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Breaking NEWS!!! Colorado Springs Home Buyer Tax Credit Extened!!!
The Homebuyer Tax Credit bill has passed both chambers of Congress and will be signed into law by the President tomorrow, November 6, 2009.
Here is a summary of the changes:
The expiration date for the credit will now be April 30, 2010. First-time buyers who have not had interest in a principal residence for three years are still eligible, and the maximum amount remains the same $8,000 for married couples, $4,000 for those filing separately.
NEW !!! Current homeowners, who have consecutively maintained the home they want to sell as their primary residence for five of the last eight years, are also eligible. However, the maximum amount for those homeowners is lower: $6,500 for married couples and $3,200 for those filing separately.
The tax credit may not used to purchase a home for more than $800,000. All buyers who want to get the credit must include documentation of the purchase on their tax returns.
The income limits for both tax credits have been raised to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for married couples.
Jay Carden | RE/MAX Properties, Inc | 719-322-4939
5855 Drifter, Colorado Springs, CO
Stucco in Sierra Ridge with 3 Car Garage and Custom Deck
4BR/4BA Single Family House
offered at $299,900
Year Built
1999
Sq Footage
2,996
Bedrooms
4
Bathrooms
4 full, 0 partial
Floors
2
Parking
Unspecified
Lot Size
6,050 sqft
HOA/Maint
$20 per month
DESCRIPTION
Beautiful semi-custom home. Features include: Hardwood flooring, custom 2 tier Trex deck, patio, kitchen island, designer painting, built-in's, 5 piece master bath. Other custom upgrades include tile roof, 3 car gargae, stucco, all appliances, walkout finished basement. Enjoy the master retreat with extra sitting room and 5 pc bath with a huge soaker tub. Great city views and private parks and pool. Amazing house in a great area, rare find. Hurry this one will go quick.
Are you Kidding me??? Where has my America gone, oh yeah, to the lawyers. Win elections with money and courts, kill small business with the courts and taxes. I am calling for a boycott of the big business model. Since when did one of these big businesses do something good? Oh wait, they employ a few hundred sorry soles that in a few weeks could all be out in the cold while the lawyers and CEO's of said businesses are fat and happy.
I am totally for capitalism and serving the public with a good or service. I am happy to see people prosper and grow. I cannot stand by and watch small businesses such as this one get clobbered by legal costs for taking NOTHING away from the sales of their ONE BEER!!! You honestly think that Rock Art brewery in Vermont is competing against anything that Monster Energy drink could produce? I don't think so. At most 100,000 people might have heard about Rock Art and this one line of beer. I guess NO ONE can use the word Monster. CRAZY.
FIRST-TIME BUYERS: A lively RE/MAX video, accessible on both YouTube and Agent Training on Demand, illustrates that "RE/MAX Agents Know $8K Tax Credit."
A Realty Times Feature Article by Kenneth R. Harney
Quick passage by the House last week of a bill extending the $8,000 home buyer tax credit next year for military, diplomatic and intelligence personnel serving overseas increases the odds that Congress will agree to an extension, maybe even an expansion, of the entire credit program well into 2010.
The White House is also signaling that it sees the overall tax credit program -- currently set to expire November 30 -- as an important element in cutting the unemployment rolls and stimulating new jobs next year.
After an economic policy strategy meeting last week in the Oval Office involving President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, congressional aides said Democrats generally support an extension of the housing credit.
Reid already has made clear he wants an extension. He is co-sponsoring a Senate bill that would do so for six months.
Congressman Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, sponsored the one-year extension of the credit for military and other personnel serving overseas, and is reported by aides as favoring an extension for the entire program.
The White House has not publicly committed to an extension, but has confirmed that the President is seriously examining that option.
An unexpected development that emerged following last week's White House meeting was the possibility of opening up the credit to a broader group of buyers next year - people who sell their current homes and buy a replacement home.
Though details were scanty, Capitol Hill sources said one option on the table would be to provide a tax credit -- most likely at the $8,000 level -- to replacement home buyers whose incomes do not exceed some limit.
The current credit phases out for single taxpayers with incomes above $75,000, and married purchasers earning $150,000.
A politically sensitive issue hovering over the entire debate on extending the housing tax credit is its cost - what it would add to the federal budgetary deficit. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com, estimates that widening the credit to all buyers through next August could cost the government upwards of $30 billion.
Rangel's 12-month extension of the credit for service personnel is estimated to cost more than $300 million, but it's mainly being paid for through an increase in penalties levied by the IRS on taxpayers who fail to file corporate or partnership returns.
The New York Times reported that one possible solution to the cost problem would be to divert money not yet spent out of 2009's $800 billion stimulus legislation.
Who is worried about higher Taxes in Colorado Springs? I know for me, that is not a huge concern as we pay some of the lowest costs in the nation. We have an amazing parks system and a great life in our area. I want to continue to enjoy this city and I am willing to pay a little more. I think that paying $183 dollars more over 5 years is not going to break my budget. That is a proposal of $18 bucks a year increase. I kind of like having the fire department, police, and parks in my city.
Please think about your quality of life and what it means to spend a few extra dollars. I know that this is a fairest tax that can be levied on EVERYONE!!! Sales taxes punish the richer so join me in Voting Yes on 2C in Colorado Springs.
As most of you have heard, the residents of Colorado Springs will be voting on November 3 about a proposed property tax increase. (The last to register is today, Monday, October 5 and the ballots will be mailed out around October 16.)
Many people are confused about just what this tax increase means, and given the apparently contradictory information that I keep hearing this is no surprise. On the one hand, we hear that they are going to increases the city property tax by 3 times the current rate, and on the other hand they claim it will affect the average homeowner by “only” $200 a year.
It doesn’t even sound like we’re talking about the same tax increase here – so what is the deal? First, let’s see the actual wording from the upcoming ballot – then I’ll explain some key points that will help us make sense of the issue. Your ballot will read:
Shall City taxes be increased (final year $46,000,000) annually by increasing 2009 general property tax 6.00 mills, 1.00 additional mill per year for four years, constituting voter approved revenue change.
1. The Tax Increase is 10 Mills over 5 Years
The above ballot text essentially states that they will raise taxes by 10 mills over 5 years. It is jump-started with a 6 mill increase right away, and followed by 4 years of 1 mill per year increases.
2. Market Value vs. Assessed Value
I’ll use an actual Colorado Springs home located near Tutt and Stetson Hills as an example for the sake of discussion; the county puts the market value of this home at $211,296 which is fairly typical for the area. However, we must multiply this number by the assessment rate of 7.96% to reach theassessed value of $16,320. This is the number we then use to calculate taxes.
3. The Mill Levy – The city property tax is just one portion of your overall tax bill
Next, we take the assessed value and multiply it by the total mill levy. In this case, the mill levy is 0.066542 (or approximately 66 mills) which results in a current tax bill of $1085.96. However, of this $1,085.96 only $80.69 actually goes to directly to the city. The remainder in our example goes to El Paso county, a library district, a water district, school district 49, etc. You can see a breakdown of the mill levy here:
4. The City Portion Would More Than Triple; Your Total Bill Will Not
Since the city only accounts for a portion of the total tax bill, the percentage increase on your total bill will tend to fall somewhere around 15% for most neighborhoods even though the cities portion will more than triple. Using the same home as an example, the tax increase would change the cities portion from $80.69 (4.944 Mills) to $243.89 (14.944 Mills). The total tax bill in our example would increase from $1,085.96 to $1,249.16.
5. Commercial Property Taxes are Affected More than Residential
Of significance, though mostly overlooked, is the affect this will have on commercial property taxes as well. Because of how property taxes are assessed, commercial property taxes will be affected to a much greater extent than residential properties. This is because while the assessment rate for residential is 7.96% the rate for commercial property is 29%. This means the assessed value used for computing taxes is almost 4 times higher for a $200,000 commercial property vs. an identical value residential property.
What do you think? Does the city really need more money? Should they make do with what they have? Will this tax make a tangible impact on quality of like in Colorado Springs for the better? Or for the worse if it doesn’t pass? The city makes their case for the tax hike here. Many sites make a counter argument. The opposing sides have corresponding Facebook fan pages “for” and“against” as well. You can see the mill levy, market value, and assessed value for your property at the El Paso county assessors website.
