The Observation Deck

I went to the City's "website" and attempted to download the City's 2017 income tax forms for a friend. Alas, there is no mention of 2017, therefore, can we assume the Tax Department missed New Year's celebration or is it simply the city tax department being inept and inert as usual?

Little wonder that Lakewood has one of the highest property tax rates in Ohio. They better wake up, with the new federal tax laws limiting deductions to $10,000, the City of Lakewood and Board of Education alas Board of Needless Spending days of wine and roses is about come to an abrupt end.

Richard Baker wrote:They better wake up, with the new federal tax laws limiting deductions to $10,000, the City of Lakewood and Board of Education alas Board of Needless Spending days of wine and roses is about come to an abrupt end.

I don't believe there is a lot of "wine and roses" at the Lakewood schools, but you raise an excellent point about the new federal deduction limits.
Given the fact that I pay over $3300 annually for my modest little home (can't be worth more than $135K), I'd have to believe that a significant percentage of Lakewood homes pay more than $10,000 per year.
If I had more time, I'd dig up some data to find out how big a hit this will be.
The next school levy increase (which I believe is needed, given our state's crappy school funding method) will push even more homes above that threshold.
The next round of assessments happens THIS year (three years seem to fly by fast, don't they?).....the county will balloon our housing values in order to squeeze more cash out of us. (the county gets a big chunk of the property tax pie, too)

REMINDER: In the Cleveland.com mayoral debate of 2015, Summers cited increased property taxes as the means to offset the income tax losses from the hospital closure and loss of the insurance office. His plan is to shift the tax burden to homeowners EVEN MORE than they are now.
That is one of the many reasons I expect the "Lakewood bubble" to burst.

Michael Deneen wrote:

Richard Baker wrote:They better wake up, with the new federal tax laws limiting deductions to $10,000, the City of Lakewood and Board of Education alas Board of Needless Spending days of wine and roses is about come to an abrupt end.

I don't believe there is a lot of "wine and roses" at the Lakewood schools, but you raise an excellent point about the new federal deduction limits.
Given the fact that I pay over $3300 annually for my modest little home (can't be worth more than $135K), I'd have to believe that a significant percentage of Lakewood homes pay more than $10,000 per year.
If I had more time, I'd dig up some data to find out how big a hit this will be.
The next school levy increase (which I believe is needed, given our state's crappy school funding method) will push even more homes above that threshold.
The next round of assessments happens THIS year (three years seem to fly by fast, don't they?).....the county will balloon our housing values in order to squeeze more cash out of us. (the county gets a big chunk of the property tax pie, too)

REMINDER: In the Cleveland.com mayoral debate of 2015, Summers cited increased property taxes as the means to offset the income tax losses from the hospital closure and loss of the insurance office. His plan is to shift the tax burden to homeowners EVEN MORE than they are now.
That is one of the many reasons I expect the "Lakewood bubble" to burst.

Mr. Deneen,

I hope that you are as wrong about this "bubble" prediction as you and NYT's Paul Krugman were about the stock market crash in the wake of Trump's election. While I expect a market correction in the near future, there are some promising economic fundamentals that might spare the current Lakewood regime from looking as dumb as they are. The 2016 CAFR cited the Regime's "hopefulness" that outside of Lakewood economic factors may increase overall tax revenues in Lakewood. I am hoping with them, but not holding my breath.

I don't think Summers had a "plan to shift the tax burden" to homeowners---As I recall, Summers was counting on about $1M more in revenue because of the last property tax value increase. So it was more a "prayer" than a "plan." Summers' "planning" is "fire, ready aim."

BTW Many folks who are paying over $10K in real estate taxes weren't able to fully deduct them anyway since many were subject to the "alternative minimum tax" that effectively limited itemization of deductions. I do agree though--with any tax changes---there will be some winners and some losers.

While I have little respect for Jenn Pae and her ethics, I do find the Lakewood City Tax Department friendly, helpful and professional.