Neighbors watch the neighborhood. Blogfinger.net
From Natalie of Ocean Grove:
As a newcomer to the Grove, I just received my property tax assessment for 2018. Our property was assessed at $200,000 for the building and $310,000 for the land. My taxes will be about $10,000.00 in 2017
I realize that arrangements such as ours, with the building owned by one person and the land by another, can be found elsewhere. But is there any legal precedent for our paying property taxes on land that we do not own?
As you all know, we also pay a lease fee to the CMA for being allowed to have our home on their land, so it is clear as to who owns the land.
Why doesn’t the CMA pay the land taxes?
Then, when you sell your house, they can realize the appreciation on the land. Now we get to realize the appreciation, so maybe it doesn’t make any difference.
But do any of the BF readers know about legal precedents in this regard?
AL JOLSON with an alternative to high Neptune taxes:
Surfer: You have it wrong. Most of us pay $10.50 for land rent–a trivial amount. Why doesn’t The CMA, who owns the land, pay land taxes to Neptune?
Natalie has it backwards when she asks why doesn’t OGCMA pay taxes on our land to Neptune. She says her tax bill is around $10,000. About 60% of this for land and 40% for house.
So, she (and all of us) should say to OGCMA: “I already paid $6000. (or whatever) in taxes to Neptune this year for my land, if you want land rent ask Neptune for it!”
Surfer: You say that the OGHOA threatened to “take the CMA to court” and that “They had “a strong case.” I say “nonsense.” The HOA hired a lawyer using HOA funds, but they never released the lawyer’s opinions on this matter, and those opinions belong to the people of Ocean Grove.
As far as we know, that lawyer was asked to look into the matter of ground rents. I never heard of an actual threat being made by the HOA, and if such a threat were made, then the HOA board owed it to the public to make all that known.The HOA represents all the members when it seeks secret legal advice and considers threats.
Once again the HOA failed the public, and it is still not too late for the members to demand that those opinions and any other official notes about subsequent discussions be released.
Like the Pentagon Papers and Wikileaks, Blogfinger will publish that information. Maybe the residents should sue the HOA to release all those documents.
Natalie, if you pay the taxes, you own the land.
The courts are not always correct, as in the “Dred Scott decision”.
Natalie,
Hopefully you were grandfathered/grandmothered in when you purchased your home in OG and your “ground rent” is minimal – $10.50 or $21., depending on size of lot. Inasmuch as it is so minimal, the majority of homeowners in OG do not object.
However, the OGCMA has levied some substantial land rent taxes on new construction (since around 2000). These new homeowners are paying more than $500/year with a clause in their contract (when they purchased their homes) with the OGCMA that increases their ground rent annually.
A few years ago, the OGHOA was concerned that OGCMA was threatening to raise land rents. They hired an attorney and were about to take OGCMA to court when OGCMA promised not to raise land rents. They had a strong case and I believe OGCMA backed down because they were afraid they would lose this case.
Collection of land rent was reasonable many years ago when OGCMA provided essential services in town: police, fire departments, sanitation, etc. But OG has been part of Neptune since 1980 and our tax dollars to Neptune take care of these things. So, what is the land rent for? OGCMA claims it is used to maintain the grounds in OG. But, compare OG to Bradley Beach grounds along the boardwalk – nice grass, municipal workers out there all the time, etc. Also, OG has a “beautification committee” of volunteers who take care of all the plants and even raise money to buy these plants (they do a good job).
So, the bottom line is OGCMA continues to collect “ground rent” because they have always collected it and no one opposes them. By the way, I know two homeowners who have not paid ground rent in a decade and there are no consequences. Try not paying taxes to Neptune for one year and see what happens.
Why do we pay taxes to support school kids that are not ours? That’s worse!
Around 1910 there were some court battles when Ocean Grove (CMA) and Neptune were fighting about taxes. I know that the CMA felt it was being treated unfairly, and they won some cases that reduced their tax burden on some of their holdings in town. They did receive a tax exemption for buildings used exclusively for religious purposes.
OG also complained of unfairness since the CMA was picking up the costs of certain municipal services, eg police, parks, etc. while we were paying full taxes.
But the issue raised here now, regarding paying taxes on the leased land was, I believe, supported in the courts. —-Paul