The budget presented to City Council at their last Work Session not only raises our real estate property taxes, it will also increase our HRUBS bills by 10%!
The city has decided to pay for the water projects in the CIP by raising the fees on your water & sewer, this way they can claim to keep property tax low, but still get more money from the citizens. The water usage fee will increase 9.9%, while the sewer fee will increase 8.8%, because of other facets of the HRUBS bill, it means roughly a 10% increase. This means if you have a water bill that averages about $220 every two months, this increase will cost you another $22 every two months. That’s $130 extra a year.
Real Estate Property Tax is determined by the value of your property. This year’s budget will increase your property tax by $0.06. For every $100 dollars of value, you are currently paying $0.97. This year’s budget raises that rate to $1.03. So if your home is currently assessed at $175,000, your new tax bill would be $1,802.05 – about $105 more than last year. Keep in mind, the more money the city says your property is worth, the more money they can collect from you in taxes on it. This is why there are a few developers and a hotel currently bringing a lawsuit against the city for over-inflating their property tax assessments for the last several years. By the way, this property tax increase will affect renters too. When your landlord’s tax bill for the property you are renting increases, where do you think he will get the money for to pay it? Our co-chairman, Janet, would like to encourage everyone to take a good look at their current assessment. Is there any way you could sell your property at that price today? If not, call the assessor’s office and ask to have your assessment adjusted.
City Council has proven that they are listening to us! We can not back down now! All of us, when faced with the prospect of earning less money this year than last, are forced to cut our budgets & make do with less. Yet when the city is faced with less money, they raise our taxes and keep right on spending. It’s time for City Council to tighten the city’s financial belt and make some tough choices.
Call your councilman. Let him know that this water/sewer fee increase is an outrageous tax on the hardworking people of Suffolk. Tell them the 6 cent increase in property taxes is unacceptable in today’s economy. But most importantly, show up to the next council meeting, April 17, 2013 at 7pm at City Hall. Get there early, bring signs. Be prepared to stay for the long haul. We must make our voices the loudest in the room in order to make sure that the City Council, the City Manager, and even the School Board hear our message.