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Friday, November 15, 2013

Caldwell v. County Property Taxes

THE GUARDIAN had a nice chat with a friend in the Canyon County Assessor's Office this morning about various property tax levy rates.  The short version is best explained using the "net taxable value" of $100k on a home in the city v. the county.

The taxes due on average in the city of Caldwell come to $26 per $1,000.00 of net taxable value.  In the county they are $15 per $1,000.00 of net taxable value.

Caldwell property taxpayer would have to pay $2,600.00 in property taxes.
County property taxes would be $1,500.00 for the same net taxable value of $100k.  The difference is a significant 42% between the two properties with the very same net taxable values.

Another interesting piece of information is the homeowner exemption is no longer 50% up to $100k but is different each year and is a maximum of $82k this year.  The Legislature changed the law under the radar of homeowners several years ago.  It changes every year based on some arcane formula county assessors even have a problem understanding. 

12 comments:

  1. It's called duplication of services already being provided by the county but the city wants to control. Why does Caldwell have to have it's own Police Department which pays higher wages than the County Police Department? Maybe the city should close down some of these duplicate services and reduce the city tax rate. Of course this will increase the county tax rate but it wont be as much as what the city is charging now. In some areas they call that combining and going metro. Just a thought....

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    1. And, you forgot to point out that Nampa Police Officers make more compensation than Caldwell or County officers.

      This is partly due to the pandering by Nampa Mayor Tom Dale to the Nampa PD and its bloated hierarchy and bloated officers, as well as its obese budget.

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    2. I hope that Team Bob Henry trims the budget, and cuts the fat in the public safety arena.

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    3. It would also be a good idea for Tom's team to follow him right out of City Hall's doors this coming January.

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  2. It makes no sense to have county and city police departments all across this valley. I we went at police, fire and ambulance costs as a unified tax supported Public Safety Entity and the costs shared by all property owners it would save a lot of money and duplication of effort. If we had a metro approach the people in these various services would have promotional opportunities, there would be less job hopping for a couple of bucks an hour, and better service to those paying the bills.

    Additionally this could also apply to jail services across the valley, dispatch services, and the list goes on and on but it will never happen due to the inherent lack of cooperation between cities and counties. The largest revenue eating things are police and fire in local cities. And the question I ask myself is do city people get better services than those in the county.

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  3. Normally, cities give discounts to early payers. For example, if you plan to pay for the whole due for the following year, you can pay as early as November-december of the current year so you'll get a discount. This does not hold for all cities - so visit your municipal hall to make sure. visit property records

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    1. Just a footnote to the above comment... there is no discount for early payment of property taxes in Idaho. You can pay it all in full or in two separate payments. I just pay it all up front and don't worry about the June installment as it is very easily overlooked and penalties are assessed for late tax payments.

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  4. What really ticks me off is the fact that I live in a neighborhood that is up to date with all the fire codes on the books and is virtually crime free and yet all my property taxes got for fire and police costs. Too bad there isn't a way to apportion costs for these services to the areas that place demands for them.

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  5. KB says,
    Just a thought….the tax difference between the two properties is $1100, which 42% of the highest tax rate, but in reality this same $1100 is a whopping $73% increase over the lower tax rate.

    I used to quote the tax difference in Nampa as being 66% after annexation with the newly fleeced’ only benefit being a Library Card. I will change my quote to the 73% figure from now on.


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  6. Can some erudite Nampa citizen or Nampa PD notwithstanding educate me on the reasons that Nampa PD officers and straw bosses make so much more than County officers and sheriff and Caldwell officers and management??

    I will be waiting breathlessly................and waiting............

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  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. I am scared to do our taxex. We always owe. It needs to be though and we will probably hit it this weekend. Good job on the expenses for the party! I bet it looks great.

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