Attention property owners: Taxes due Thursday!
Apparently, the message isn’t getting through. (Or folks have some financial problems.)
O.C. Tax Collector reports that through April 5, $3.3 billion has been collected in property taxes for the current fiscal year. That’s 5.6% above a year ago. But here’s the rub: The tax roll is up 8.2% this year. Thus, the county finds itself behind the pace with 72.5% off all 2007-2008 dollars due collected as of Saturday vs. 74.5% in the same period for the 2006-07 billing cycle. If taxpayers were paying property tax bills at last year’s pace, in theory, the county would have collected at extra $91 million so far.
Look at it another way: There are 28,613 more tax accounts with bills still unpaid this year, up 7.4% from ‘06-’07.
“This isn’t the crunch year,” notes Tax Collector Chriss Street. “Next year will be really tough. I’m empathetic to these people in trouble.”
How to pay the second tax installment before late charges accrue?
• In person at 12 Civic Center Plaza, Suite G58 in Santa Ana. (7:30 am – 6:00 pm on Thursday. Usually, until 4:45 pm.)
• By mail: Orange County Tax Collector, P.O. Box 1438, Santa Ana, CA 92702-1438 with Thursday or sooner postmark!
• By phone: 714-834-3411 until midnight Thursday.
• By Internet: http://www.ttc.ocgov.com until midnight Thursday.
i guess they will have to lay off more teachers and more police officers
when will the perma-bulls understand the mess we are in
the mess many of them caused
The tax collector should give the banks a break… they are new to this home ownership thingy.
haiku guy you are funny. lol….
RealtorDave
“why pay taxes on a home that might get foreclosed or sold in a short sale?”
How could I possibly expect anyone irresponsible to do anything responsible?
thanks to these fruit loops more pink slips will be sent to workers paid by our county and state
then these jobless people can’t buy local goods and other people lose jobs…………. perma-bulls miss the point….. we are in for rough times
forget about house prices, just keep your job
More arrearages for the county so more pressure to layoff teachers while we pack our jails instead. Oh but it is a great time to buy say the filthy permabulls. Get real, this is a nasty recession caused by the permabulls’ core belief: that real estate only goes up. The charts tell a very different story: down, down, and down she goes. And thank goodness for that, we will flush out so many wastrels in OC.
good job deadbeats. note responsible renters like myself, if the rent (which supports my portion of property tax) is even a day late I get a $50 fine and notice on my door that the landlord will plan to evict. of course this has never happened to me, but ya gotta love the double standard.
oh well, deadbeat, you OWN. so good for you…. even if you can’t pay the measly property tax! LOL
“How could I possibly expect anyone irresponsible to do anything responsible?” you said it mav…
oh well the fed gub’ment will bail them out!! hoorah
Anybody upside down should remember that you can protest your assessed value and pay lower taxes also. I successfully did this last year. It’s a pain in the butt, but if saving money matters to you it’s worth it. Just print your recent comps off Zillow or get an agent to pull comps for you and take them to your hearing at the old county courthouse.
Liar Loan had this to say: “Anybody upside down should remember that you can protest your assessed value and pay lower taxes also.”
That’s correct, but it’s too late to do for this next year’s taxes, which start July 1st. The deadline was March 31st. ( I have already been there, done that.)
You DO have until March 31st of 09, to do it for the 09/10 tax year.
Dood,
how much has your specific home dropped in value?
mav had this to ask: “Dood,
how much has your specific home dropped in value?”
First of all I don’t consider that any of your business, or need to know. Let’s just say that for the past 8 years, I’m still a good 150% ahead, how’s that?
sighburdood– thats great cause your gonna need
alot of dinero to cover your butt when this recession
sucks the rent money out of your tenants… which
begs the question how long does it take to legally
evict a deadbeat tenant? better check with your
attorney because that scenerio is quickly approaching
rants had this to rant about: “sighburdood– thats great cause your gonna need alot of dinero to cover your butt when this recession
sucks the rent money out of your tenants… which begs the question how long does it take to legally evict a deadbeat tenant? better check with your attorney because that scenerio is quickly approaching”
rants, your concern is touching. Thank you. Frankly, I have been blessed, or just lucky. If I have a tenant who has a hardship, I encourage them to let me know - in most cases I have been able to work with them, over a hurdle, without getting “legal”.
For the past 25 years, I could count the tenants I have been forced to evict on ONE hand.
Part of that, of course, is the initial screening process. I AM very careful with prospective tenants - just as I have advocated in these threads with other would be landlords.
That is one reason that part of my buying criteria is for single family houses, instead of multi-unit buildings, or condos. My tenants are usually families with a good credit history, as opposed to singles, who might be more prone to become a “deadbeat”, as you put it.
Like I’ve stated before, I have a system, and it usually works pretty well for me.
“First of all I don’t consider that any of your business, or need to know. Let’s just say that for the past 8 years, I’m still a good 150% ahead, how’s that?”
Dood how in the world does that make sense? If you bought 8 years ago you would not have to be talking to the tax office.
Is this blog a land of gum drop forest and unicorns for you dood?
“Sighburrdood Says:
L L had this to say: “Anybody upside down should remember that you can protest your assessed value and pay lower taxes also.”
That’s correct, but it’s too late to do for this next year’s taxes, which start July 1st. The deadline was March 31st…”
No, No, No. You still have a chance to challenge your assessment.
While the OC Assessor may have had a March 31 cutoff for preliminary filing, under State law you may file an Assessment Appeal starting July 2nd. This is for a formal hearing before an Appeals Board. Check the Assessor’s website for more info.
You guys don’t know what a recession is. It’s when you can sleep late every day because there is no work. It’s when you young guys move back home with mama. It’s when you lose your condo to the repo guys. It’s when your wife takes your kids because she doesn’t want to support you any more.
“That’s 5.6% above a year ago.”
Does that sound like OC govt workers are in trouble?
Maybe we need a recession to teach all of you permabears how good you really have it?
mav had this to further ask: “Dood how in the world does that make sense? If you bought 8 years ago you would not have to be talking to the tax office.”
First of all, my statement was: “Let’s just say that for the past 8 years, I’m still a good 150% ahead, how’s that?”
That doesn’t say that I bought my house 8 years ago. All houses in O.C. are re-assessed on a regular basis. If the county re-assessed a property 1 or 2 years ago, their figure is now challengeable by the appeal process mentioned earlier.
My statement was meant to suggest that from the year 1999 my house experienced significant appreciation - which WAS re-assessed a time or two over the ensuing 8 years. That’s will be all I choose to say about the matter.
Dood,
I wish you luck. From what you have expounded on here, I believe you are in for a world of pain over the next 3 years. All it takes is a cash call, so you better have plenty of reserves, and I’m not talking about HELOC money which will have totally dried up…….. may your mini empire prosper…… just avoid that liquidity thingy.
It appears that some have misinterpreted this information, including the blogger, with his comment:
“Attention property owners: Taxes due Thursday!
Apparently, the message isn’t getting through. (Or folks have some financial problems.)”
This isn’t an article about people not paying their taxes on time; at this point, no one is late on the current installment. Taxes are due TOMORROW! This is an article about people not paying their taxes as early as they did in the past.
As a property owner, I owe property tax and will pay it on time, but I don’t plan on paying it early. I might as well gain any interest on my money for as long as I can, regardless of how small that incremental amount may be. I’ve got my check written and in a stamped envelope ready to go in the mail either today or tomorrow; all I have to do is have it postmarked tomorrow for my payment to be on time. I could also pay over the phone or online up until midnight tomorrow night and still be on time.
I don’t consider my actions irresponsible as suggested by bpsqwerty or am I unaware of the upcoming deadline as suggested by our blogger. I have the payment date scheduled into my planner and will pay my tax bill on time as I have with every other property tax bill I’ve paid in the past 18 years.
Bottom line: As long as it is postmarked tomorrow or paid by tomorrow midnight, IT IS ON TIME!
Sighburrdood:
I’m not sure that I understand your comments regarding reassessment of properties. The following is a cut and paste from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association web site:
“Proposition 13 placed in the state constitution requirements that property tax rates could not exceed 1% of the property’s market value and, absent a sale or major remodeling of the property, market value increases were capped at a maximum of 2% per year. If a property was purchased, the property could be reassessed at 1% of the new market value with the 2% cap put in place for yearly increases.”
Unless you did a major remodel since you purchased in 1999, how could you claim that your value has declined for tax purposes?
Sighburr-
Your first post about tax appeals is entirely false. I just completed the appeals process for the 06/07 tax bill, so this is fresh in my memory.
You can’t appeal your tax bill until you actually receive the bill in July, hence there’s NOT A MARCH 31ST DEADLINE. Your comps need to be for sales that occured between 10/1/07 and 3/31/08, so maybe that’s the cutoff you’re thinking of. The deadline for the appeal is sometime in August after you receive the bill, and then they’ll contact you to give you a hearing date. As long as the comps you pull are fair and accurate, the assessor will usually agree and the assessed value will be reduced.
For someone that bought a $700k home that has since lost 20% of it’s value, they could save about $1500 in property taxes. If they appealed every year during this slump, they could save $5,000-$10,000 over several years.
Liar and anyone else who might not be familiar with this process: Here is one important factor to remember. If you’ve owned your property for awhile and you are being assessed based on a value that is way under the present value, you are not going to get far in your appeal. If you bought within the last 3 years, you have a chance. As far as the appeals process, here is the language straight from the OC assessors office website: “Each year, after the final roll is established by the Assessor, postcards or letters are sent to all property owners advising them of the current value of their properties. They are further advised that if they disagree with the value imposed by the Assessor they may file “An Application for Changed Assessment” with the Clerk of the Board during the Regular Filing Period of July 2 – September 15.” The dates may be different in other counties.
“I don’t consider my actions irresponsible as suggested by bpsqwerty or am I unaware of the upcoming deadline as suggested by our blogger.”
I’m talking about all the deadbeats who have no intention to pay. the difference between last year and this year basically reflects this. why would an extra chunk of homeowners hold onto the money this year vs. last year for an extra week for a dollar or two of interest? that’s right they wouldn’t, and it will become pretty obvious in a few days when nearly all of them go late.
bpsqwerty:
I won’t be surprised to see an increase in delinquencies. But, I imagine that even for those planning on paying, things might be a bit tougher this year with the huge job losses in OC. I would imagine there is not the same level of discretionary funds available for many this year as contrasted with last year.
I think you are under a misconception about what happens to homeowners who are late with their property tax. In your comment above, you said:
“good job deadbeats. note responsible renters like myself, if the rent (which supports my portion of property tax) is even a day late I get a $50 fine and notice on my door that the landlord will plan to evict.”
If a homeowner is even a day late, their fine is generally much larger than your $50 fine. A homeowner won’t be subject to eviction, though, but the debt will continue to grow until paid and there will be a tax lien against the property.
People please !
At least we all can enjoy our backyards 12 months
a year .
We could be back east with the cold and the rain .
California real estate will always have value if one
can afford the tax bill !