Taxes

Grady223 · 11-24-2009, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

Please explain in detail your statement that "Seasonal property owners are an easy target because we don't vote.." What specific examples can you cite? You own a property in one of the lowest tax towns/cities and you feel you are being discriminated against. If what you say is true, I strongly recommend you file an abatement, go to Superior Court, and you will be richly rewarded.

You and many others (seasonal and year round) seem to be suffering from a huge persecution complex. Be honest, would you sell your property for more or less than the current assessment? Moltonborough attempts to keep ALL properties - NOT JUST THOSE OWNED BY NON-VOTING TAXPAYERS - at market rates.

Hope this does not come on too strong, but the constant b....... gets a little tiring for those of us who live here full time and make an effort to see that the town operates as best as economically possible. And no, I am not a town official, elected or otherwise.

Pardon me...I own a home on an island in Alton. I would hardly say that my taxes are low, in fact they are substantially higher than they are for my permanent home in PA. What do I get from Alton for my tax dollars: no police service or no fire service in a time frame that will be of any help, can't send my kids to the schools, no sewers, no sidewalks, no water, no garbage, get my electrical from Wolfeboro and I can't even vote on the budgets. Although I can't say for sure, I would venture a guess that nonresidents pay a substantially higher share of the overall taxes in Alton than residents.

I had previously proposed on this forum that the non-bridged islands in the Lake band together, secede from their towns and counties and form their own with their own tax base, not sure how practical that is. Maybe instead I should propose that Alton provide a lack of services discount to non-bridged island properties - oh, that's right, I can't do that because I am not a resident. Taxation without representation - wasn't that something I had heard was an issue addressed in New England once before?

I have no issues with the way the towns are run, New Englanders are notoriously frugal and I am sure the tax dollars are being spent wisely. I just think that I am paying a disproportionate share of the town's taxes. Oh, and although my house is assessed for what it could have sold for 2 years ago - I doubt it would sell for that now. Considering the economy, how could my assessment have gone up this year?

onthebay · 11-24-2009, 04:25 PM

Every where I look I see that property values have gone down substantially. I even had my home equity line of credit frozen due to supposedly declining property values.
Why is that the house I built in 2006 is now supposedly rising in value while everything else is sinking. No changes in the house since I completed it.

My November 2007 valuation was $20k less than the June 2007. My June 2008valuation remained the same but jumped up 30k in November of 2008. I got my tax bill and both the tax rate jumped and my valuation went up by another 50K. I would be happy if I actually had a chance to sell it for what they say it is worth and for what I have into it. I know of no other properties in the area that would have sold in the past year to make the value jump.

I live on a dirt road, do not have trash pickup, and have no one in the school system.

Grant · 11-24-2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grady223

Pardon me...I own a home on an island in Alton. I would hardly say that my taxes are low, in fact they are substantially higher than they are for my permanent home in PA. What do I get from Alton for my tax dollars: no police service or no fire service in a time frame that will be of any help, can't send my kids to the schools, no sewers, no sidewalks, no water, no garbage, get my electrical from Wolfeboro and I can't even vote on the budgets. Although I can't say for sure, I would venture a guess that nonresidents pay a substantially higher share of the overall taxes in Alton than residents.

I had previously proposed on this forum that the non-bridged islands in the Lake band together, secede from their towns and counties and form their own with their own tax base, not sure how practical that is. Maybe instead I should propose that Alton provide a lack of services discount to non-bridged island properties - oh, that's right, I can't do that because I am not a resident. Taxation without representation - wasn't that something I had heard was an issue addressed in New England once before?

I have no issues with the way the towns are run, New Englanders are notoriously frugal and I am sure the tax dollars are being spent wisely. I just think that I am paying a disproportionate share of the town's taxes. Oh, and although my house is assessed for what it could have sold for 2 years ago - I doubt it would sell for that now. Considering the economy, how could my assessment have gone up this year?

Grady, you hit the proverbial nail on the head re: disproportional taxes vs. what you get in return & lack of input. In the comparison of your home vs. Winnipesaukee taxes, you should mention that New Hope, PA has relatively high taxes of its own! For Alton to eclipse New Hope really says something.

tummyman · 11-24-2009, 05:41 PM

Issues with values going up in an apparent down market are usually the result of two items.... building permits and/or a sale within your tax "neighborhood". All it takes is one sale and the appraisers hit land values in the neighborhood, since usually the homes are so dissimilar that it is hard to increase the building side of the equation. The assessors in the towns have the data...and if they are using Vision, they can tell you how many sales in your "neighborhood" were used to calculate your value. In Moultonborough, they have WILD annual swings caused by this neighborhood valuation approach. Concerning the taxation without representation, I wonder how many resident taxpayers who are always screaming about things being equitable would vote to allow non-resident taxpayers to have the right to vote in town budget and municipal matters. Bet the answer is none. Some places in the country have this today.... but they are slim and far between. But if the non-residents get together and really press the matter, they just might get a voice. All it will take is a few non-resident lawyers to do some pro-bono work....

onthebay · 11-24-2009, 06:20 PM

The strange part is that the land portion of the tax bill has stayed the same since I bought it but the building value has gone up.
The build cost when built was high since it was mostly built in 2005 when things were booming.
I would imagine with labor and material costs down the replacement cost would be less now.

11-24-2009, 04:25 PM	#2
onthebay Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 114 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Laconia Taxes Every where I look I see that property values have gone down substantially. I even had my home equity line of credit frozen due to supposedly declining property values. Why is that the house I built in 2006 is now supposedly rising in value while everything else is sinking. No changes in the house since I completed it. My November 2007 valuation was $20k less than the June 2007. My June 2008valuation remained the same but jumped up 30k in November of 2008. I got my tax bill and both the tax rate jumped and my valuation went up by another 50K. I would be happy if I actually had a chance to sell it for what they say it is worth and for what I have into it. I know of no other properties in the area that would have sold in the past year to make the value jump. I live on a dirt road, do not have trash pickup, and have no one in the school system.

11-24-2009, 05:41 PM	#4
tummyman Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 836 Thanks: 256 Thanked 672 Times in 243 Posts	Taxation without representation, etc. etc. Issues with values going up in an apparent down market are usually the result of two items.... building permits and/or a sale within your tax "neighborhood". All it takes is one sale and the appraisers hit land values in the neighborhood, since usually the homes are so dissimilar that it is hard to increase the building side of the equation. The assessors in the towns have the data...and if they are using Vision, they can tell you how many sales in your "neighborhood" were used to calculate your value. In Moultonborough, they have WILD annual swings caused by this neighborhood valuation approach. Concerning the taxation without representation, I wonder how many resident taxpayers who are always screaming about things being equitable would vote to allow non-resident taxpayers to have the right to vote in town budget and municipal matters. Bet the answer is none. Some places in the country have this today.... but they are slim and far between. But if the non-residents get together and really press the matter, they just might get a voice. All it will take is a few non-resident lawyers to do some pro-bono work....

11-24-2009, 06:20 PM	#5
onthebay Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 114 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Laconia Taxes The strange part is that the land portion of the tax bill has stayed the same since I bought it but the building value has gone up. The build cost when built was high since it was mostly built in 2005 when things were booming. I would imagine with labor and material costs down the replacement cost would be less now.