Property taxes

[Dave Fields]

Good evening BP. I have a question about property taxes. To my knowledge I thought the amount of property taxes paid each year was based on the value of the property itself, and maybe a few other factors but mainly property value. I saw a house recently listed for 840,000 and the property taxes are only 4,477. Another property with a value of 360,000 has property taxes of 5,500 a year. These properties are in two different counties. Is the local government ripping someone off or am I missing something. Thanks in advance for any attempt to make me smarter. LOL Dave

[Mark Vejnar]

Property taxes are calculated using the county's millage rate. Therefore it's not unusual for property taxes to vary from county to county, or even from subdivision to subdivision within the county depending on the millage rate used in that area. Some locales will also have additional fees and charges to pay for schools, medical facilities or other public projects - and sometimes those fees pay for golf club memberships or new personal vehicles for people in county/city government (it's not cool but it happens, and it's perfectly legal in many cases).

Contact the assessors office and ask how the assessment is calculated. They will be more than happy to share exactly how they calculate and where the money goes.