severely over the years. We have been left bloody and bleeding financially for some time now, and your offensive attitude will not change that.

The breakup of the family is one of the things that has caused this "need" to happen. Children now are sent to school without breakfast and lunch for a number of reasons. Some as lame as "mom has to work". The truth of that matter is that this is all a part of the plan, possibly the bankers plan. Break up the family, and let the government pay to feed the kids (and a lot of other things too)

As little as 50 years ago this was unheard of. Then the "great society" happened. Not something that you should be offended about. I doubt that you were even old enough to vote then, or for that matter I doubt that you even were at all. Incidentally the voting age then was 21.

So since then the taxpayer has been providing food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and tons of other benefits for all the poor people who want the benefits. Incidentally the population has doubled since 1960, too. I guess that is pretty easy when all one needs to be concerned with is breeding.

Now this freeby life style has come home to roost. You see the generation that was willing to work was not willing to move overseas when the jobs left. They stayed home and worked for less, and less and less, etc.

The process of taxation continued, on and on, and etc. You see it is not your fault. You did not know any better. Most likely have not ever been exposed to anything else. So the time has come you and your generation get to pay the bills. I believe that this is part of a plan. Now if you are having a bit of trouble financially just go out and get another job. Be patient, there are six people looking for work for each job that can be found right now.

Meanwhile the taxes will continue to come due, and will continue to increase. It is probably not your fault, but you will get to pay the bills just the same.

Have a very nice day, and do relax. Happy Holidays.

One of the things that has been an issue in our area (Ohio) is that the CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Value) went up because of the high corn prices and land rents from the previous year or two. We haven't received our tax bill yet (any day now).

Mike

50 years ago kids who had no food or money for lunch went hungry. I would much rather see kids getting a free lunch than go hungry.

In our district 82% of the school district income goes to pay for personnel, salaries and benefits. The tiny little bit that goes into the lunch program (most of which is subsidized by the kids who buy lunch) is not where I have a problem with school funding. Hungry kids can't learn. Thanks to "no child left behind" the kids who don't learn will be passed on without any comprehension of the most basic academic foundation. A bit of thread drift here but there are many other factors that contribute to the welfare cycle. I doubt a free lunch or breakfast at school is a major factor. But if you continue along the same line, every child in public school gets a free education. So why doesn't every public school graduate think they deserve to have everything else given to them? People who have no kids and those who no longer have kids in school still continue to pay through the nose for that education. IMO, that's not right either.

My taxes for my 1600+/- sf home on 2.17 acres are approx $3500/year between school and town taxes. This is with public water and sewers and includes weekly trash pick up.

Now, on my land in the next county over, total taxes are around 1800.00 that is for 80+/- acres with just a utility building w/electric service. Now, that I can swallow I guess.

But here's the kicker. I want to eventually build a modest home on the 80 acre parcel. But I looked up the taxes on the neighbor's place which is about a 10 yr old 2200ish sf home with a 2 car detached garage.......$6700.00!!!! And that is rural, dirt road, no public water, no sewer, take your own trash to the dump.

So that is what is basically stopping me from building there at least until I am ready to live there full time- no way am I paying those kinda taxes....

I kinda drool when I see the some of your tax bills in the Hundreds!

In Ann's case, there's very few people in the township to share the same expenses that 10 times as many would in a city. There are towns in Iowa County with less than a thousand people total. Brigham has less than a thousand. Clyde and Wyoming also probably about the same. The townships themselves often operate on a shoestring and volunteer leadership. It's the county and school districts which leave them little for themselves. When cousin had 40 acres of unimproved land in Sneed Creek just for a few horses, I couldn't believe what he paid for nothing more in return than a quarter-mile of blacktop town road. He replied that the town roads would probably still be gravel were it not for the House on the Rock's taxes.

Martin

Rural areas & farmland has help up valuation much more than other realestate.

Less people working, working less hours, driving less, spernding less equals less sales tax, income tax, payroll taxes, fuel taxes.

They can raise those a little, but - not much more.

The tax money has to come from someplace.

The midwest (by me, by Ann...) is going to recover slower than the rest of the country.

We who are property owners are in for some hard times. As discressionary taxes drop (sales tax, payroll taxes) they will have to increase the property taxes to make up for it.

Gonna be bad.

My taxes went up 15% from last year.

--->Paul

I've contested my property taxes, and successfully had them lowered. The taxes go up a tiny bit each year... however, everyone else's goes up at the same incremental rate.

Sometimes 'contesting' will get you into 'trouble', as the appraiser was probably just guesstimating the increase in value of the property... if they come out, they may see the new barn, the new outbuildings, nicer paved road, etc., and then really hit you hard.

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You need to go to a real estate office and have an agent help find you "comps". This will show what others are paying on similiar property. Then you have a basis for appeal. They will give you a day and place to show up to present your side why you are overtaxed. Taxpayers who do their research often come out well in the end...

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It's not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. - Winston Churchill

PS: You can go to the county assessors and find out taxes on any property you want...open book policy.

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It's not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. - Winston Churchill

Mine doubled this year, but all the numbers for value etc had stayed the same. What happened here was the homestead exemption was eliminated for this year and next year due to the budge crunch.

Also in WI here. A few years past, ours went way up as well. Turned out that they changed our farm from Ag to Rec. No idea why, but got it changed back.

Look into that if you feel it might help.

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Remember the good times, for they are fewer in number and easier to recall.

Many times this information is online. Most counties in MN have them online and it will be a requirement in the next few years. In my county I can go to the assessor's office, use a computer there and get all the info (square footage, age, lots size, tax description, last sales info, etc). A lot of times I can call and get that information.

I am not sure about the area you live in, but we have some programs (ag classification, forest management, etc) that if you participate they can lower your taxes. Also, in our state if you are a disabled veteran you can have your taxes reduced. We participate in a forest management program and were able to lower our taxes by 30 - 40%.

If you don't understand your taxes, do what OP did, call someone who knows. If you are concerned about your value call the assessor / appraiser and if you are concerned about the amount of taxes you are paying then call your auditor / treasurer. Be nice to these people, they are getting yelled at all the time and if you are nice to them, they will be nice to you. They are just doing their job and some of what they are doing is out of their hands. If you are not happy at that level go to your county tax meeting and discuss it with the higher ups.

Again, the federal and state money has been cut and so the locals (me, you and our neighbors) get to fund what is missing. UGH!

This info is all online for Dane County. Go to the Access Dane website and click on Public Access.

deb
in wi

A couple of changes occurred this year.

1) Shared Revenue is way down. This is the money the State used to "share" with the townships & cities. State of WI isn't doing well financially and what revenue it is getting is not going to be shared with the municipalities.

Earlier this year it was brought up at the monthly township meeting that our township never got the last 2 shared revenue payments for 2008 and there was no explanation from the state.

2) State Highway money is way down. Your township normally gets $ from the State for their share of the State Gas taxes and registration fees. This money normally goes toward maintaining the streets and highways. The township is obligated to maintain the roads to a certain condition. In our township, the state highway money is always used for repaving/repairing township roads and some is used for winter snow plowing.

Our township has very minimal costs because the township board is terribly frugal. Our taxes went up because of the local school district is almost bankrupt. People have fewer kids now and the state revenue is based upon the number of kids attending a school

The local school district is looking into merging with another school district in the county, but that would probably mean some schools in each district would be closed. The parents are fighting consolidation because they don't want their kids to get bussed. Our property taxes go up and up each year the parents manage to delay the school district consolidation.

deb
in wi

deb
in WI

Yes but that has had unintended consequences too, look at the mess California is in now financially.

I pay $2300 plus a year for a 1/4 acre 1050 sq foot house with a small garden shed and a greenhouse in Alaska (no water/sewer/garbage included, thats extra), I just paid my property tax for 11.5 acres, a 1500 square foot house, barn, mobile home, greenhouse and two garages in Missouri...$329.00. Lower taxes is one of the reasons we chose to retire in Missouri and I suspect that more people will seek out lower tax areas as the economy continues to degrade.

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