Can somebody help me understand the nuances of IN property taxes

[Bowman78]

Well I wish someone here could figure the math because after homestead deductions on my home the effective tax rate is approx. 2.8%.... mine went up almost $800 this year... yay. 1% cap my a$$

 

[DoggyDaddy]

ghitch75 brings up something I like to point out to people, that property tax is payed twice a year unless you pay it through escrow in your mortgage.

I have always complained that escrow accounts for property tax should be illegal. Make people send in a check every six months and they will see what they really are paying. Most people with mortgages have no idea what they pay in property tax, so forcing them to figure out how to save up that money for a check to their county renter would really open up a lot of eyes.

Mine are paid via escrow, but I still get a statement from the County assessor (or Treasurer?) twice a year telling me what I'm paying. I just don't have to write the check.

 

[spec4]

When I serviced the mortgage portfolio for a bank, tax escrows were a royal PITA. Taxes pretty much went up each year. I had to calculate the increase in escrow payment and inform the borrower. This inevitably brought a negative response from the borrower. Had to explain that the bank wasn't raising their taxes, the county was. Then there were the folks that got big tax increases and didn't have enough in their escrow account to pay them. Many wanted the bank to cover the shortfall. (I'm not lying) Finally, there were the borrowers who would come in and tell me they want to pay their taxes under protest and I should facilitate it.

I finally convinced the president that escrow accounts were way more trouble than they were worth and he okayed me to get rid of them. If someone defaulted on their tax payment we had a service that would notify us. I would then tell the borrower they either pay it at once or the bank pays it and adds it to their balance. Ah, the joy of dealing with the public!

 

[MrsGungho]

ghitch75 brings up something I like to point out to people, that property tax is payed twice a year unless you pay it through escrow in your mortgage.

I have always complained that escrow accounts for property tax should be illegal. Make people send in a check every six months and they will see what they really are paying. Most people with mortgages have no idea what they pay in property tax, so forcing them to figure out how to save up that money for a check to their county renter would really open up a lot of eyes.

Mine are paid via escrow, but I still get a statement from the County assessor (or Treasurer?) twice a year telling me what I'm paying. I just don't have to write the check.

what dogdaddy has said. I get my "rent statement" twice a year. I just don't write the check at those times. I write the check once a month to the mortgage company. Actually, all you fine tax payers write the check for us, hubby is a disabled vet and that gets him property taxes paid. I still know though what it would cost me, before the disability portion is taken out. I always have enough in savings to pay these bills, I just don't have to do it.

 

[IndyTom]

I just went through a refi and the new documentation lays *everything* out very clearly including total cost, how much P&I is, how much taxes are, how much insurance is, what can change, what can't change, etc. The pre-closing docs detailed all of it, as well (you had to have viewed those at least 3 days prior) and then there was a 3 day post-signing window to allow people to change their minds. They are certainly trying to cover their collective a**es after all the nonsense that went on in the collapse.

 

[JettaKnight]

When I serviced the mortgage portfolio for a bank, tax escrows were a royal PITA. Taxes pretty much went up each year. I had to calculate the increase in escrow payment and inform the borrower. This inevitably brought a negative response from the borrower. Had to explain that the bank wasn't raising their taxes, the county was. Then there were the folks that got big tax increases and didn't have enough in their escrow account to pay them. Many wanted the bank to cover the shortfall. (I'm not lying) Finally, there were the borrowers who would come in and tell me they want to pay their taxes under protest and I should facilitate it.

I finally convinced the president that escrow accounts were way more trouble than they were worth and he okayed me to get rid of them. If someone defaulted on their tax payment we had a service that would notify us. I would then tell the borrower they either pay it at once or the bank pays it and adds it to their balance. Ah, the joy of dealing with the public!

That makes a lot of sense. I once (sigh) had a low LTV, short term low that had no escrow in order to keep the costs low.

I liked it, the CU liked - win, win.

 

[dung]

I just got my notice of assessment. My home value inexplicably went up nearly 6k. My boss that lives just down the road dropped. I technically paid more than I have been assessed, but feel that we overspent for what we got. We had several houses in the area sell way cheaper than mine.

I think it is time to file an appeal. Has anyone had any luck doing that in here.

 

[themurseman]

Yes, the way I understand it is that personal property taxes are capped at 1%. Rates are higher for rentals and commercial property.

 

[Bowman78]

Yes, the way I understand it is that personal property taxes are capped at 1%. Rates are higher for rentals and commercial property.

Dream on

 

[indykid]

One nuance of property tax is the falsehood of a 1% property tax on homes, and yes it is higher for rentals and commercial, but just staying on homes, that 1% is easily gotten around by either raising the value of the home which directly raises the value of 1%, or a tax referendum which in essence adds a surtax on top of the 1% agreed to by the voting public. Somewhere in there they figure in credits, like homestead (having a mortgage) and a few other things to make it seem like they are being nice and lowering the taxable value of the home being below the assessed value.

It is all a game, make the people think their house is worth so much, give a few deductions to make the homeowner think they are getting a deal, while all the time it doesn't matter, as this state and the local communities grow, value goes up because of demand, so the taxes taken automatically increase.

Sorry for this rant, but five days ago I complained about my assessed value going up $14,000 causing a nice tax increase. Well since then, as in yesterday I got a new assessment telling me my house is now worth $9000 more, and to top it off, the voters of Westfield just approved a referendum allowing for a surtax amounting to approximately another $300 per home. I spoke to our mayor, a person I know personally and I do respect as he has done a great job of putting Westfield on the map and making the city a place people want to move to. I told him about the tax increase by massive increase in home value. He said I should be happy that my home is worth so much more. I then told him that the increase is seen by me only if I sell my house and leave! He had no answer, and as far as I know he still considers me a friend.

 

[Shadow]

ghitch75 brings up something I like to point out to people, that property tax is payed twice a year unless you pay it through escrow in your mortgage.

I have always complained that escrow accounts for property tax should be illegal. Make people send in a check every six months and they will see what they really are paying. Most people with mortgages have no idea what they pay in property tax, so forcing them to figure out how to save up that money for a check to their county renter would really open up a lot of eyes.

I disagree with your statement , and here is why ---- I don't know about anyone else but I get a monthly statement from the bank that has on it what and where my payment goes -- so much to this and that -- how much goes in the escrow for the tax's and what the tax amount is , I also get 2 statements from the county tax - telling me what my total taxs are and it also shows what they are in the 2 -6 month time periods. So I do know what I have to pay -- my eyes are open -- I just prefer it to be paid like this so its one less thing I have to worry about or remember to pay. No I don't like the property rent tax - its BS .

 

[Tactically Fat]

My refi appraisal (December) came in at about $25k higher than my latest, and slightly lower county assessment. I'm OK with that.

Greatly helps out with my refi rates and LTV/PMI/ETC... And my property taxes haven't gone up yet.

The whole property tax system sucks.

Consumption tax for everyone! Woo!

 

[dudley0]

Escrow is generally only mandatory if you have less than 20% down. With most financial institutions you can request escrow be "curtailed" in partial or in full once you hit 20% equity.

None of my loans have ever had escrow as a must for property taxes and insurance. The only thing that I have seen was was for PMI, which does fall in with the 20% you spoke of. It can be removed after a set point, but you have to request it and it is usually a pain to get accomplished.

I have a few properties with no escrow on them. I prefer it that way, but my book keeper does not. She is the boss so we keep the ones that are escrowed that way.

Yesterday I spent around 9k on property taxes for non-escrowed places.

I think it is time to file an appeal. Has anyone had any luck doing that in here.

There is a form that you can find online for the appeal process. I do it more often than not on most of my places. I have five duplexes in one town, all identical. The taxes are never the same.

I get one of my realtors to run a CMA (certified market analysis) on the properties that I question and use that as part of the reasoning for the appeal. I have never been rejected. I have been asked what I felt was fair before, but they never like the first answer.

I would suggest that anyone who gets a major increase with no reasoning behind it to go for the appeal. Remember that when you get a building permit for the property they use that as a reason to increase the net worth and thus raise the property tax as well. (My opinion on this one, no solid proof as of yet)

 

[AngryRooster]

Looks like it's our turn. Got a notice the other day that our assessed value went up $52,200 for "structures/improvements". We've done nothing to the property, other than maintain it, since 2014 when we built a pole barn. I remember it went up after that so it should have leveled off. Even so, the barn was only 32K. Pretty sure they pulled the 52K number out of thin air (actually someplace else).

Says we have 45 days to file an appeal. It also says we MAY appeal the TOTAL value. We MAY NOT appeal land, structures/improvement value individually.
To me that says they can apply any value the like to any individual building and you can't challenge it, only the total.

 

[dans4420]

we bought our house 2 years ago and they went up, after looking i found out that before i bought the house the finished basement was listed as unfinished but after i purchased they updated it to finished and taxed me more. Not sure if they see pictures on the listing or what but that was my experience at least.

 

[AngryRooster]

I have no idea when this dude came out and looked at stuff. Guess I'm gonna have to get some curtains or blinds for the few windows the pole barn has, keep the door locked. Need a gate at the end of the driveway as well, too many projects.

 

[1911ly]

Ahh, land taxes, the punishment for owning your own home. When they capped the tax percentage my taxes went from 6.5k a year to about 2k and it's been steadily been raising since. They keep upping the value of this place. And I haven't done any thing to improve it except for replacing the front picture window. I am not looking forward to the fall taxes. Mine went up more them what I paid for the window in one tax period.

If this place was really nice I could see it. But this place (IMHO) is not worth half what they think it is.

 

[junk]

I caught my tax lady walking through my yard . I thought she was a salesperson and informed her I wasn't buying . She informed me she wasn't selling . She showed me what I was being taxed on , then I showed her it wasn't up to date . Taxes went down .

 

[Thegeek]

You can challenge the assessment.

 

[spec4]

You can challenge the assessment.

Can you list the various arguments that are acceptable in a protest? I've been unable to locate this info.