I got my tax due letter from the county...Interestingly enough, but NOT surprising, the tax rates went up, again. That's 3 times in 3 years already. Bare land, unimproved, no roads, nada. Dirt, rock, and very few lizards! Now the funny or strange part is I own land some 11-15 miles north of Yavapai County. I am paying my taxes to Coconino County...Where my land is.... ok....so far so good. Then I see I am paying ( being billed for anyway's) for a school district in Yavapai county, and for a library in Williams ( the Coconino county seat!) I am paying for a fire station in Williams and lots of other amenities of which I am EXCLUDED, by distance. Some 35 miles! No way any fire department could reach me, NOT without a helicopter! Taxes in 2008/2009 were $48.00, in 2009/2010 $56.00, now 2010/2011 $62.00. The land value has depreciated more than $600.00 to $800.00 per parcel ( I have 2 parcels) in that time frame as well... Is it just me, or does everyone have the same feeling, "we are getting the shaft"? Next, I'll be paying for some one's college tuition in Calexico! ( or maybe Harvard?)
The more I reflect on it, I think there could be some changes made that would accomodate myself and many others out there! 1) The "County" could make a pass by the land once a month with a mobile library van, and let me check out a few of the books I'm being charged for! 2) The "County" could run a pipe out to my land, ( 35 or more miles), and since it's a corner lot, put in a fire hydrant there...serves a "greater" purpose out there anyhow! There's nothing else out there for as far as you can see to put out fires! 3) Remove tons of rock from the dirt roads, crush it, and return it to the same area, to help make the roads safer, and much less wear and tear on all of our vehicles! 4) Have a "County" paid tutor come out and do adult education classes, say 2-4 times each month? Now, I'm NOT asking for paved roads, road signs, road maintenance, snow clearing, sidewalks, streetlights, not even a single mailbox! However, by simply putting in a single 4-6 inch water pipe, there would be more growth, more people = more taxes! They could easily charge triple the cost of water in town (Ashfork) ( 1 cent a gallon) or even up to a nickle a gallon, and they'd make bank on that deal alone! People could use cars/trucks less, create less pollution, and grow more out there and even the ranchers would have more livestock! A win-win scenario! But that's me....sensible!
LOL ... put down the pipe, and back away. You are mentally impaired from whatever you are smoking. . Seriously, It could be much worse. My little 20 acre unimproved scrub growth forest zoned agricultural went from $36 one year, to $452 the next year. That was 1985. Come to find out they changed my land classification to Rural residential. Nothing changed there except the trees got larger and the scrub more dense until fall of 1993. I think by then taxes on that unimproved land was up to $600 plus.
Funny, Shelby county does it's land appraisals every 5 years (by law), last year it was time. Everybody I knew saw an INCREASE in their property value, when the housing market was doing it's downward spiral. Myself, along with pretty much everyone else in the county, disputed the increase in property values and asked to be reappraised. Basically what they do is every 5 years they use a computer to INCREASE property value not matter what, across the board. When someone disputes the increase they manually look at the home sales in the area to determine your property value. Well my home went from 102k to 110k via the computer increase. After I requested a manual review it dropped to 90k. So, with everyone disputing their property value, and then getting it reduced, this lowers what the city & county can collect for taxes, so now leadership is discussing a tax increase - for the umpteenth year in a row. Ugh, wish I could get out of this house I'm in. I'm still waiting on our cat to knock over a candle or 2.
