I'm not complaining but....

I just received my property tax assessment for 2012. Somehow the home and buildings have the same taxable value as last year but the 22.86 acres I have went from $37,512 to $36,055. This is good tillable land in central Iowa, if I wanted to row crop it I could and yes there would be a couple of wet spots, but the land is flat with no trees, creeks, ravines ect and has a good CSR. Maybe I need to pick up around the place a little better, more weed control. If everybody in the county is paying less tax this year somebody needs their head examined. Once again I'm not complaining but with record land prices you would think even poor dirt would be worth more.

Like the old saying goes....Dont look a gift horse in the mouth.
My assessment went down too. Home with property only, no farm. But it went down by only 2.4% or something. I will take it. Paying taxes is something that I hate, Total taxes dropped to $3,650 roughly. I still think my home is worth $20k less than what my township is estimating. My taxes have dropped for the 5th straight year...Yippie.

be careful when you say you have wet areas on your land....you may have to restore it to wetlands. I would be okay if my property value went down a little = less taxes. I'm not moving anywhere for quite awhile.

Hi Nate: Well, I'll trade ya. I have several acres less and mine went up almost 12 percent.. I had taken it to the Cty Commissioners 3 years ago and complained and ther lowered it by about 10 percent. Now the assessor got back,I guess.
Well, I went before the Township board and they forwarded it to the Commissioners again for this June.
I have taken issue with taxed amount quite a few times during the 3 decades I was buying/selling residential property on the West edge of Minneapolis. I even took one case to the Commissioners for Hennepin county which is most of Minneapolis. There were couple hundred at the hearing including TV reporters. They forwarded my complaint to the State level where I finally won everything I asked for. It is all part of owning property. Job ain't done untill ya finish the 'paper work.' If ya feel the you are right, ya gotta play the property tax game.
In your case Nate, be happy & silent. They will catch up sooner or later..

Yeah, I wouldn't complain too loudly.
A friend of mine owns a duplex near downtown St Paul.
4-5 years ago when property values were at their peak her place was assessed at around $340K.
The value has dropped every year since then and now her place is assessed about $250K.
BUT, her taxes have gone UP every single year and she's now paying about 20% more taxes than she was 5 years ago.
She complains about it but keeps voting for the same old gang that has run that city for the last 60 years.
Go figure.

Minnesota changed the waqy they calculate proerty taxes.

My farm land went up 21 to 63% depending on the parcel, I'm paying about 30% more this year than last.

Most homeowners I talk to are paying $10-40 less this year compared to last.

And yes, I'm complaining about it. Went up 12% the year before, not like we were on the low end....

--->Paul

Just write the check out for the same amount as last year and tell them it's a gift. Then you won't have anything to complain about.

When I was in high school, I took a course called General Business. That course should've been required for EVERYONE. We learned about how insurance works [some of the same stuff I was tested on for my insurance license], how you balance a checkbook [lots of folks seem to be baffled by that], and how government budgets and tax rates work.

The law sets how property is assessed for tax purposes. The governmental unit determines a budget for the fiscal year. This determines how much money needs to be raised via property taxes. Then the governmental unit divides the total budget by the total assessed value of the property within that governmental unit [county, township, whatever]. That determines the tax rate.

So if, after the total assessed value goes down, the county decides it needs the same amount of tax revenue, the tax rate goes up. And if the total assessed value goes up, and the county budget stays the same, the tax rate goes down. That's how it works IN THEORY. Since budgets NEVER stay the same, and they NEVER go down, the total amount of money raised by property taxes never goes down. When assessed values go up, if values raise enough, the governmental unit can announce a lower tax RATE and STILL increase their budgets.

But in case anyone didn't know how it works...that's a very simple explanation. Government IS going to get the amount of money they budget for, come hell or high water. The only variable is the assessed valuation and the tax rate involved. States, who approve county tax rates around here, usually don't let county governments accumulate budget surpluses; they'd rather that money instead go to the state.

With the price of farmland escalating in the last few years,I'm not surprised. We sold a portion of our family farm here in central Iowa recently,it brought 3-4 times more that it would have 5 years ago.

$10 per day. . .

Iowa passed property tax relief for farm land. I am having a hard time figuring that out with the price of land and crops.

Somebody has to pay for Kazai and his newly asquired Brothers.Doesn't it make you feel good.
I have 113 acres and pay Council rates of $1200.Farm rate.
Get yourself a boat, throw all your papers overboard, say you are being persecuted, we will look after you.Not sure if it is a requirement to come via Indonesia though.

> I have 113 acres and pay Council rates of $1200.Farm rate.

If I understand you right, you are paying less than $11 an acre?

I'm going to be around $23 an acre this year.

And the state just decded the poor state highway going by the area, where there are 3x as many deaths per mile because it is so old and over-trafficed, won't be put on the 20 year plan to rebuild. Doesn't matter if people in rural areas die, the money will go to 'conjested' roads (meaning the Twin Cities). So, tax us more, spend less on us, don't care if we die.

That's gonna make tax payers real happy in November. They've been saying that old state highway should be rebuild for 30 years already, origonally it was suppsed to be I-90 going through southern MN, but went farther south. Then it was supposed to be rebuilt, but the wrong party was in power so the funds were moved to highway 60 'for now', will get back to your highway next round....

I realize property taxes and road building is not directly related, but it's all tax money, all gets directed by the state where it goes any more, collecting it you better have a fair plan to spend it on those you collect it from. Styate stopped funding rural stuff so prop taxes go up to fund local stuff thestate demands.

Just not a good tax season in this state for rural folk.

--->Paul

You Can't win for losing! I have a farm that had an old house on it that had been rented once something has been rented in this state the taxes double. I demolished the house. nofified the assesors office. but taxes didn't go down the next year. Called them they said they took the rental house off but becouse I mowed the fields they had reclassified the farm to inproved property. thus taxes would remain the same.

Did your assessment go down, or did your taxes go down? Or both? If your assessment went down, but the tax rate went up you may be paying more taxes even with the lower assessment...