Boston property-tax winners and losers
Boston this week sent out estimated property values and taxes.
Carpundit, who lives in the Back Bay, says the city thinks his property has appreciated so much his property tax bill will increase 50% this year (so no Porsche for him).
Down here in Roslindale, our estimated property bill actually shows a decrease - $181.72 less per year. But then, our valuation only went up 1.4% from 2006 to the 2007 estimate.
If you own property in Boston, what sort of increase/decrease are you seeing?
If you haven't memorized your 2006 valuation and taxes (or if you want to see how your house compares to your neighbor's), the city assessing department lets you look that up. After you get back the property's main page, click on Value History to see valuations over the past decade and on Tax Bill and Payment Information at the bottom to see what you were supposed to have paid for the first six months of this fiscal year based on the 2006 valuation.
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No Porsche? Give me a break
Adam, usually you seem reasonable to me, but that "No porsche for him" thing ticked me off.
My wife and I live in the back bay. In a TINY condo that we spend most of our income affording. Sure, there are some crazy rich people living in the back bay. But there are tons of people like us, too -- we like living in the heart of the city, and are willing to sacrifice living space and disposable income to do it. Our property tax increase is going to amount to almost $100/month this year, which is a Big F***ing Deal to us. Condo fees are up, too. So are student loan rates. Hell, everything is more expensive now than it was a few years ago, and wages sure as hell aren't keeping up.
It drives me nuts when people hear we live in the back bay and assume we must be yuppies living off trust funds or something.
So maybe 30 years from now I'll win the lottery and be concerned about whether or not I can afford a fabulous sports car. For now, I'm too busy wondering how I'm going to afford healthcare.
I'm guessing you didn't actually click on his link
I wasn't making a crack about Back Bay residents in general. Carpundit actually said the tax increase is so high he won't be able to afford the Porsche he'd been thinking about.
I hear you on the increase in taxes - even with the possible decrease, we'll still be paying a lot more in property tax than we did a few years ago.
Could've been written better
My apologies for any confusion - I can see where it looks like a Back Bay smack.
No harm done
I was feeling particularly bitter on the subject when I read that post... was more than ready to throw a punch or two at anyone who even mentioned property taxes :) Sorry for pouncing on the comment before getting the context.
That's Not What Adam Meant
Adam's "no Porsche" comment was *not* a shot at rich people in the Back Bay. It was referring to my blog post on the subject. In that post, I set forth the facts: my taxes are going up so much that I cannot afford the collector car I was hoping to buy this fall - a Porsche (993 Carrera).
I'm skeptical
I have to trust what Carpundit says to be true, but I've never heard of anyone else's property taxes going up 50% in one year.
A man quoted in the Herald today had his taxes go up from $6,000 to $8,000, which is a 33% increase.
Was Carpundit's condo previously a rental? If so, the taxes went up because it was previously taxed as a multi-family unit. His residential property taxes were previously too low, then.
If his taxes were previously somewhere around $2,000, meaning his condo was assessed at something around $200,000, and now is $300,000, that'd make sense.
Also, what about the resident exemption? Is he including that in his calculations?
Here are the exact percentages, straight off the calculator
My tax assessment went up exactly 51.3% this year.
My tax bill went up from about $12.5K to about $19K in one year. That's about 52%.
I've lived here for years and it was never a rental, not even before that. And, yes, I factored in the residential exemption.
From $1350/y to $3100/y!
50% Increase? Try 130%!
How can this be? I think because it's a new condo conversion and I'm a new resident. It appears I was vastly underpaying until now. So *that* is why my budget was balancing unexpectedly. CRAP. At least in FY 2008 I'm eligible for the Residential Exemption...