Hang onto your wallets; it’s going to be a bumpy ride

In August, we all got those dreaded letters from the city assessor--those letters that shockingly alerted us to how much our property increased in value. Mine initially increased about 39%. But not to worry about my taxes going up significantly, because, “The revaluation will result in a higher tax base and a proportionately reduced tax rate.” the assessor’s letter stated. The letter goes on to say, “A revaluation is an equalization process used to establish uniformity in assessments throughout the community. It is done to eliminate inequities that may exist and to insure that you are only paying your fair share of the costs of operating the City, County, Technical College and the School District. The budgets for most taxing jurisdictions will not be established until later in the year, so it is not possible at this time to project the tax rate that will be applied to the new valuations.”

Well, isn’t that convenient? No tax rate numbers available at the time of the new assessment notice. No hint as to what our new assessment will mean come Dec. 31st when taxes are due. We are led to believe, since everyone is reassessed, that there will not be much of difference in our total tax bill. But now the budget numbers are trickling in , and I am getting a sick feeling in my stomach (or should I say wallet?).

Cindy Kilkenny just posted what these new budget numbers will mean to us*. No matter how the mayor tries to spin this one (Matt, did I find a RINO?); we are going to be paying a lot more in taxes. Why? Because we are spending too much! (I know how we could save $18 million, just eliminate Calhoun’s widening and keep the fire stations where they are! I can’t even think about the high schools.) Notice that all that development is not saving us any money; it just costs us in increased taxes and decreased quality of life. (See last third of posting--I was one of the 40%, Shawn.)

* Since my home is of similar value to the mayors, as my intuition suggested I will need the Pepto-Bismol come Dec. 31st. The argument that a higher assessment is good for increased resale values does not hold for people like me, who plan on staying in their homes until the nursing home. As it looks now, my tax bill is close to equaling my mortgage payment. This does not bode well for someone wanting to retire here.


LINKS: www.betterbrookfield.com and www.brookfieldnow.com

You may wish to check out www.newberlinnow.com too. It looks like blogger Matt Thomas will touch on Brookfield, county, and state issues from time to time.