Posted on 07/16/2012 5:53:49 PM PDT by markomalley
Local property tax revenue fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012 versus a year ago and likely will keep sliding in the coming quarters, a report said on Monday.
Local property tax revenue, often the most important source of income for local governments, had firmed during the previous two quarters, the Albany, N.Y.-based Rockefeller Institute said. It noted that it can take at least three years to factor in a downturn in housing prices.
The fall in property tax revenue is much sharper with inflation taken into account. It was down 2.8 percent in the first quarter of this year versus a year ago, the sixth straight quarterly decline, the report said.
Any more declines in this vital source of revenue will hit localities especially hard, the report said, as property taxes accounted for about 74 percent of their revenue in 2009.
The costs of a wide range of programs, from education to retiree benefits, are rising just as the federal government is considering deep cuts in domestic programs.
"The housing bust that helped trigger the Great Recession was deeper and broader than any housing decline since the Great Depression," the report said.
Prices of single-family homes peaked in the first quarter of 2007, on a nominal basis, and then dropped 16.7 percent through the first quarter of 2012, the report said, citing a Federal Housing Finance Agency index.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I know this is slightly off topic, but the founders showed great wisdom in the early days in only letting property owners vote. Why should someone with no "skin in the game" get to cancel out the vote of someone paying the freight?
Funny how my property tax goes up 2% every year just like clock work and I can always count on new parcel taxes for the schools every year right now I have $1500.00 for the parcel taxes school measures included to my tax bill.
Our local government has responded to the drop in property tax income by borrowing more money, pushing for new taxes, reducing services and warning of cuts in police, fire dept., trash pick up, etc.
They have made very minor, token reductions in some spending but resist any suggestion or action to make meaningful cuts in programs they favor.
Like the buggy whip manufacturers, they are waiting for the golden days to come back.
I would love my property taxes to go down. 5800 a year is about 5700 dollars too much. I don’t see anyone in Annapolis Maryland having lower property taxes. I think this story is a lie.
The public unions say boo-hoo...
Now raise taxes and PAY US!
My property tax was nearly quadrupled over the year before and for no reason or excuse at all.
“5800 a year is about 5700 dollars too much.”
5800 a year is 5800 dollars too much.
I bought some bank oowned property two years ago and paid half of the appraised value and you think the value of the property tax went down? No way
The problem with that assertion is we have income and sales taxes. And with ObamaCare no one will be able to escape.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.