Thursday, July 2, 2009

Honolulu Property Taxes Going Up. Still Low Compared to Mainland

BAD NEWS: The City & County of Honolulu have decided to raise our property taxes from $3.29 per $1,000 of assessed value to $3.42 per $1,000 of assessed value...
GOOD NEWS: This is still one of the lowest property tax rates in the nation! For example, if the city says your home is worth $1 Million, your annual property taxes would be $3,420 per year vs. $3,290 at previous rates. This is a fraction of many mainland U.S. cities. Most places in California pay 1-1.2% of assessed value. And in Austin, TX the tax rate is 3% of assessed value.. So, for the same $1 million assessment in CA, your annual property taxes would be between $10,000 to $12,000 per year. In Austin, they’d be $30,000 per year! That is a big difference! The catch in Austin, however is there’s no income tax & no corporate tax…
Another bright spot in this slower market is property assessments are actually coming down, making your net taxes actually less than the increase in the rate. Unfortunately, that won’t last forever.