FC Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Yesterday I drove a long ways to challenge a $13,400 increase in my property tax appraisal on our house. 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath bought for $139,500 three years ago, now valued at $151,200. The county residents are up in arms. I saw a billboard for an anti-tax meeting, but it is a 45 minute drive one way. There were a lot of people waiting to fight the new taxes, and disgruntled people left before I got in. They claim $39.50 per sq. ft. How does that sound? No homes our size in my town were on the web, but 2000 sq. ft. homes in Killeen were selling around $135,000. I was pointed with the lady, but not rude. I was pretty mad about getting screwed over. Why do they need the increase? All she said was that they decided to assess at market value. So, just because they get a wild hair I should pay more? Why? If you improve your property you should pay more. Why? If this government is of, by, and for the people, and the people are opposed to a tax increase, why is it okay? Honestly, I don't know if we can go after someone in an election? Who would it be? The news camera was across the street, so I know the hornet's nest got stirred up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Tony,I bought this 30 year old house back in November for $180,00.00.It's 2400 sq.ft. 3bath,4 bedroom on 2 1/2 acres.The taxes were 5,000 a year.They went up $1,000.00 already.That's 5oo a month just because I own it.I completely gutted and remodeled,and the 2 1/2 acres isn't worth much because the back half is a flood plain and can never be built on.Rick Perry's commercial on the radio said since he's been in office,he's cut property taxes for the average property owner $2,000.00.Somehow I'm not average,and mine went up $1,000.00.At least I'm getting to feed,cloth,provide medical care,and educate the wetbacks kids,since they own no property or pay taxes.There's rumors of my job going to Mexico.That'll be the icing on the cake.Rick Perry can kiss my unaverage property owner's ass.Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest karl Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 One good thing about Cali is Prop 13. The state is only allowed to raise the prop tax when you sell the house. They do try to sneak in "assessments" but that is only 300 bucks in 20 years. What you folks need is your own prop 13. Check the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Pr...ition_13_(1978) Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 1978! Was it that long ago? I did think about Prop. 13 yesterday. Good thing I'm a Christian. I felt like shooting the windows out of that office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 The city assessed higher property tax rates on my dad about 5 years ago because they needed to spend more on Carthage's overfunded school district and Panola College wanted an addition. Dad researched the issue and presented his case to the property tax people. They basically told him if you don't like it, get hire a lawyer and try and sue us. And then they wished him luck.... How are property taxes divided city/county? The reason I ask is I want to buy a house in the country in about 5 years; aren't taxes cheaper outside the city? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 The "Coryell Tea Party" is looking at an injunction against the county, and possibly a lawsuit. There's another meeting in my town that I plan to go to. Cheaper in the country? Yeah, BUT- if you have property and they nail you like they did to land owners here, you will pay, pay, pay. There was a film clip of some old trailer where they upped the value $6000 this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Tax burden by state TX Tax Burden comparison County by County taxes TX County by County home pg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Tony, I haven't viewed your links to the individual counties yet, but I can tell you this---Put the blame on Rick Perry and the Texas GOP for failing a long time ago to fix the unconstitutional "Robin Hood" taxing they enacted on the school districts. As for those of you in Texas who have county (not school district) tax increases, I can't explain your individual case scenario. But I can explain why the school tax (separate from the county tax) went up here in Goliad last year. My county taxes remained the same. Rick Perry! A failure as a leader, who only got in on the coattails of G.W. Bush (who was lucky to serve as governor when there was no crisis). Poor Perry inherited more than he could chew! You see, when the school district appraised all the property in the county, they were figuring on the lowered proposed rate per hundred dollar valuation that was "proposed". They put faith in Rick Perry to get it down to $1.30 per $100 valuation, instead of the current $1.50. SO, they INCREASED the valuation of every single home in the district! Be damned that the house had become a shambles, and was worth half of what the last valuation was, it was now worth much more (as per the figures given by above posters). Well, the Texas legislature (under Rick Perry) failed to reach a new reform bill, for the third time. The tax rate per hundred dollar valuation remained on the books. BUT now the school district was doing the only thing that they could do to achieve the same level of taxes (at that lowered rate that never happened) and that was---- Raise valuations. Man, it must have really pissed them to not be able to increase the valuation of my ranchland, but that is protected by a different law. They did do a pretty damned good job on my 1949 built farmhouse. Let me make one thing clear, while Bush had an easy time as governor of Texas, the person to give credit to (who WAS a leader) was Bob Bullock. He ran the state until his death and not until his underling, John Sharp (from nearby Victoria county) was appointed to the job of coming up with a reform did it happen. How good the fix was, we shall see. BTW, both the late Bob Bullock and now John Sharp are democrats. Hey Tony, that's only a 9.6 % increase in your house valuation. Mine went up 18%. And the silver tongued zopilote who is the appraiser made me feel like I was not paying enough! fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted July 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Fritz, you need a Goliad revolt. It's only going to happen when the masses rise up against the appraisers. There is a channel 6 video online about the Coryell Tea Party. They said they are talking with a representative about sponsoring a bill to limit county governments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Years ago when the school and county raised the rate to an exhorbitant level, we formed the Goliad County Taxpayers League. We forced a rollback on the taxes. Then the fundillos in the school district and county government got the message, and for years there was no more extreme raises. No, just the kind of raises that increase, infring, creep, a little at a time (remind you of gun control tactics?) But now I put the blame on the Texas legislature and their so-called leaders, because the school systems have been increasingly controlled by state mandate. The state holds the money like a carrot on a string before them. They either kiss the ass of the state or lose funding (funding that, BTW, is OUR taxpayer dollars). What I cannot understand here in my county is the huge increase of oil and gas wells, that has added tremendously to the tax base of our county. Some of these wells produce a quarter million dollars a month in revenues. And it is taxed by the county and school at a ridiculous rate. Why they need to increase valuations of old farmhouses can only be explained by the out-of-control spending on new (unneeded) structures on school properety. When they run out of land to build a new gym or tennis court on, they just buy more land. Let me rephrase that--WE buy more land. They don't pay a penny of their salaries for it. I dunno, I do believe that teachers need to have the opportunity and resources to teach our kids, but there comes a point where we must look ahead and ask ourselves, "Can we afford this?" fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted July 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 The money they take is our money, not government's money. They need reminding of that on occasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Well, thanks to Prop 13 here in CA, I pay about $1200 a year on my 52 year old house that was just appraised at $206,000. Here, there is a yearly limit that the State/County Gov't can impose. How ever, the City Gov't is not limited by that. Basically, taxes are locked unless the house changes hands or there officialy re appraisal, due to construction. You Texans don't have a State Income Tax, right? Well, from what I have seen, if a state doesn't have a State Income Tax, then the property taxes and others go right through the roof. The money has to come from somewhere. Tony, it looks like you are paying more for your property tax, than I will pay for my property tax and state income tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odies dad Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 I've been a township supervisor for a year now and have learned a lot about government and taxes that I never knew. I don't agree with the idea of taxing based on the value of your property but unfortunately, that system is the only one that is in use around here. It costs a certain amount of money to run the government and all the different programs that we have all come to enjoy. This is where you do have some say. The township at their annual meeting sets its budget for the year. This is voted on by the people. The problem comes in when your road needs to be repaired. Do you not have it done and save your tax money or have it fixed and spend the money? What other programs do you want to have available? Do you want garbage pickup service or do you want to haul your own? Some services are less expensive if the whole community is involved rather than having it done on a one on one basis. Some services are mandatory, and no one has any say on it. Say there are 100 residents in your township, city, state, etc. and it costs $100,000 to run the township, city, state, etc. for the year. That averages out to $1000 per resident. Rather than taxing per resident, the cost is divided per dollar of property value. If the total value of the properties in your township, city, state, etc. is $100,000, then you can fix a tax of $1 / $1 value of property. If you have $100 worth of property you will pay $100 in taxes. If you have $10 in property, you will pay $10 in taxes, if you have $50,000 in property, you will be paying half of the taxes for your township, city, state, etc. If all properties went up the same amount, the ratio stays the same and your tax will not change. If some properties increase in value more, then the tax proportion for that property will increase. If the cost of "doing business" increases, then the tax goes up even if the value does not. Get involved at least in your local government. The board usually does like to have some input from the people that elected them. One bit of warning. If you do show intrest in your local government, you may be asked to run for board. About the only way to get unelected around here is to die, and even that isn't a guarantee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.