Monday, February 04, 2008
Why so dang high?
Last weekend during an open house, a visitor asked me why the taxes on the house were so high.
I explained to her that a house listed at $675,000 with 4,900 squre feet on half and acre was going to have a pretty hefty tax bite wherever you lived. Expensive houses pay more in taxes because they are assessed at a higher value. The higher your property is assessed, the more you pay.
Montgomery County reassessed all of its properties about 8 years ago. Bucks County has not reassessed since 1972 and has no plans to do so unless forced by the courts. So if you live in Bucks, the newer your home, the higher your assessement. Newer homes are assessed at a 2008 value, while older homes get the lower rate, depending on how close to 1972 they were built.
I also explained that school taxes take the biggest bit of the tax pie. Their school district had the good fortune to have a huge regional mall within its borders, plus industrial properties and business parks. The district of the home they were visiting lacked the commercial and industrial base, and so depended more on homeowners to pay for the schools.
I explained to her that a house listed at $675,000 with 4,900 squre feet on half and acre was going to have a pretty hefty tax bite wherever you lived. Expensive houses pay more in taxes because they are assessed at a higher value. The higher your property is assessed, the more you pay.
Montgomery County reassessed all of its properties about 8 years ago. Bucks County has not reassessed since 1972 and has no plans to do so unless forced by the courts. So if you live in Bucks, the newer your home, the higher your assessement. Newer homes are assessed at a 2008 value, while older homes get the lower rate, depending on how close to 1972 they were built.
I also explained that school taxes take the biggest bit of the tax pie. Their school district had the good fortune to have a huge regional mall within its borders, plus industrial properties and business parks. The district of the home they were visiting lacked the commercial and industrial base, and so depended more on homeowners to pay for the schools.
