Property Tax Info and Appeals

Second half property taxes are just around the corner and with them, so is your Truth in Taxation statements.

Truth in Taxation gives you a run-down of where your property tax dollars are being spent and gives you an opportunity tomake your voice heard if you don't agree with how the government is spending your property taxes.

Arguing How Tax $$$ are Spent
On your truth in Taxation statement, you'll be given a date/time and a place to attend a meeting to make your voice heard on how your taxes are spent. Don't miss this chance. Look over your statement which you'll receive in the beginning of November and attend one of the meetings if you don't agree with anything you see.

Homestead Taxes
You may notice a change on your statement with homestead taxes. As you know, we get a reduction in our property taxes of up to $400 when we file homestead (our primary residence). In the past, the state has re-imbursed the cities for the tax credit. However, for the past several years, the state has not re-imbursed the cities for this tax credit. So... the cities are now calling this a Market Value Exclusion or a Homestead Market Value Exclusion. Tax-wise the impact on our property taxes will be the same. Where the difference lies is many non-homestead property taxes will go up to pay for this tax reduction we are getting.

Property Tax Appeals
In the spring (March?), you will receive a notice in the mail of your proposed 2013 property taxes. With this notice, you will also receive instructions on how to appeal your property taxes if you feel they are incorrect.

For more info, you can go to Maple Grove's website or you can call Hennepin County at 612-348-3011.

By The Numbers (real estate market summary)

Thanks to everyone for your interest and your questions. Based on the feedback and questions I have received, I will be posting a monthly article, on/about the 1st of the month, that includes a snapshot of our neighborhood real estate activity. This is the first of those articles.
Year-to-date, 14 homes have sold in our neighborhood with an average sale price of $159,610 and an average time to sale of 144 days. Additionally, there are seven homes on the market currently and nine homes have failed to sell. The table and map below show this in more detail.

Click here to see the listings (note that this link will expire in November).

Note that the green dots represent homes that are for sale, the yellow homes that have sold but not yet closed, red are homes that have sold and closed and black are homes that failed to sell.

Don't hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or comments:
SteveHoem@edinarealty.com or (612) 207-3311