Homes Fort Mill SC

2009 property tax rates have been established and tax bills are going out for all cities in York County South Carolina including Clover, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, and Rock Hill. Not surprisingly, several cities have increased property taxes again. There are a few cities where millage rates are flat or actually lower.

Fort Mill and Tega Cay have the largest increase in millage rates. If your property is assessed at a 4% rate (primary residence) your millage rate has increased 10.6% in Fort Mill and 9.5% in Tega Cay. If your property is assessed at 6%, your millage rate increase is approx 7% in both cities. (more…)

It is tax time and you should be receiving your York County, SC property tax bill for tax year 2008. (here is 2009 Milage rate Chart) I know Carmen occasionally receives property tax questions from home buyers so I thought this would be a good time to pass on local property tax information.

So how are home property taxes assessed and calculated in York County SC? Basically your taxes are calculated by multiplying three items which are:

1. An appraised value of your home.
2. An assessment ratio.
3. A city/county millage rate.

The sum of these three items equals what you owe in home property taxes.

The county re-assesses home values every 5 years. If you purchased your home recently the county may assess the value of your home based on the current sale or transaction value. But if no changes have occurred on your property like a sale or deed change the next re-assessment will be 2010.

Here is good news with bad. In 2007, the state passed a tax swap bill that cut the school taxes assessed on home property taxes but increased the states sales tax to make up the loss. Click here to see my tax swap post last December. Many of you had a property tax reduction on your tax bill last year that continues this year. But many cities in York County increased millage rates this year. Here is a quick millage rate increase comparison.

Below I took the info from the York County Tax Assessors website and slightly modified the explanation and updated the example calculations. Pay special attention to the assement ratio information. Many new home owners do not apply for the special assessment ratio and end up paying too much tax.

How to Estimate Real Estate Taxes
Assessment Ratio Information:
1. If you live in the home you own, the assessment ratio is 4%. You will not receive the special assessment ratio under “Primary Residence” unless you apply with York County. You can call the Assessor’s Office to obtain an application form or download the form on the county web site www.yorkcountygov.com.

2. All other properties will be assessed at 6%, except for manufacturing properties which are assessed at 10.5%.

Millage Rates are determined yearly by various taxing authorities, such as the County Government, the City Government, the School Districts and all Fire Districts. (See 2008 millage rate chart.) (see York County 2009 milage rates)

Tax Amount is the final dollar amount that appears on your real estate tax bill.

The formula to calculate your Home’s Property Taxes is:
Appraised Value x Assessment Ratio x Millage Rate = Taxes

Following are examples of how to estimate taxes:
(A) All properties that qualify for the 4% owner occupied/legal residence rate. Multiply the appraised value by 4% to determine the assessment. Then multiply the assessment by the millage rate for total taxes.

Example: $100,000 property in the City of Fort Mill
$100,000 x 4% x 0.2016 = $806.40

Example: $100,000 property in the City of Tega Cay
$100,000 x 4% x 0.2036 = $814.40 (more…)

The Tega Cay city council is working on transferring $320,000 from the Parks and Recreation budget to finish the Glennon Center. Residents passed a $3.1 million bond in 2006 for the new center. But because of rising construction costs the bond amount fell short of the actual construction costs and the city needs more cash to complete the center. (more…)

I don’t hear much talk from home owners about the South Carolina property tax cut that went into effect fall 2007. Carmen and I were happy after looking at our lower property tax bill a few months ago. I did a Google search today and found  a couple articles about the tax cut. Mike Terry, a Mount Pleasant real estate agent, had a blog post about the tax cut or should I say tax swap. Here is a portion of his post:

South Carolina Homeowners get a tax cut
Posted at Charleston’s Home Port by Mike Terry
Sep. 4, 2007

WHAT THE TAX SWAP MEANS TO YOU
A recent study by the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University analyzed how the tax swap a 1-cent-a-dollar increase in the state’s sales tax to pay for property tax relief on owner-occupied homes would affect homeowners and renters. Here’s what the study concluded:

Most homeowners will pay less in taxes. The increase in the amount of sales tax for most homeowners will be less than the property tax relief they’ll get.

All renters will pay more in taxes. Rental housing does not qualify for property tax relief under the bill. But everyone, renters included, will pay more in sales taxes.

Homeowners in school districts with higher property tax rates will receive more tax relief than those with lower tax rates.

Homeowners with modest incomes and modest homes will benefit less than homeowners with higher incomes and more expensive homes.

Click to read more of Mike Terry’s blog post about the tax cut.

I found another article (more…)