Question Regarding Property Taxes

[shadow42]

We are planning to move to Edmond from southern California in early 2008. My question relates to property taxes. Here in CA, there is a cap on how much annually your property taxes can increase....no more than two percent. Your property tax is calculated based upon your purchase price and will increase each yr by 2%. How does it work in OK???

[windowphobe]

There's a cap law here, but it's different.

Let's say you owned a $200k house in the city of Edmond, within the Edmond school district. The taxable value of this house is $22k (11 percent statewide); at the 2007 millage rate (104.47) the annual taxes would be $2298.34.

First thing you do in 2008 is file for homestead exemption ($1000 off taxable value).

Let's say the house appreciates 10 percent in a year's time, to $220,000. The basis for computing taxable value, under the cap law, cannot appreciate more than 5 percent, so next year's taxes will be figured on a maximum of $210,000, meaning taxable value will be $23,100, minus $1000 for the homestead exemption (which remains in place so long as you live in this house), or $22,100. The actual millage may vary and is not subject to the cap; however, millages seldom go up much, and indeed the 2007 millage in this area is almost unchanged from 1998. The cap remains in place so long as there is no change in ownership or any substantial improvements (say, adding more rooms) to the property.

In 2009, if the place is worth $240,000, the maximum basis is $210,000 (the 2008 figure) plus 5 percent = $220,500. The gap continues to increase year after year.

The Oklahoma County Assessor has a page explaining all this:
Oklahoma County Assessor 5% Valuation Help