Interesting. Thanks for the clarification. Doesn't work like that here... if
you make improvements or the market value increases for whatever reason,
your property taxes go up. If you think I like this, you'd be wrong. :-)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Peter" wrote in message
ups.com...

Capt. JG wrote:
When you live on expensive property, you pay property tax mostly based on
the market value (assessment). Is this not the case where you live?

Actually this may be one of the differences between the USA and
Australia. The short answer is, no, or not in the same way. I pay local
govt taxes based on the unimproved capital value of my property. These
are flat rate and are used to fund services such as roads, garbage
collection, libraries etc. There are discounts for people on pensions.
I pay no taxes on improvements to the place. In some states you also
pay land tax if it's not used for farming or is your principal place of
residence. I was horrified when a friend of mine in Fla told me his tax
assessment would go up if he put in a concrete slab instead of crushed
gravel workshop floor. We don't have that sort of crap.

There are no property taxes on boats etc so the crap you guys go thru
picking the cheapest state to keep a boat in is a bit of a joke really.
I hope our clowns never figure that one out.

PDW