Here's How Much I Pay in Ankeny Property Taxes
I want to share with you my taxes in Ankeny in an effort to be transparent. My primary residence pays $3,276 annually for taxes. We also still own the first home we lived in here in Ankeny and the taxes on it are $1,492. Additionally my son owns the building his business is in here in Ankeny and the taxes there are $18,496. (Source: Polk County Assessors Office)
I can assure you I AM VERY CONCERNED about property taxes in Ankeny. If being liberal means I care about people and their quality of life – then I’m a liberal.
I can also assure you that this farm kid fully understands the fiscal side of life and won’t spend a nickel without knowing why and what benefit it will have to the good of all. I can proudly say that in my four years of service as a county supervisor we did not raise the levy once!
My experience will be an asset to this community. I have learned over the years to not make promises without having all the facts and if elected, I will ask questions, I will listen to all citizens and I do care about the future of our community.
Kurt B.
6:51 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
It seems like there is a lot of chatter on Patch about the tax situation in Ankeny , which I ( like many others ) believe is way too high. ( as well as the car tag fee structure, which needs to be addressed by someone ). Maybe, since probably most of us have no idea what all of the services are that we are paying for, maybe someone can summarize what it is we are paying for. Then, maybe we can start paring things down and reducing taxes. Also, when I looked at my most recent tax bill, I see that 6.77% has gone to Broadlawns Hospital. What is up with that ?
Bottom line is : reduce property taxes ; reduce the size of government.
Mona Bond
8:18 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Kurt I will attempt to explain the property tax levy. I hear your concern - what do you feel would be an appropriate amount to pay for property taxes that provide current services? The car tag fee is determined by the Iowa Legislature (contact your legislators). Broadlawns Hospital is the county hospital, available to all Polk County residents. (Contact the County Supervisors) The following information is from the Polk County Assessors website:
Tax Distribution by Authority is the % of distribution is where your tax dollar goes. The amounts you see in the left column are from my personal property and used only as an example.
Taxing Authority % of Total Current Year Prior Year
Ankeny Community School 48.87094 729.15 747.16
City of Ankeny 25.92287 386.77 373.70
Polk County 15.79505 235.67 227.99
Broadlawns Hospital 6.77717 101.12 97.67
Area XI College 1.36888 20.42 18.73
Ankeny Regional Transit .60072 8.96 8.12
County Assessor .57122 8.52 9.31
Agricultural Extension .08573 1.28 1.21
State of Iowa .00742 .11 .11
I hope you find this helpful. I would also ask for your vote on August 14th. My experience will be a benefit to you on the council.
Kurt B.
8:53 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Since I don't know what all the services are, tough to say what I would cut out.
I have looked up the taxes on some of the other houses around Ankeny and I ran across one of the high-end homes that paid just 1.6 % taxes , based on assessed value. I calculated mine and it was 2.1 % Then, I applied the 1.6% figure top mine and it came into the range that I thought was much more reasonable, based on what I have seen around the country.
A friend of mine lives in the southwest and he purchased his home in '98. His taxes remain constant until the home is sold, then it becomes adjusted upward to the new owner. His house is valued roughly the same as mine and he pays about 1/3 of what I pay. This is not a total apples-to-apples comparison, but it does tend to show that we are much too high around here ( even msn dot com comments from time to time on the high taxes in Iowa )
Regarding the car tag fee, the state has made some unfriendly changes there in the past couple of years. The typical cars value declines in value every year hence, the tag fee should follow it somewhat. To have a high tag fee , and it remain constant for 10 years ( maybe it is 12 years now ..... I haven't purchased a car in a while ) is just not right. So, the taxing people are getting us on both ends. Property taxes too high and car tag fees too high.
Megan VerHelst
9:58 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Just a heads-up — the numbers in Mona's comment were a part of a chart. They didn't format correctly, so they can be found attached to the article as a photo.