Taxes Taxes and more taxes! (Savannah: sale, rental, credit)

[fellini123]

Ok so we have several houses that we really like.....location seems ok. So tonight I go on line and start looking up tax records
To put it mildly!!!! $9100........$7841........$5073 and this is on a fixer-upper!!

How do people live here and pay these kinds of taxes?? I mean that is over $700 a month on taxes alone without even thinking about a house payment. You all must make a ton more $$$$$ than we have even thought about.

I have lived in areas all over the country but nowhere have taxes been even close to this. Am I just reading things wrong, is there a secret handshake that you need to know and they cut your taxes in 1/2?? If so please teach me.

Alice in tax shock!!!

[gamecock43]

ummm....WHAT?? I have never heard of taxes being that high, I figured it would be about $100 per 100k loan.

[Padgett2]

When you buy a house to live in, you get a discount as the Homeowner. This homestead exemption drops the tax a good bit. If the owner is over 65 (I think,, it may be 60) they get an additional discount. Below a certain income level, an additional discount.

A house bought as rental property does not get these exemptions.

And yes, the taxes are w-a-a-y too high. They are based on what the house would have sold for in 2007 when a lot of the places were being sold for investment purposes. Now that the bottom has fallen out of that market, maybe we will see some sanity come back into the tax assessments.

[Padgett2]

My curiosity got out of hand and I had to go pull my last tax bill to check on what I paid. On an assessed Fair Market Value of 258,500, I paid $251.51 for first six months of the year. The final six months will be about the same.

I live outside of the city therefore, some of my tax bill is for special services that city dwellers don't have to pay. but then, I don't have to pay city taxes.

Of the $258,500, the Net Assessment is on only $103,400 with a $2000.00 exemption for a total taxable value of $101,400.

So, perhaps the figures that you have found are not the actual tax bite after all the discounts, etc that are added on.

The millage rate determines the amount due. For example: the millage rate for the schools is 6.898 or $91.46 for the six months. I get a credit (I have no idea what for) of $55.18. That leaves me with a $39.62 payment toward maintaining the schools for six months. With eight grandchildren in the school system, that's a bargain.

[Padgett2]

One BIG thing that I forgot that makes my tax bill low, is that the amount actually due was frozen at the amount that I paid several years ago. This is thanks to the Stephens-Day bill. If I sold my house, the new owners would not get all the discount that I do. There would be a big increase, but if they could afford the house, then the new buyers should be able to afford the tax on it.

That has been the big problem lately. People have bought houses that they really couldn't afford at the inflated asking price. The tax assessments reflected those inflated values. Let's hope that there will soon be an adjustment so that new buyers don't have to bear the burden of so much of the tax bill.

[gamecock43]

Ok, I'm on board to move to Savannah if taxes are a hundred or so a month, if they are four or five hundred a month then I am out. Who does Alice need to go to to really get a real number on her possible tax bill?

[fellini123]

Talked with the agent and she suggested to call the tax office. But she gave me a ball park figure of $20 per $1,000. So a house selling for $300,000 would have a tax bill of $6,000. That is city and county.

Dont know why the one house is so expensive it is a house selling for 340,000, appraised at 278,500 and the tax assessment is 9,100.

Alice

[gapowermike]

I paid 238K 2 years ago and my tax bill has been ~3800/year. The fair market sale price of your home has nothing to do with the fair market assessed value of your home. Mine was FMV'ed at 275K the day I bought it so I get to pay taxes on 275K.

Savannah does have the Stephens-Day bill, which should be a Federal law, so that helps a little in the long run. And don't think that assessed values are coming down anytime soon. They base evaluations on years previous so it's only going up in the short term.

Property taxes are murder here in Savannah,

Michael

[Padgett2]

Please keep in mind that the value as listed with the tax office has nothing to do with the price that the owner may be asking for it. They are two entirely different things. Location has a lot to do with it.

[fellini123]

Originally Posted by Padgett2

Please keep in mind that the value as listed with the tax office has nothing to do with the price that the owner may be asking for it. They are two entirely different things. Location has a lot to do with it.

Right, one of the things that is confusing me so much is, we are looking at 2 houses they are 4 houses apart. One is more expensive, bigger lot, more upgrades bigger house yet its taxes are about 1500 less than the smaller house that is appraised for less smaller lot etc. Just doesnt make sense to me......

Alice