In our county in ca., they tax the land and as your build progresses,(on slow builds like ours), they assess according to the inspections that have been done and average out the progess and at what stage it's at that years end. Then at the end of the build after the final inspection/ c.o, they give you the wammy of the full appraised value of home and property and tax accordingly. Jarvis gahn inititave puts that at 1% value land/home. On slow builds such as ours they get that little extra billing according to progress and estimated value of the land and stage of the build.

We are building in Hays county, Texas and I have been wondering the same thing. How do they figure the tax. We are in a older subdivision so the taxes are not to out of control...at least I hope not! I asked another person that built a year or so ago and she said one day the tax appraiser just drove by, stopped got out looked at the outside of the house and drove off. Not sure if that was really the "tax" man or not but she said they were being taxed on a two story house when they only have a one. I guess we will see.

Oh! Don't forget to homestead!!!

I am curious how they do come up with the tax though. I hope they do not walk on our back porch or we will be taxed for our "hill country view". LOL!

In my Province they can't find out what you paid for the land but they can see if you took out a mortgage. Once you begin to build, the assessment generally stays the same until you are completed or a regular re-assesment takes place. They base the assesment on your building permit info and their own final inspection. If you disagree you can apply for a reduction. This is usually sucessful if you are early to mid build when they re-assess based on your building permit as if you are complete.

Sierraeast - I guess at least in TX we are spared the incremental across the year. It is assesed in January and what is there then is what you get taxed on.

kelntx - Yeah I'm worried about them getting the right size. Our survey person put 1 1/2 story on the survey even though it is just a one story with some dormers. no 1/2 story and no stairs to get there unless you count the pull-down attic stairs. I don't think they asses on a view, only the property value and buildings and number of bathrooms from my understanding when I fought it on my old house.

ajpl - where are you at? This sounds like what they might do here.

I've been looking for the homestead stuff, but it seems like we have to wait a year before being able to file that if I read it right. I figure I'll send it in and they can reject it if they don't like it and I'll just re-do again.

I have heard a few folks mention being taxed on their "view". Not sure if they were being serious or just kidding. I do know that when they appraised our place in the report is a picture of our view. I thought that was interesting. I guess we will see. I didn't know you had to wait a year. I do not remember having to wait on our house we bought. I am going to the tax office to get my tags for the car, I will ask them there.

Kel

We just got our property tax bill for our lot. It was $250, the same as last year since the house is not finished. I called the tax assessor's office and asked what the taxes would be for our finished house. I guessed it would appraise for around $260,000. If it does, our taxes will be $1716.25 per year, $143 per month. I was pleasantly surprised since I had heard horror stories about taxes. We are in Louisiana.

I'm in Nova Scotia.

kelntx - please let me know what you find out, though not sure if it varies by county. The way I'm reading it is that it takes that long on a house that doesn't already have the homestead exemption, but it is hard to understand it. I hate government legalese.

teach2007 our lot was about double that, but the house I'm afraid will be way more than yours especially with no homestead. 2.5% it looks like what the taxes add up to.

thanks ajpl - interesting to see that it is similar in another country too.

I got it figured out on the 1 year and homestead. It is just we can't get it for this year, but for next year we can. Have to own it on Jan 1st of the year to qualify.

Property tax here is figured this way;
The property is appraised by the assessor. (Our assessor appraised the property a little lower than 2 separate bank appraisals had. (Both of which were the same.))

Tax "rates" are the approved spending measures of local and state government. There are about 8 separate items that appear on our taxes. (Roads, schools, library, township, blah.)

Our appraised amount is cut in half, giving us a "taxable value". The tax is the "taxable value" multiplied by each tax item's rate. (200,000 x .0015 for the library, for instance.)

Michigan's homestead exemption removes the state education funding that was lumped into our sales tax years ago. But, as with every government entity, they've slowly added millages back onto the tax bill for the public school system over the years. If you own property that is NOT your primary residence, then you do not receive the homestead exemption and are billed a good chunk more.

Because "taxable values" are limited in how much they can be raised by the townships, many folks who have owned their homes for more than 10 years were likely paying far less in taxes than they should be. As soon as the house is sold, though, the taxable value should be reset to 50% of the sale price. So, if your taxable value was 43k prior to your sale, and the house sold for 200k, the new owner's taxable value will be 100k. Michigan is all over this. The likelihood of a home changing ownership without a reset of the taxable value is nil, unless the sale would result in a reduction of the taxable value. Then, you have to jump through bureaucratic nonsense to have it adjusted *down* to where it should be. Which, for our township, can only be reviewed during one particular week in May.