#1 2012-12-27 17:27:40
Good afternoon!
There has been much written & blogged about the property taxes for FY2013 - virtually all of it wrong and/or misleading. Property taxes are NOT going up 11+ %, regardless of what the clueless Caitlin writes. She needs a serious education in property taxes.
1. In FY2012, the average assessed value for a single-family dwelling was $$254,393. Applying the FY12 tax rate of $9.37/1000, you get a tax bill for the average assessed value of $2,384.
The average assessed value of a single-family dwelling dropped to #230,136 for FY2013; a decrease of 9.54%. Applying the FY13 tax rate of $10.47/1000 yields a tax bill for the FY13 average assessed value of $2,410.
Comparing the two years shows a difference of $24.00 ($2,410-$2384), which converts to a percentage change of 1.09 percent (rounded to 1.1%).
2. Now, 1.09 is quite far away from the 11.7 being bandied about by Caitlin et al. Caitlin, you are off by a mere 1,000 % !!!! Math: 11.7-1.1 = 10.6. 10.6/1.1 x 100 = 963.64% Ok, OK, so it's not quite 1,000% - call me a liar.
3. Total Levy: The change in the total levy over the two years is 3.37%. So. How could the Residential tax bills be up over 11% when the levy went up by 3.37%. Don't worry, it"s not a quiz. The answer is: NFW!
4. Residential Levy: The Residential levy is up 1.84% year over year. Wow! Pretty strong correlation to my calcs in #1, doncha think, dudes?
5. CIP Levy: Herein lies the answer. The CIP(commercial-industrial-personal property) levy is up +/- 11%. One point the articles on Wareham Week got right was the comment by Ms. Miller that there was little change in the CIP classes. If you drop the Residential values, and keep the CIP values constant, then a SHIFT occurs from the Residential to the CIP prperty owners.
Bottom line: Residential tax bills will increase 1-2% on average. BUT, CIP bills will be up over 10%.
Prediction: sharp increase in abatement applications from the CIP crowd.
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#2 2012-12-27 18:22:10
stewie, since the cip classes of real estate will go up 10% ,do you think they will have a good chance of geeting a rebate in this case and if so wont that throw warehams budget out of wack?
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#3 2012-12-27 22:27:27
Hi sunshine!
Two good questions, let me take the second one, first. The town's budget includes an account called the "overlay", which is under the control of the assessors. The overlay has several functions, but you might think of it as sort of a 'bad debt' account, as a business might have. Thus, any abatements granted are to be paid out of the overlay. If the overlay is sufficiently large to handle the abatements, then there is no affect on the budget, as the funding for the abatements will have been raised in advance. If the overlay is too small, however, it is allowed to go into deficit by law; with the requirement that the deficit be cured during the current fiscal year (by transfers, for example) or be made up on the next year's tax rate.
The question on whether there is a good chance of abatements for the CIP properties is harder to answer. That would require a lot of numbers which I do not have or have access to. Examples: rents, vacancies, expenses, etc. for the various property types. In general, there are tax reps on the prowl to file for abatements - they are paid based on any reductions in taxes they coerce, ah make that convince the assessors to grant. Ms. Miller et al will have to be ready for their coming assault. It is a 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies' that the public does not get to see.
Not to worry - Bren-duh & curly are "on-the-job", looking out for who's interests exactly?
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#4 2012-12-28 16:40:29
Thank goodness for Stewie!
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