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Property taxes in HPP specificaly and Puna in general are probably one of the lowest in the country. Where else can have a $350,000 home on an acre of land and pay only $800.00 a year in taxes.
Of course in HPP you have no water, sewer, or garbage pickup.
And you do have unpaved roads, no postal delivery and an active volcano right in your back yard.
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Just remember, owner-occupied properties cannot increase in assessed value more than 3% per year. If your homes are owner-occupied (and you bought more than a year ago) they should not be making any dramatic adjustments. KathyH, since you just bought, they may be making an "on-sale"-type adjustment this year, and next year you'll be subject to the 3% cap -- however, I'd still call them and make sure they are assessing properly.
As for not having received it yet -- don't sweat for a while. March 15th (yesterday) was the deadline for the County to mail them -- give it a while to get there. Some of us just got them early.
Another note -- if your house here is a rental and falls below the "affordable housing" rental rates, you can also file for special tax rates that the County gives to homeowners that provide "affordable housing" to renters. You have to provide a copy of the lease and fill out some forms, and its not a huge amount of money anyway, but its worth knowing. In some cases it makes sense. Hypothetical example -- you could rent for $1100 a month, but the affordable rental rate for your house is (for example) $1080. If you dropped the rent to $1075, you might save enough in taxes to more than make up for the lost $25 a month. But then your rental expenses would change and that could have income tax implications...so, its not a simple thing, but you should get the info to be informed.
John Dirgo, R, ABR, e-PRO
Aloha Coast Realty, LLC
808-987-9243 cell
http://www.alohacoastrealty.com
quote:
If your homes are owner-occupied (and you bought more than a year ago) they should not be making any dramatic adjustments. KathyH, since you just bought, they may be making an "on-sale"-type adjustment this year, and next year you'll be subject to the 3% cap -- however, I'd still call them and make sure they are assessing properly.
Thank you John!
Let me explain a little more. first, I didn't get my new bill yet, I had a reason to call (got a notice from my lender that they wanted to increase my impound account). The bills aren't out yet and they weren't all that happy to figure it out for me on the phone, so I don't suggest everyone bombard them with questions. The bills will be out soon.
I called the County because I THOUGHT my taxes might be less due to having twice the exemption of the prior owner. The prior taxes were $768 with a principal residence exemption. I wanted to check to see what effect my exemptions had.
As John said, my increase is due to it selling and not being capped this year. However, they admitted there had been a large jump in getting closer to the actual real estate market prices.
The owner before me, had also bought the home only a year prior, so his $768 was not under a cap either. He paid about 2/3 of what I did, so I expected mine to go up, but I also have a 50K exemption on value that he didn't have, so I was surprised that my taxes increased to over $1300.
BUT -- I don't think you folks in Puna need to sweat it so much, because prices in Puna dropped last year, far as I can tell. I live on Hamakua side, where there are not so many properties on the market, and the prices seem to be hanging in there.
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quote:
Originally posted by StillHope
Haven't got my tax bill yet.Is it time to call the county or should I wait till the end of March? If someone give me the phone #,where the live person will assist,I'd appreciate it.
Your tax was due in February and if you didn't get that tax bill you certainly should call the tax office. This thread is about the tax assessements notice (not a bill) that every property owner get every year.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
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Thanks, John -- I didn't read that closely enough -- she was asking about the tax BILL and I read it as the assessment. Whoops!
John Dirgo, R, ABR, e-PRO
Aloha Coast Realty, LLC
808-987-9243 cell
http://www.alohacoastrealty.com
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Damon,
There is another kicker in the mix. Louisiana has a relatively high $75,000 homestead exemption. Therefore, the only tax I pay is $32 for the local fire district assessment, which is treated differently.
But we have a sales tax of around 9%.
quote:
Best and Worst States[/url]: Based on data from the 2005 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, the following five states have the lowest median real estate taxes per $1,000 of value. They are Louisiana ($1.72), Hawaii ($2.04), Alabama ($3.10), District of Columbia ($3.76), and Delaware ($3.95). The states with the highest median real estate taxes are Wisconsin ($18.20), Texas ($18.17), Nebraska ($16.69), Vermont ($16.35), and New Hampshire ($16.33).
Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP
Allen
Finally in HPP
quote:
Originally posted by allensylves
Damon,
There is another kicker in the mix. Louisiana has a relatively high $75,000 homestead exemption. Therefore, the only tax I pay is $32 for the local fire district assessment, which is treated differently.
But we have a sales tax of around 9%.
.....
Don't take this personal AS -
But I don't like Louisiana's Homestead Exemption law.
Because the poor typically rent, they are not eligible for this exemption. However, they still have to pay that 9% tax on everything else. That means only the rich benefit from this Law. [V]
At least in LA they exempt groceries. Some states don't exempt groceries.
-------
A.R.A.S.
Acceptance Respect Affection and Support
Bob Trask
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okay. let me apologize in advance again! this is in regards to a "trust" property (my aunt's) that was sold in 2001. when it was "assessed" (sorry, don't recall the actual amount), our realtor told us to put it on the market for 5% above the assessed value. we got six offers well above the asking price and "sold" it in one day. my question: is that how the "market value" is computed? and who determines the value, the realtor or the county? i know there was an analysis done regarding similiar houses that had sold in the area and it turned out that the amount we were asking was comparable to those. the "market value" is not shown on the assessment for o'ahu.
malia paha o lohe aku
perhaps they will hear
"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
w. james
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Wow, it feels good to have started a hot one (topic) for a change. On my assessment the land stayed the same but the structure nearly doubled in assessed & market value. This so-called house is really just a SHELL - not really a house. It has a roof & outer walls but only rudimentary electric & plumbing (no hot water, no shower). I am wondering whether we are being "penalized" for following the rules, that is we pulled a permit to start electrical work. $173,000 for a shell??? I am going to try to appeal but I don't feel confident of the outcome. Any tips?
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Further questions to our RE experts:
Is the 3% cap on the "assessed value" or the "net taxable value" (i.e. after the homeowner/occupant exemption)? Does the cap relate to the "building", the "land" or the "total"?
Any way I figure the 2008 Assessment Notice, I come up with either a 5.9% or a 7.2% increase over 2007. I just want to know how angry I should get!
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