Thread: Property Taxes

Real estate taxes continue to be one of the runaway costs for our industry nation-wide. I have set up this Poll to find out just how many facilities have challenged their tax assessment in 2012 or plan to challenge them in 2013. I think this is an important issue and I hope the results of this poll would "encourage" possible editorial coverage of this issue in the months ahead.

Thanks for taking a minute to vote.

MisterJim444

I agree! In some of our regions we are taxed at 4 to 5x residential. Yet our use/need of services pales in comparison to residential use. The biggest problem is our city jurisdictions spending like there's no tomorrow!

PA owners, Please check out Facebook page of Pennsylvania Taxpayer Cyber Coalition (PTCC) or Rep Jim Cox Bill HB1776 here http://repjimcox.com/proptaxindepact.aspx. This alone would save my facility $26,000 per year. I will be able to keep rates low and make much needed repairs. Read up on the bill and call your PA house Reps and Senators. The Senate version of the same bill is SB1400. It is going to be reintroduced in January. WE must stop this runaway cost. It will not get any better with the impending teacher pension crisis expected to hit within the next few years.

I actually ran a local seminar last year on how to appeal property tax rates here in Iowa last year. The county redid valuations last year we won on both of our locations that had them increased. This year the major city is redoing theirs and I intend to challenge whatever they come up with.

Another new thing the local cities have been doing is creating new storm water fees for non residential properties. I am facing a increase at two of my locations from $4 per month to $80 per month in the next year.

I don’t think our “Property Tax” is that bad compared to the rest of the country. It tops out at 1.5 maximum mil levy.

However, we are also hit with a “Personal Property Tax” on top of the property tax. The personal property tax is the one that really p*$$e$ me off. You pay sales tax when you purchase something and then you pay personal property tax every year thereafter on the same item each year. Can you image inventorying pens, pencils, red locks, a hard wired alarm system, even a sign that is over 40 years old and is held in place with 15 yards of concrete plus our electric gate. All accessories to run your business are considered personal property and taxed.

Now to add salt to the wounds, the State’s Land Board has entered into the self storage business. Nope, they don’t pay any taxes and were supposed to compete!

Originally Posted by SMSSId

I don’t think our “Property Tax” is that bad compared to the rest of the country. It tops out at 1.5 maximum mil levy.

However, we are also hit with a “Personal Property Tax” on top of the property tax. The personal property tax is the one that really p*$$e$ me off. You pay sales tax when you purchase something and then you pay personal property tax every year thereafter on the same item each year. Can you image inventorying pens, pencils, red locks, a hard wired alarm system, even a sign that is over 40 years old and is held in place with 15 yards of concrete plus our electric gate. All accessories to run your business are considered personal property and taxed.

Now to add salt to the wounds, the State’s Land Board has entered into the self storage business. Nope, they don’t pay any taxes and were supposed to compete!

That is awful! Ours are always going up, not based on property values but by what you could make on it.

We just got our appeal date for the end of February. Another problem is that CA is threatening to break out commercial properties from the protection of Prop. 13 that froze values back in the 70's with just a small increase annually. Few things get the politicians more upset than the fact that property taxes can't be tapped to fuel their wild spending....now they'll just go after the big bad business owners and filthy rich commercial property owners.

Oh Yea you had to bring this up, I just recently settled down from getting a tax increase notice, that our taxes on our RV storage lot were going up $ 6500.00

If HB1776/SB1400 Passes in PA other states will take notice. Lets go PA facility owners, Call your local House Rep and Senator. People and jobs will flock to low tax states. Our local economy will boom. Every homeowner and business owner will have extra money to spend on whatever they want rather than the threat of the loss of your property at a tax sale.

Originally Posted by dakselfstorage

If HB1776/SB1400 Passes in PA other states will take notice. Lets go PA facility owners, Call your local House Rep and Senator. People and jobs will flock to low tax states. Our local economy will boom. Every homeowner and business owner will have extra money to spend on whatever they want rather than the threat of the loss of your property at a tax sale.

We have had legislation being debated the last 2 years that would help with property taxes in Iowa for business owners. Currently Business owners pay taxes on 100% of the taxable value while AG land and residential are taxed at just under 50%. Of all neighboring states Iowa's commercial property taxes are the highest. Even over twice as much of a state like South Dakota.