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Guess I Won’t Be Moving

Actually, we weren’t planning on moving. But, it looks like those who moved in 2006 have gotten a nasty surprise (subscription):

[County Assessor Karen L.] Montoya said her office also has been hounded by people who bought homes in 2006— roughly 20,000 were sold— and were not aware that home sales take away the 3 percent cap.

She said people have been telling her they wouldn’t have bought their homes if they had known what the property taxes were.

“Sometimes they’re shocked,” she said.

Those homes sold in 2006 are seeing, on average, a 50 percent increase in assessed value, Montoya said.

The result is that someone who has just bought a home might be paying hundreds or thousands more than a neighbor who has lived in the same home for years.

So, how are the people who have stayed in one place making out? Well, I just pulled out my Bernalillo County property tax bill from 2002 and compared it to my 2007 bill. Talk about sticker shock. I am paying 35% more in property tax than I was paying just five short years ago.

Hmm, I don’t seem to be receiving 35% more in services, so exactly how does that work?