New Property Tax Bill

If you have an error then protest.

If on the otherhand you're just griping that a property tax break you may have gotten in the past is beginning to phase out then I have no sympathy. Do you feel entitled to always paying a lower tax rate than most of the rest of us? You should be thankful for what you've benefited from in the past rather than bellyaching that your tax break isn't continuing onward forever...

Posted By Jason / At 3/2/10 6:39 AM

many neighbors are going to get higher tax bills. DC recently passed a law that you have to pay on at least 40% of the assessed value. (this has been discussed too on the mvsna yahoo group) So basically, if you bought a long time ago and have been enjoying a nice low tax bill of a few hundred dollars, your bill will go up. cant say it isn't somewhat fair (as I pay up the wazoo) but as usual DC is going about it all wrong and with no warning. how nice of them. And of course the slumbanking vacant property owners continue to get their huge tax breaks...

Posted By Si Kailian / At 3/2/10 7:46 AM

If having the foresight,taking a chance and moving into this neighborhood when one had to sweep not only one's sidewalk but the drug dealers off one's steps to enter their home entitles one to a lower tax rate, then so be it. For the rest of you, or maybe just you, Jason, you knew what your taxes would be when your made your decision to purchase your home, so don't get panties in a wad over my comments. I and other pioneers must have brought the "hood" up to your standards and when you purchased, you must of thought your tax rate was fair.
Si, thank you for answering my question in a civil manner.

Posted By Patrick Lodise / At 3/2/10 6:47 PM

Patrick - your reward for being a pioneer is the appreciation in the value of the property. You're not entitled to a tax break forever. Just as I knew what my taxes were when I bought into the neighborhood you should have also known that whatever tax breaks the city had in place when you bought were subject to phase out or be changed via legislation cover time. Instead your panties are in a bunch. Your the one who uttered the phrase "not fair". Booo hooo.

Posted By Jason / At 3/2/10 7:06 PM

Jason and all my neighbors:
I have always been willing to pay what is due. What I meant by "not fair" is the fact that DC can double my taxes when there is a property on my street that has only paid a couple of dollars in property taxes for the past ten years yet they strain the entire system all year long. I'm sure they are not the only ones....What would be fair is that we all pay our fair share.

Posted By patrick lodise / At 3/2/10 7:22 PM

Patrick - your reward for being a pioneer is the appreciation in the value of the property. You're not entitled to a tax break forever. Just as I knew what my taxes were when I bought into the neighborhood you should have also known that whatever tax breaks the city had in place when you bought were subject to phase out or be changed via legislation cover time. Instead your panties are in a bunch. Your the one who uttered the phrase "not fair". Booo hooo.

Posted By Jason / At 3/2/10 7:53 PM

All this talk of panties...oh my;)

Posted By Si Kailian / At 3/2/10 8:18 PM

Wow, I really didn't see this kind of reaction coming! I saw 7 comments to the thread and expected to see a bunch of people in agreement, who likes taxes right? We have to acknowledge that as the neighborhoods of DC increase in value, we will need to pay more. On the other hand, we need to expect more from our city government as well. Remember that the next time you call 311 and ask for someone to clean up a sidewalk, remove graffiti or refurbish an old park. These are the things we can expect as we pay more in taxes. The alternative is a bigger bureaucracy and city employees getting paid to be ineffective.

Posted By Greg (NJ Ave) / At 3/3/10 7:55 AM

I can't get over that as the District is in the midst of a budget crisis, it chooses to grant a tax break amounting to millions of dollars to owners of VACANT property (who are often not even DC residents or are developers, churches, or other businesses), while increasing property taxes on those of us who actually live in our homes and also pay DC income taxes. Interesting priorities.

Posted By Cary Silverman / At 3/4/10 7:59 AM

I don't know how recently you purchased your place, but one thing that sometimes happens is that your property taxes do not always increase as quickly as assessments. There's something called an assessment cap credit which gives you a tax "credit" to keep eligible homeowner's payable taxes at no more than 10% higher than the previous year. Remember that in recent years, annual appreciation was a lot higher than 10%, so the tax you pay actually lags what would otherwise be due -- thanks to the credit. (The credit should be shown on the bill.) Even when depreciation hits the assessment, you may find that because you've been paying significantly less than the underlying tax (without the cap), you still may have a tax increase in a down year. Did that make sense?

Posted By John / At 3/4/10 8:13 AM