The next time someone complains about their property tax going up, I'm going to scream!

[Chasstev365]

The disconnect is astonishing and you don't have to be a political science major to figure this out.

When Republicans give billionaires taxcuts, there is less money coming into the Federal government. When the Federal receives less, they send less money to the states. No one wants gas taxes or sin taxes, yet the piper has to be paid somehow for everything from highway maintenance to local festivals.

In simple terms, giving taxes cuts for the upper 1% has a ripple effect and property taxes are one of the few avenues left to pay for local needs. If you don't want your property taxes going up, STOP VOTING FOR REPUBLICANS AND TAX THE RICH!

[dem4decades]

1. When i got my property tax increase agree reevaluation i screamed.

My evaluation went up 47%, the town average was 18%. I must have really done a lot of work on my home? I just made my deck bigger, hardly a reason for that increase. I don't mind paying taxes ( well a little) but just my fair share

[Chasstev365]

2. Absolutely, I don't dispute that at all.

[Mossfern]

11. How long since the last town wide evaluatoin?

As a former mayor of my town, I felt the sting of previous officials avoiding reevaluation for several years. I was called down to Trenton by request of Christie (then governor) and chewed out. I said "Hey! It was the former leaders of the town who neglected their duty- don't blame me!"

By formula, if your property taxes increased so much more than your neighbor's then you have been getting away with paying the wrong amount (lower) for many years. Fortunately, you're not responsible for paying for past under-evaluations. There is usually a way to appeal the increase. It could be that former owners of your home made improvements and didn't get permits.

Overall taxes should stay the same after a townwide re-evaluation; it's not an excuse to charge more than the budget allows.
There should have been homeowners whose taxes went down ... they were paying too much over the years.

[Woodycall]

20. Thank you for that!

As a real estate appraiser (and the son of a long-time township treasurer), Ideal with that misconception all of the time!

[karynnj]

16. With reevaluations, it is not just changes

Within a town, there will be a mix of properties that were assessed at different times. The reevaluation puts them all on the same level. Yours raising that much compared to others, meant that you paid less than houses worth the same, but assessed for more for recent years.

All the same, the relative increase in assessment will lead to higher taxes even if the budget stays the same.

[RockRaven]

3. Similar with people who brag about their state not having an income tax.

Every state is creating tax revenue somewhere to pay for cops/prisons, schools, roads, etc. All of them. Even the Repug controlled ones. They are all spending money, which means they are all taking in money. There is no magic place with no taxes.

If it isn't income then it is sales, or property, or hotel, or excises, or registration fees. And most of those forms are regressive. Unless you're in the 1%, you should want your state to have an income tax so they can use less of the regressive revenue methods -- you will pay less total taxes that way.

[DBoon]

4. or public servies are privatized and you pay more to the vendor than you did in taxes

[Chasstev365]

6. Great Point!

[Midnight Writer]

5. Wait until Trump's plan for State-funding of Medicare and Medicaid.

[KT2000]

7. Isn't that what Nextdoor is for?

We have retirees who move here from income tax states and continually scream because they have to pay property tax. Through all of this, the worst thing I have learned is that a lot of people do not think things through.

[Tree Lady]

10. People want no taxes

But would be first to scream if we had no police, no firemen, no city workers fixing the streets and potholes or underground pipes.

[MichMan]

14. Disagree

People love higher taxes as long as it someone else having to pay them

[Diamond_Dog]

8. Kick

[underpants]

9. Zillow-porn vs. the tax man

People love to see their number on Zillow Redfin etc (which BTW aren’t accurate at all) but not when the city/county re-appraises or increases the tax for the reason you stated.

I have a friend who does appraisals. I never mention Zillow around him.

[CrispyQ]

13. Your last sentence made me LOL. -nt

[PeaceWave]

12. Ya'll in other states need your own version of California's Proposition 13.

If you're unacquainted with that law...Pass in 1978, California's Proposition 13 was a landmark amendment to our state constitution that capped property taxes at 1% of a property's purchase price, limiting annual tax increases to a maximum of 2%. The goal was to prevent homeowners from losing their homes due to rapid tax spikes. So, for instance, let's say that you buy a home for $500,000. Your Year 1 property tax is capped at $5,000. In Year 2, your property tax is capped at $5,000 + an additional 2% ($100) = $5,100. It's the tax gift that just keeps on giving.

[MichMan]

15. Doesn't that provide a disincentive for people to move?

For job changes, buying a smaller or bigger home, or just want a change of scenery.

[PeaceWave]

17. Nope. After age 55, you are allowed to transfer your property tax to a new property...

The only requirement is that the new property be of equal or lesser value as the old property. So, let's say you buy a home at age 30, live there for 25 years and now have a lower property tax than your neighbors, you can move and take that lower property tax with you. You used to only be allowed to do this one time. Now, you can do it three times.

[AllaN01Bear]

18. as somne once said to me ,,, taxes are the price of cilivisation.