Tax Appraisal

I got my lovely tax appraisal notice today for my house. They jacked it up another $3,200 for 2005! Our property taxes have gone up nearly $2,000 since we bought our house six years ago. When will it end?

In case you aren't familiar with the property tax formula, it works like this:

Property Tax = Value of Property X Tax Rate

If you'll notice, they have a two-pronged method for raising taxes. First they can raise the property value (which they have done every year since we bought our house), then they can raise the tax rate.

Personally, I think we are headed for a real estate bust. I think property values are not worth anywhere close to what the tax office says they are worth. I think I see a bubble in real estate values. Just my opinion, of course.

Tags: Real Estate Taxes, Appraisal, Taxes