WHITEHALL — Whitehall treasurer Alyssa Seaver and deputy treasurer Brook Schiller said in talking with other treasurers in the area, they weren't alone in hearing confusion from local homeowners and home buyers about property taxes.
What makes them go up? What goes into their calculations? Why are they so much higher than I was told when I bought the house?
"Everyone experiences those stories at the counter," Schiller said.
In an effort to clear up some of those questions, the two joined with other local treasurers and a few representatives of the Muskegon County equalization department for a property tax education event at City Hall last Thursday.
Justin George, Shirley Wyatt and Kelli Navarro were the county representatives on hand, joined by Seaver and Schiller, Montague treasurer Melissa Beegle and Whitehall Township treasurer Madge Kraai. Around two dozen homeowners turned out to get information on the topic.
The evening opened with a presentation about what a property tax bill looks like and how taxes are calculated, but what Seaver and Schiller were particularly interested in was the following Q&A session, and there they were pleased to see several insightful questions asked.
"It didn't feel like residents were using the event to protest their own personal agendas," Seaver said. "They addressed broad topics that apply to everyone."
One such topic was the "sticker shock," Seaver said, of property taxes in the first year following a home purchase. Homeowners, particularly first-timers, are not always aware that a property's taxable value is usually well less than its assessed value, due to a state law that limits rises in the former to whatever is less between 5% and the rate of inflation. However, that cap only lasts as long as someone owns their home; upon a transfer of ownership, the taxable value can rise to the assessed value.
(This also explains why property taxes almost never decrease even when the housing market negatively fluctuates, as has occasionally happened; even if the assessed value of a home decreases, the taxable value is often far lower due to those caps holding it down over time, so it doesn't affect the tax bill.)
The discussions regarding value assessments were also enlightening, Seaver said. She noted that homeowners can have a leery reaction to seeing an assessor evaluate their property, believing it will swiftly be followed by a rise in their property's assessed value and in turn higher taxes. In fact, both said in talking to the assessors, the idea for a future informational event focused on that side of things might be a good one.
"A homeowner shouldn't have fear that if an assessor walks on their property that it will necessarily be a property tax increase," Seaver said.
"(Assessors) definitely face some interesting situations out in the field
wandering on properties," Schiller added. "They deserve to be safe and for people to know
they're just out there doing their job. It doesn't necessarily mean
you're getting a bill."
The crowd appeared to be mostly, if not solely, comprised of long-time homeowners. Both
Whitehall treasurers expressed the hope of hosting future events and potentially even helping launch events like it elsewhere in the area and in the state and attracting prospective first-time home buyers, as those are often the people who
need the information the most. Both recommend buyers visit the municipality in which they're considering buying to get more information about what their property taxes may look like after a purchase goes through.
"We would much rather get those
calls than when it's too late (to help)," Justin George said.
"With real estate prices the
last few years being so high, it's a giant
investment buying a new home," Schiller said. "If you immediately can't
afford it (because of not anticipating the higher tax bill), that's
bad, and we don't want that to happen to people."
