Property Tax Benefits The Community…The whole real estate domain interested me ever since I graduated out of my school. Five years since then, I decided to buy my own bungalow in Texas. Since, the property was located in Texan outskirts, I did not have to worry too much about the prices. My budget was extremely low and it just fit my wallet fine. Little did I know, that I might have to end up paying extra on my home, something called Texas Property Tax. I did not understand the importance of Property Tax, at least not before I started looking at it from the government's perspective. When I found out that the Property Taxes, which we pay, fill up the local government's revenue coffers, I realized why should we pay Property Tax. Interested in the whole chain of Taxation, I dug deep to find out more hidden myths about Property Tax. Some of my myths mentioned below about Property Taxes lay exposed after my research: Property Taxes are always fixed The Property tax is variable on the assessment of your property value and the existing tax rate. Interestingly, the existing tax rate is decided by the local municipality after looking at the amount of revenue which it decides to collect. Could I pay property tax twice on my real estate? My direct answer would be no. But I know many of my colleagues who were notified of paying the tax twice. This is a discrepancy, which the governments have recognized and are trying to rectify. The Property taxes go as a profit for the government I am personally lucky to live in a locality which boasts of fine schools, libraries and a world class hospital. I came to know much later that these are part-funded through the money collected in property taxes from us. In a nutshell, if we pay the property tax properly and truthfully, the benefits will come back to us in some way or another. Deep thinkers in such matters have lately become concerned about people wanting to buy property in rural land due to the high property tax rates in urban land. There are many social reasons for their concern such as sprawl, and the government is trying hard to get some amount of parity to reduce sprawl. However, rural or urban, anywhere one buys property, there's no way around it, you're going to have to pay property tax, so why not feel good about it? Realize that in doing so, in one form or another, you are benefiting yourself, your neighbors, and your community. So what is stopping you? Pay the property tax and be of good cheer as it goes to the benefit of you and your community. Really it does..... |