Ultimate Union County Real Property Tax Guide for 2024
Guide Overview
With our resource, you can learn helpful facts about Union County property taxes and get a better understanding of what to plan for when you have to pay the bill. If you are contemplating taking up residence there or only planning to invest in the county’s real estate, you’ll learn whether the county’s property tax statutes are well suited for you or you’d prefer to search for an alternative locale.
Average Property Tax Rate in Union County
Union County Property Taxes Range
Union County Property Taxes Range
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You May Be Charged an Unfair Property Tax Amount
You may be unaware that your real estate levy is an overassessment in relation to your house’s fair market value. Not surprising though when assumed similar properties in locales are appraised at the same fair market value based upon only a few — again presupposed — comparable properties’ estimated values. Then there’s the human factor, i.e. misjudgments are inescapable. Fortunately, you have the right to protest, and with favorable evidence presented on time, your amount can be lowered.
If you’ve recently refinanced, look for erroneous double levies. It’s crucial to analyze your tax assessment scrupulously. Every bill is accessible to all viewers online. Compare your home’s appraised value with similar real estate – particularly with just sold in your neighborhood. In addition consider the likely significance of present-day market trends on real estate prices overall.
Even if you’re conflicted whether or not your assessment is overstated, act without delay. A slam dunk or conflicted whether to go ahead with an appeal or not, don’t fret. There are appeal firms standing by to handle your challenge that only charge on a percentage of any tax decreases. More information to follow.
What Is a Tax Protest Procedure?
When you think that your property tax valuation is excessive, you have the right to contest the valuation. Union County is the one that evaluated the real estate and it will consider your appeal.
Union County tax office and their website provide the rules, procedures, and filing forms that you need. Take your time going over all the regulations before you start. If you omit mandatory information or overlook a submission deadline, your protest will be dismissed or returned to you for completion.
Your tax notice will give you a time period within which you are allowed to hand in your protest. Be certain that you start preparing your submission immediately so that you don’t run out of time.
It’s crucial that you get a copy of the entire assessment report from the county. The valuation report could be the critical factor in the success of your appeal. If the tax assessor made errors, like contrasting your property with the wrong properties, you will have strong reasons to appeal.
If you submit a detailed presentation with supporting proof, the county might make a decision without making you go through an official protest. If not, you might be required to make a detailed presentation to the county review board. Your appeal will hinge on proving that your real estate’s tax value is wrong. High property tax rates and rapid real property value increases in your community are not legitimate reasons to appeal.
The posted rules should outline how you can protest the county’s judgement at the state level if you believe it is still incorrect. If the process requires litigation, you may need help from one of the best property tax attorneys in Union County PA.
Objecting to your real estate tax assessment is your right. However, the time it takes to go through an appeal may not be appropriate if the appraisal hike does not boost your bill significantly. Thoroughly calculate your actual real property tax including any exemptions that you are qualified to have. Then ask yourself if the size of the increase justifies the work it will take to challenge the assessment.
How to Get Your Taxes Reduced for Free?
You pay only based upon a tax saving when you use appeal firms on a contingent fee basis. Such an arrangement means the fee you are billed is limited to a percentage of any tax savings. In the event of no savings, you pay nothing!
Appeal firms are motivated to fully investigate your assessment, prepare for and participate in hearings, ferret out mistakes, locate missing exemptions, and prepare for any court involvement. They’re particularly proactive on exemption matters, which have proven to be complex and at times result in legal involvement.
On appeal, two approaches are often employed for re-calculating proposed appraised values. They’re known as “sales comparisons” and “unequal appraisals”. Сarried out locally, sales comparisons set market value using present sale prices while unequal appraisals disclose alike properties having disproportionately high appraised values.
Local unaffiliated appraisal companies that focus on onsite appraisals often employ the sales comparison process. Frequently mandatory, complete reappraisals are conducted personally. Undertaken by State-licensed appraisers, such reassessments are almost beyond dispute. Modifications can only follow from, once again, a whole re-assessment. Let’s say four area similar homes sold for $1M recently, however the disputed property with $100K in wind damage now has a $900K revised value.
The unequal appraisal practice is utilized to expose opportunities for tax savings even if estimated values don’t exceed current market values. Locally these consultants first group similar properties of relatively equal assessed value together. Next comes a comparison of these real properties’ respective tax levy amounts within each group. Many times a resulting tax assessed disparities that’s 10% or more over the sampling’s median level will be reviewed. These firms customarily charge clients based on a percentage of any tax decrease in place of fixed, out-of-pocket charges.
Find a firm that works best for you in this directory of the best property tax protest companies in Union County PA.
How Does Union County Real Estate Tax Work?
Given rights by the state, municipal governmental entities conduct real estate taxation. Most often, the taxes are levied under one assessment from the county. Each unit then is given the assessed amount it levied. Along with collections, real estate taxation involves two additional overarching functions: creating property tax rates and handling assessments.
Counties and cities plus thousands of special purpose districts possess taxing authority accorded by state law. Authorized as legal public entities, they’re controlled by elected officials or appointed officers. These entities work within defined geographic boundaries, e.g. an agricultural preserve or hospital district.
A city’s real estate tax regulations should comply with Pennsylvania constitutional rules and regulations. All property not exempted has to be taxed equally and consistently at current values. Taxpayers must also be given a timely notification of rate rises.
While maintaining statutory restrictions prescribed by statute, the city creates tax rates. Reserved for the county, however, are appraising property, sending out bills, making collections, implementing compliance, and handling complaints.
Real estate assessments are performed by the county. Pennsylvania also enacted guidelines that county officials must observe in valuing real property. Uniformity in estimating real property statewide is the goal. Here, potentially misapplied evaluating methodologies and simple mistakes are often rich areas for appeals.
With many versions, there are three basic appraisal approaches for estimating a home’s value. A Sales Comparison valuation is set by comparing a property with like properties sold not long ago in the same locality. The Income Approach is predicated upon how much rental revenue likely could be produced from income-producing property. One variation of the Cost method adds significant improvement expenses to the initial commercial real property investment while subtracting allowable depreciation.
An assessor from the county’s office sets your property’s value. That amount is multiplied by the established tax levy which is the sum of all applicable governmental taxing-authorized districts’ levies. They range from the county to city, school district, and various special purpose entities such as water treatment plants, water parks, and property maintenance facilities.
Who and How Determines Union County Property Tax Rates?
County appraisers are mandated by the Pennsylvania constitution to establish real estate market values. These evaluations have to be set with no regard for revenue hits.
Under the state code, reexaminations must be done on a regular basis. Ordinarily, a sweeping appraisal strategy is employed with that same methodology applied en masse to similar property classes. Without individual property visits, unique property characteristics, possibly affecting property’s market value, are passed over.
In the past, when new properties were constructed, appraisers compiled descriptive tax rolls. The rolls held a description of all properties by address. Properties were classified based upon various features, like size, use, and construction type. Other details such as age and area were also factored in when assembling these groups by class, which then had market values assigned en masse. At present, without another visit, armed with often old, possibly inaccurate descriptions — with only recent property sales figures being up-to-date — assessors must rely upon those collectively affixed estimated market values.
Determined by Pennsylvania law, this procedure is created to apportion the tax burden in an even way statewide with balanced property tax levies. It’s easy to imagine, however, that because of this sweeping methodology, miscalculations of omission and commission are a near certainty! Many times this is a fertile territory to identify protest grounds!
With a total appraised taxable market worth recorded, a city’s budget office can now calculate needed tax rates. A composite rate will generate anticipated total tax receipts and also reflect your assessment total. So it’s primarily all about budgeting, first setting a yearly expenditure total. Then they compute the tax rates sufficient to equal those budgeted expenditures. In theory, at least total revenue should equal the fund required for all previewed operations that year.
Pennsylvania has multiple local governments, including counties and special districts such as schools, hospitals, and sewer treatment districts. They all independently set what tax rate is required to cover their planned spendings. Under a combined tax bill, almost all sub-county entities contract for the county to bill and collect the tax on their behalf.
Both regularly planned and impromptu public hearings usually play a prominent role in this budgetary routine. Keep in mind that under state law, taxpayers can call for a vote on proposed rate hikes over set limits.
The city has to observe dictates of the state Constitution in levying tax rates. Tax levies can’t be increased prior to informing the public. Post-notice, a public formal meeting must be convened to discuss the proposal.
If Union County property taxes are too costly for your wallet causing delinquent property tax payments, consider taking a quick property tax loan from lenders in Union County PA to save your property from a looming foreclosure.
What Are Union County Real Estate Taxes Used For?
Property taxes are the lynchpin of local neighborhood budgets. Together with the county, they count on real estate tax payments to support their public services.
These are a few of the governmental services most local governments ordinarily provide. Again, real estate taxes are the main way the city pays for them, including over half of all district school funding. Not just for Union County and cities, but down to special-purpose entities as well, like sewage treatment plants and athletic parks, with all reliant on the real property tax.
Especially school districts for the most part rely on real estate taxes. Also big-ticket items are local government worker salaries/benefits and public safety. Public safety with police and fire departments is a major draw on general funds, as well. Then there’s street construction and different other transportation needs. Not to forget about sanitation, with water and sewer treatment facilities and waste collection. Parks, woodlands, playgrounds, and other recreation preserves are offered within the community. Given all this, it’s no puzzle why tax assessments are often so high.
How Are Property Taxes Handled at Closing in Union County?
Real estate tax payments are normally sent off beforehand for the full year. So who pays property taxes at closing if buying a house in Union County? When buying a house, at closing, property ownership changes over from sellers to buyers. Likewise, tax liability shifts with that ownership transfer. From that point, purchasers pay back sellers on a pro-rata basis.
Prepaid tax reimbursements won’t normally take place as straight-through reimbursements to the past owners. Rather loan lenders, settlement attorneys, or escrow officers will include the prorated tax amount with the rest of buyer payment responsibilities on settlement.