Posted on 02/05/2007 9:27:40 AM PST by RobRoy
Baltimore City homeowners saw some of the region's steepest increases in the recent round of property reassessments, a stark change after years of lagging home values - and added ammunition for groups calling for tax relief.
In the city, which has the highest property tax rate in the state, nearly one in five reassessed homes saw values at least double since they were last evaluated three years ago. No other jurisdiction in the Baltimore region had such a high share, according to a Sun analysis of state records for owner-occupied homes. The city also claims the ZIP codes with the fastest-escalating residential assessments. The average market value doubled for reassessed homes in the neighborhoods of Medfield and Hoes Heights - north of Hampden - and nearly doubled in the western half of Cross Country and Fallstaff, neighborhoods in the city's northwest corner. Some home assessments went up even more.
"I just have a plain little stone rancher, nothing fancy or anything," said Mary Conaway, a Cross Country resident who bought her home 11 years ago and couldn't believe her new assessment: nearly $550,000, up from about $200,000 three years earlier.
But increases were substantial in the suburbs, too. Average assessments rose at least 40 percent in every reassessed ZIP code, even ones heavy with million-dollar homes. Across the region, the gain in assessed values outpaced the rise in sale prices over the same period.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
What happens to the local and state governments as well as the affected properties when those taxes simply go unpaid?
How does that affect the local economy and the quality of the neigborhoods and infrastructure?
ping
They go into the real estate business, selling other peoples' property, that they now own.
The Government owns all property. In KELO, the Supremes told us so.
>>They go into the real estate business, selling other peoples' property, that they now own.<<
Weren't they doing a lot of that in the 1930's - to properies that the "owners" had "owned" free and clear?
I wonder what the government does when no taxes are being paid on a $500k home in which the owner has no equity and has even moved out several months ago.
Except the government.
When have you EVER seen a government entity pay property tax?
The State of Maryland is getting what it voted for.
No one actually owns the real estate that they hold title to. You can verify this by not paying the taxes on it and see how fast the govt puts it on the auction block.
one good thing here in the peoples democratic republik of michigan has is the headley amendment......assessments can go up, but taxes have to be adjusted to the rate of inflation only.......
>>When have you EVER seen a government entity pay property tax?<<
Yeah, but the government can't pay itself. Well, I guess with creative means, it can. But in the meantime, if only the government owns property, no taxes are collected. That can't be good for a community.
I wouldn't want to be trying to sell a house in the market where the competing homes are being auctioned for taxes...
Two words for the good people of Maryland: "Prop 13"
Thank God for Prop 13.
Even in California we occasionally get something right.
Blind squirrel, broken clock, etc.
;^)
It's been true since the beginning. What you buy is a somewhat greater degree of control over the property than a renter has, and the right to re-sell your interest. It's sort of like owning a year-round timeshare - you get exclusive use of it, but there's always some entity bigger and stronger ready to throw you out if you misbehave. ;)
The problem here is that people have "allowed" government to automatically reassess property values every 3 years.
Don't think for a minute that government won't help themselves to taking more hard earned money given the opportunity.
And, at least here in Missouri, the process of appealing tax increases is complicated and expensive. You still have to pay the tax, but under protest. Each taxpayer is pretty much on their own, even when living in the same general areas.
Pretty much...
assessed value doesn't really matter. the municipality figures out how much it wants to spend, then pro-rates it, and charges you whatever it thinks is your share.
raising assessments are vehicles for lowering the mill rate, creating the illusion of lower taxes.
note the amount of cash you pay always goes up, no matter what financial wizardry they do with assessments and mills.
Whoever holds the mortgage, makes sure that taxes get paid. Otherwise they could be out $500K. They will probably lose $30-100K in a foreclosure, but that is much better than $500K.
Not a drop of pity for a single one of these guys. They consistently elect liberal tax-n-spenders like they're going out of style. Now they're reaping the whirlwind. To paraphrase Kos, "I feel no sorrow for liberals that suffer the end result of their ultimately confiscatory financial viewpoints. Screw them."
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