From a 1st Street NW resident in Truxton Circle/Bates area/East Shaw/Dunbar:
I received my first half year tax bill. It is almost twice what my first half tax bill was last year. It is almost equal to what my whole tax bill was for last year (first and second half year bills combined). I thought they could only require you to pay 10% above what you paid the previous year. This is almost a 100% increase in payment. When I called the tax office they said that we are now required to pay taxes on 40% of the value of our homes due to something the city counsel had voted on last year. I don't recall hearing about our tax bills going up like this. The value of my home went down. Anyway, I think it is unfair to hit us with almost a 100% increase in our tax bill.
9 comments:
It's a 100% increase, but they don't state what the total amount is. This means they were paying tax on less than 20% of their house value before and the total amount even this year is low. Don't think being taxed on a minimum of 40% of the assessed value is too much too ask. This city wouldn't function if everyone only paid that much
2nd Street Resident
When you are retired on a fixed income and have to work part time to make ends meet, a 100% increase is a lot to hit a person with at one time. I think this could force some people to lose their homes due to such a large increase. Now I'll have to find another job to pay these taxes!
For years the neighborhood has had a fake storefront: intentionally designed to give all the impression that something is there when in reality, it is not. Its a good metaphor, and it helps to explain many things.
Now, happily pay your tax increases!
We sadly have no choice but to pay. One note is that every one was not paying 20%. It was the few who have been in these homes for 30 years or more.
My taxes went up, but my home is still affordable. It has gone from about $500 a year to $1000. Which means I just have to funnel some of my savings to taxes. I've been in my home for 9 years, so I really liked the 10% cap.
Taxes is just a portion of home affordability, along with the cost of heating and cooling a home. Sometimes one gets to a point where they just can't afford to keep a house that may be just too expensive to keep up.
For the exceedingly poor there are tax breaks. If your household make less than $50K a year there is a tax break for that. If you make less than $20K a year, there is a RE tax break for that. If one is a senior, there is a tax break for that.
But DC continues to give tax abatements of 20 YEARS to connected developers on for-profit developments and hand HUGE amounts of our future tax revenue to support politically expedient development like the MM Washington School....what a joke,and the little guy is supposed to just pay up and shut up huh?
No one mentioned the bigger issue; DC's budget deficit. That's why changes were made to allow them to increase our taxes.
The city's budget deficit is rather large.
Why is the deficit so large? We have more people living in DC than ever before who pay city taxes. And more are moving in.
As of July 2009, the "budget shortfall" was projected to be $666 million over the next two years (2010 and 2011).
For a city with a relatively small population, that number is huge.
The answer to the question about why there is such a huge budget gap is complex. Here is one part of that complex answer:
The DC Government is corrupt.
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