Ultimate Bucks County Real Property Tax Guide for 2024
Guide Overview
Studying this guide, you’ll acquire a useful sense of real estate taxes in Bucks County and what you should be aware of when your property’s appraised value is set. Should you already be a resident, planning on it, or perhaps planning to invest in Bucks County, read on to gain a sense of what to look forward to.
Average Property Tax Rate in Bucks County
Bucks County Property Taxes Range
Bucks County Property Taxes Range
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You May Be Charged an Unfair Property Tax Amount
You may not know that your real property tax is too high compared to your house’s true market value. Not surprising though when presumed alike properties in neighborhoods are assigned the same fair market value predicated upon just a few — again presumed — similar properties’ appraised values. Also, assessors’ offices could make errors. Even so there is a process to protest the fairness of your tax levy and have it lowered in the event it’s an overstatement of tax.
If you’ve recently refinanced, scan for mistaken duplicate levies. Study your real estate billing statement carefully. Such tax assessments are accessible for everyone to see on the Internet. Compare your real estate’s estimated worth with like property in your community while taking special note of recent sales. Plus think about the likely impact of current market trends on home prices generally.
If you suspect there’s been an overassessment of your tax bill, don’t delay. If you can’t decide whether a protest is a waste of time or not, rely on professionals to determine whether to appeal. There are companies able to contest levies on your behalf without risk, no upfront expense. Further details later.
What Is a Tax Protest Procedure?
When you believe that your property tax levy is too high, you are allowed to protest the value. Your protest has to be filed in the county where the real estate is situated.
You can find the required appeal process and the forms on the county’s website or at the county tax office. Prior to starting, be certain you understand the requirements for filling out the documents and preparing your appeal. If you omit necessary information or forget a filing time limit, your protest could be kicked out or sent back to you to finish.
Your tax notice will provide you with a time frame in which you can file your protest. Make sure that you start preparing your filing quickly so that you don’t run out of time.
It’s important that you receive a copy of the complete assessment report from the county. The report might determine whether or not you have a valid argument. If the calculation method was not executed properly or inappropriate comparison properties were used, you might have a compelling argument for a reassessment.
If you submit a complete presentation with corroborating documentation, the county may decide without making you proceed with an official protest. Otherwise, you will be required to attend a review board and submit your case in detail. The panel will only be concerned with seeing evidence that the valuation is inaccurate and nothing else. Excessive real property tax rates and rapid property value growth in your community are not valid reasons to appeal.
If you are dissatisfied with the county’s decision, you may appeal to a state board or panel. In case of litigation, it may make sense to get help from one of the best property tax attorneys in Bucks County PA.
Any property owner can protest a property tax assessment. Prior to doing so, consider what the assessment actually does to your yearly real property tax bill. Carefully determine your actual property tax applying any tax exemptions that you are allowed to have. Typical real estate value appreciation will not boost your annual bill sufficiently to make a protest worthwhile.
How to Get Your Taxes Reduced for Free?
Often advisors doing these appeals charge commission on a contingent basis. Service charges are based upon a percentage of any taxes cut by your specialist. No savings in taxes means they receive no pay.
They’ll go over existing levies, conduct further detailed evaluations, look for opportunities for exemptions, examine tax rolls for mistakes, file challenges before attending conferences, and plan legal actions when needed. Exemptions especially have often been a fertile area for adding missing ones and retaining any being questioned.
Two customary approaches for assessment do-overs are most often used to support protests. Typically, on appeal your re-evaluation will rest on a “sales comparison” or an “unequal appraisal”. While both done in one community, sales comparisons rely on current sale prices while unequal appraisals show similar properties’ appraised values mismatches.
Community unaffiliated appraisal companies that specialize in complete appraisals often use the sales comparison approach. Often a prerequisite, entire reevaluations are conducted personally. As a thorough re-examination performed by an appraiser licensed by the state, its re-evaluations are widely accepted at face-value. It cannot be passed over without performing a new thorough assessment re-examination. E.g., four local comparable buildings sold for $1M recently, however the subject property with $100K in wind damage now has a $900K adjusted valuation.
Major tax specialty firms frequently employ unequal appraisal statistics even if existing market values aren’t out of line. Community-wide these consultants initially group like properties of relatively equal assessed value together. Next, a match of those properties’ tax billing amounts is completed. Properties having a mismatch with tax assessed being 10 percent or more over the sampling’s median level will be pinpointed for more analysis. Note that rather than a fixed service fee, clients usually pay on a contingency basis — only if there’s a tax saving.
Select a tax professional meeting your needs in the list of the best property tax protest companies in Bucks County PA.
How Does Bucks County Real Estate Tax Work?
Given authority by the state, municipal governments manage property taxation. Generally taxing districts’ tax levies are consolidated under one bill from the county. Collections are then distributed to related taxing units per an allocation agreement. Along with collections, property taxation involves two more general functions which are creating property tax levies and carrying out appraisals.
Accorded by Pennsylvania law, the government of your city, public hospitals, and thousands of other special units are authorized to evaluate real property market value, establish tax rates, and levy the tax. Authorized as legal governmental entities, they’re administered by elected officials or appointees. Such districts, e.g. public schools and hospitals, serve a specified region, i.e. a county, township, school district, et al.
Pennsylvania statutory rules and regulations have to be observed in the city’s conduct of taxation. All real estate not exempted should be taxed equally and uniformly on one present market worth basis. Taxpayer’s rights to timely notification of rate raises are also obligatory.
The city establishes tax levies all within Pennsylvania statutory rules. Left to the county, however, are appraising real estate, issuing billings, performing collections, implementing compliance, and dealing with complaints.
Bucks County carries out real estate appraisals for cities and special purpose governmental units. The state also has instituted rules that county officers are obliged to conform to in analyzing real property. This is to ensure property appraisals are mostly performed equitably. This is a prime place to look carefully for estimation unevenness and mistakes.
Within the U.S., three ways for determining real estate worth dominate (with differing versions). The Sales Comparison methodology involves contrasting recent like properties’ selling prices in the same locale. An Income Method for commercial buildings and land weighs the ensuing lease income to determine present market worth. One version of the Cost method adds major improvement expenses to the original commercial property investment while subtracting allowable depreciation.
A county appraiser normally reassesses your property’s market value once every three years at least. A reviewed market value is then taken times a composite levy from all taxing entities together to set tax due. These taxing units include cities, county, school, and various special purpose districts such as water treatment plants, athletic parks, and educational facilities.
Who and How Determines Bucks County Property Tax Rates?
State constitutional rules dictate fair real estate market values be established by counties. Any revenue ramification of that estimate cannot be a component in this procedure.
State law mandates all property be appraised anew at least once in a few years. Usually new evaluations utilize a sweeping strategy applied to all alike property in the same locality without separate property visits. Absent single home tours and notice of the house’s defects, for example serious wind damage, those tax cutting outliers may be lost.
Appraisers started by creating a descriptive catalogue of all non-exempt real estate, aka tax rolls. This roll describes by address all properties within a specific neighborhood. After being constructed, structures were grouped by such characteristics as structure design, square footage, and age. Property age and location were also considerations allowing assessors to group units and collectively attach estimated market values. These days, without a new checkup, using often outdated, possibly inaccurate data — with only recent property sales figures being updated — assessors have to rely on those collectively assigned estimated market worth.
These general guidelines are made mandatory to ensure even-handed property market value evaluations. It’s easy to imagine, however, that with this sweeping process, distortions of omission and commission are likely! Often this is a fertile area to uncover appeal grounds!
With a total assessed taxable market value determined, a city’s budget office can now determine needed tax rates. As computed, a composite tax rate times the market worth total will produce the county’s entire tax burden and include individual taxpayer’s share. Thus it’s primarily all about budgeting, first setting an annual expenditure total. After which it’s a matter of determining what combined tax rate is required to balance that budget. Theoretically, expected total tax receipts should equal forecasted expenses.
Counties, cities, school districts, special purpose districts, like water treatment plants and others, make up hundreds such governmental entities in Pennsylvania. All of them independently set what tax rate is required to cover their planned expenses. Under the county level, almost all local governments have arranged for Bucks County to assess and collect taxes.
The budget/tax rate-setting process generally entails customary public hearings to discuss tax rates and related budgetary considerations. Further, note that by law, taxpayers’ can petition for a public vote if any proposed rate increases exceed a specified ceiling.
In imposing its tax rate, the city is mandated to respect the state Constitution. Tax levies must not be increased prior to notifying the public. Then a public hearing on any proposed raise must take place before it occurs.
If Bucks County property taxes have been too high for your wallet resulting in delinquent property tax payments, a possible solution is getting a quick property tax loan from lenders in Bucks County PA to save your home from a looming foreclosure.
What Are Bucks County Real Estate Taxes Used For?
Property taxes are the main source of funds for your city and the rest of local governmental units. Along with Bucks County, they count on real property tax revenues to perform their public services.
These are some of the public services most local governments ordinarily support. Again, real property taxes are the largest way your city pays for them, including over half of all district school financing. All other service categories, including safety, health, parks, buses/rail, and water/sanitation facilities, benefit from similar fiscal support.
A big chunk of property tax revenues goes to district schools. Wages and benefits for government workers also represent a large expenditure. Residents’ protection with police and fire departments is a big draw on the budget, also. Then you have road construction and various other public transportation needs. Water and sewage treatment stations lead the way in sanitation concerns, as well as hospitals in healthcare. Another group is public recreation resources, like athletic courts, and various entertainment areas. No secret that with such amount of duties, it’s a huge tax bill!
How Are Property Taxes Handled at Closing in Bucks County?
Normally full-year property levies are remitted upfront when the year starts. Then who pays property taxes at closing when it takes place mid-year? When buying a house, ownership shifts from the former owner to the new owner. Likewise, tax responsibility goes with the ownership transfer. They repay the previous owners at the point ownership transfers.
Typically, it’s not a proportional tax reimbursement paid directly to former owners, however. Rather, they’ll be included with other obligations of the buyer at closing.