Quote:
Originally Posted by ITD
So I just read that link, thanks for providing it. But I'm a little tweaked by the comment by the selectman. The tax rate is essentially meaningless since the advent of revaluations. Valuation is set by supposedly fair market assessments of everyone's property value. The levy is the amount of money to be collected by the town's and in the case of NH, the state. This levy is fixed and is increased every year, set by politicians at the state level and usually town meeting at the town level, but heavily influenced by town politicians. The tax rate is a variable number based on the levy and the overall valuation of ALL the property in a town. The tax rate can go up and it can go down, but the levy ALWAYS goes up, meaning taxes ALWAYS increase. There are very few exceptions to this rule. So a politician talking about the tax rate going down is either disingenuous or doesn't know what he is talking about. Politicians love to blame increased property tax on increasing property valuation. That is not true, taxes go up because politicians spend more money, that is the only reason.
If your tax bill went down, it is because your property value was not increased as much as your neighbor's. There are many reasons for this, one could be that you have been paying too much in tax since the last valuation, another is that some material change happened to the value of your property, or maybe this is just your lucky year. But based on the link provided, more people's tax bill increased than decreased.
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You seem to be suggesting that there is something wrong with tax collections (not tax rates, but actual dollars collected) increasing each year. Actually, the opposite is true--there would be something strange if tax collections did not increase. Governments are affected by inflation in the same way it hits the rest of the economy. Teachers, policemen, road crews and other people need to be paid each year, and those salaries and benefits need to rise just to keep those folks at the same level.
From your signature it looks like you're lucky enough to enjoy the lake as a second home--a luxury few government employees can afford. So maybe a few extra dollars a year isn't so bad?