Way to go Ed. This sham has been going on for years -- state legislators crusading for "property tax relief," while, at the same time, I don't know how many times I've heard county and city officials complain about "unfunded mandates" being put upon local governments.
This property tax notice is another-- and just the tip of the iceberg.
Also, maybe something has changed since I stopped covering local government on a daily basis seven or eight years ago, but to my knowledge the state has never ever fully funded military and homestead exemptions for local taxpayers to make whole local governments. And I suspect the state never will.
By the same token, I heard at least one local official in a community which extensively uses tax increment financing, in which taxes are diverted to finance site improvements, as a "gimme" for local business recruitment and expansion constantly complain about the state-established rollback. If I wanted to be semi flippant I could suggest that official was mad because he couldn't tax people enough -- yet still able to maintain a health fund balance year to year.
The whole system of property taxation is one big shell game, with a lot of finger pointing and a lot of folks in authority pretending they're doing something for you. Local governments can brag about freezing tax rates while raking in more money from increases in valuation, and they say oh, that's not us, we don't set your values, that's the state and the county assessor. Then the state and the assessors say, oh, we don't set your tax rates, that's up to the local governments. Individual local governments say, oh, we cities are only one part of your tax bill, you need to complain to the county, the school district and your community college too. And on and on.
The bottom line is if any tax levying body is asking for more money from property taxpayers than they did the year before, that's a tax increase.
And part of the state's answer is to clamp down on special levies that were already approved by voters at referendum, where people vote to tax themselves for certain projects -- like the levy which supports the museum where I am employed. So much for local control.
It'd be interesting to see how many of our state lawmakers ever served in local government and had to prepare a city, county or school budget. Maybe that's why they procrastinate on the state budget until the very end of the session each year, preoccupying themselves with social issues.
Nowadays they seem more preoccupied with where someone goes to the bathroom (oh, for a good old fashioned debate on mourning doves). Telling people how to live their lives is a lot easier than complicated stuff like budget, money, numbers and junk like that.
Good point. But why is this notice out now? Perhaps because the legislature is currently considering more "tweaks" to property taxes and want homeowners to be on board. That rollback that kept your bill lower: on the chopping block. Stop funding schools with local property taxes: Don't worry the state will take over to fund it. Oh, we've heard this story before. And so on.
Good summary of how property taxes work in reality. I agree that sending out the notice is expensive and sometimes misleading as to one's specific situation. That said, it's not uncommon for people to regularly say, "I never received notice of......" There is no good answer for people who won't read notices yet continue to reserve the right to complain.
Way to go Ed. This sham has been going on for years -- state legislators crusading for "property tax relief," while, at the same time, I don't know how many times I've heard county and city officials complain about "unfunded mandates" being put upon local governments.
This property tax notice is another-- and just the tip of the iceberg.
Also, maybe something has changed since I stopped covering local government on a daily basis seven or eight years ago, but to my knowledge the state has never ever fully funded military and homestead exemptions for local taxpayers to make whole local governments. And I suspect the state never will.
By the same token, I heard at least one local official in a community which extensively uses tax increment financing, in which taxes are diverted to finance site improvements, as a "gimme" for local business recruitment and expansion constantly complain about the state-established rollback. If I wanted to be semi flippant I could suggest that official was mad because he couldn't tax people enough -- yet still able to maintain a health fund balance year to year.
The whole system of property taxation is one big shell game, with a lot of finger pointing and a lot of folks in authority pretending they're doing something for you. Local governments can brag about freezing tax rates while raking in more money from increases in valuation, and they say oh, that's not us, we don't set your values, that's the state and the county assessor. Then the state and the assessors say, oh, we don't set your tax rates, that's up to the local governments. Individual local governments say, oh, we cities are only one part of your tax bill, you need to complain to the county, the school district and your community college too. And on and on.
The bottom line is if any tax levying body is asking for more money from property taxpayers than they did the year before, that's a tax increase.
And part of the state's answer is to clamp down on special levies that were already approved by voters at referendum, where people vote to tax themselves for certain projects -- like the levy which supports the museum where I am employed. So much for local control.
It'd be interesting to see how many of our state lawmakers ever served in local government and had to prepare a city, county or school budget. Maybe that's why they procrastinate on the state budget until the very end of the session each year, preoccupying themselves with social issues.
Nowadays they seem more preoccupied with where someone goes to the bathroom (oh, for a good old fashioned debate on mourning doves). Telling people how to live their lives is a lot easier than complicated stuff like budget, money, numbers and junk like that.
Good point. But why is this notice out now? Perhaps because the legislature is currently considering more "tweaks" to property taxes and want homeowners to be on board. That rollback that kept your bill lower: on the chopping block. Stop funding schools with local property taxes: Don't worry the state will take over to fund it. Oh, we've heard this story before. And so on.
Hi Ed,
Good summary of how property taxes work in reality. I agree that sending out the notice is expensive and sometimes misleading as to one's specific situation. That said, it's not uncommon for people to regularly say, "I never received notice of......" There is no good answer for people who won't read notices yet continue to reserve the right to complain.