Archive for the ‘Eastern’ Category

Regions Reliant on Government Spending Take Hits

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

Sequestration and its $85 billion in federal budget cuts planned for this year will bring significant challenges on the U.S. economy and the commercial real estate recovery. According to the National Real Estate Investor, the forced reductions that began March 1st will have real consequences for the U.S. economy, including eliminated and reduced government contracts, reduced private and public sector jobs and furloughed workers.

The region that will take the biggest hit is obviously the nation’s capital and surrounding states. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, all of which report 19.8% of economic activity tied to federal spending mainly due to a high concentration of government agencies and federal contractors, are all prime targets for cuts. Hawaii (15.8% federal spending), Alaska (13.3% federal spending) and Kentucky (9.9% federal spending) are also states that will experience difficult times this year.

To read the full article from the National Real Estate Investor, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Financial Services, Real Property, Sequestration | No Comments »

Bill Would Tighten Tax Incentives on Pollution in Florida

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

The Florida Legislature has approved a bill that would cause businesses to no longer receive state tax breaks because of perceived pollution on their properties. According to the Orlando Sentinel, in 2011 and part of 2012, Florida companies received as much as $11 million in Brownfield economic-development tax breaks, even though many of which were building on ground that does not appear to be contaminated. These companies were able to get breaks anyways because the law is currently written in a way that only requires the perception of contamination, not actual proof.

The bill would change the requirements for the incentive to be only for companies who are on or next to property where a pollution-cleanup agreement with the government is in place. On top of that, it would require state economists to conduct more rigorous studies to see what benefits business tax incentives create.

To read the full article from the Orlando Sentinel, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Environment, Green Initiatives, Personal Property, Pollution Control, Real Property | No Comments »

Providence Commercial Tax Rates Highest in the U.S.

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Providence, Rhode Island property owners paid the highest commercial property tax rates in any of the nation’s 53 biggest cities in 2011. According to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, cash-strapped Providence slapped a tax bill of $4,975 on commercial property worth $100,000 – $69 more than the second-ranked Des Moines and $75 more than third-ranked Detroit.

Providence Mayor, Angel Taveras, has proposed a seven-year freezing of the commercial tax rates, but City Council members are skeptical that the proposal may raise commercial taxes even higher. In addition to the commercial rates, Providence ranked 11th-highest for homestead property taxes, and 9th and 10th-highest for industrial property taxes on machinery, equipment, inventories and fixtures.

To read the full article from WPRI.com, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Real Property | No Comments »

Georgia Governor Signs Fulton County Property Tax Cap Bill

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed House Bill 604 this week which would prohibit Fulton County from raising property tax rates for the next two years. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, if a court doesn’t overturn it, the Bill will require approval by a supermajority of county commissioners for tax increases after January 2015. Many believe that this measure is a long overdue check on the County’s spending.

Those in opposition however believe that the Bill is an illegal intrusion into local government affairs. They are claiming that lawmakers are too eager to take a roll in local government and this specific item is an overreach due to the fact that the County has recently cut spending and haven’t raised property taxes since 1991.

To read the full article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Personal Property, Real Property | No Comments »

Flood of New Jersey Property Tax Appeals Exposes Flawed System

Monday, May 6th, 2013

The April 1 deadline for New Jersey property owners to challenge their property taxes saw about 116,000 appeals, the highest total in over 20 years. One main reason that the number of appeals were abnormally high this year is Hurricane Sandy, which left billions of dollars in property damage in its path. According to NJ.com, more than 81,000 of the appeals were settled out of court or succeeded, resulting in nearly $5 billion in reduced assessments in municipalities throughout the state.

While property owners may be happy with their lower values to this point, the fact remains that the income lost from lower property taxes must be made up somehow, likely in the form of higher tax rates in the future. In order to shoulder some of the burden, Legislation currently pending is urging a change in the system that would have county governments and school districts share in the appeal payouts because both of their funds come from property taxes.

To read the full article from NJ.com, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Environment, Real Property | No Comments »

Property Tax Exemption for Renewable Energy Passes CT Senate

Monday, April 29th, 2013

A Bill that would exempt commercial and industrial renewable generation equipment from property tax in the state of Connecticut has passed the State Senate. According to Power Engineering, Senate Bill 203 would extend an existing tax credit for residential renewable energy equipment to also include commercial and industrial installations. The Bill’s leader, Senator Bob Duff, believes that this property tax exemption will prove to be a great incentive for more renewable development as the state tries to encourage more clean energy.

The tax break should help with encouraging more commercial properties across the state to implement renewable energy. The Bill would expand a current property tax exemption for most sources of renewable electric generation, including all Class I resources, as well as solar thermal and geothermal resources used for heating. Currently the exemption only applies to such sources installed in a residential setting.

Posted in Complex, Eastern, Economy, Environment, Green Initiatives, Industrial & Manufacturing, Personal Property, Pollution Control, Real Property | No Comments »

First Quarter Investment Sales Down in New York City

Friday, April 19th, 2013

559 properties sold to a tune of $6.5 billion in the first quarter marked a significant decline in New York City real estate investment. According to the National Real Estate Investor, these figures indicate a 37% decline in dollar volume from 2012 and a 45% decline in the number of assets sold. Much of this decline can be attributed to abnormally high activity in the fourth quarter of last year, with the 1,677 properties sold being the highest total since 2005.

Despite the decline, there is no cause for panic as many experts predict sales activity will surge during the second half of the year as is traditionally the case. Projections see the market will likely total $41 billion in sales, on par with the volume reported in 2012 and roughly 32% above the $28 billion in sales reported in 2011.

To read the full article from the National Real Estate Investor, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Real Property | No Comments »

New York City’s Expired Property Tax Abatement Still Costing Millions

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

The New York City Industrial and Commercial Incentive Program for property tax abatements may have died in 2008, but it is still stalking the City’s finances to the tune of over $650 million this year alone. According to The New York World, there are more than 7,000 properties that continue to receive abatements on property taxes under the program that was launched in the 1980′s to encourage businesses to locate or remain in New York City.

Officials were forced to cancel the program in 2008 amid criticism of it being too generous, but as long as a business had successfully applied for the break before its expiration, they can continue to receive incentives for up to 25 years. The cost to the city of the expired tax break has, and will continue to, rise over the coming years as properties that have received the break have undergone improvements that increase their assessed value over time.

To read the full article from The New York World, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Real Property | No Comments »

Plan to Increase DC Tax Assessment Accuracy May Have Holes

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

While most property owners would welcome a plan to increase the accuracy of tax assessments, the legislation currently pending before the Council of the District of Columbia features some changes that may change their minds. According to the National Real Estate Investor, the plan to provide DC assessors with the most up-to-date information available would also require them to conduct their assessments within two months instead of six, and reduce the time they have to handle initial administrative appeals from four months to six weeks.

As is stands, this bill is appearing more likely to become a law in the next couple of months, and will undoubtedly come with much scrutiny. Most professionals involved in the assessment and appeal process agree that the recommended changes will have a negative impact on the quality of assessments, and will likely increase the number of appeals and the average time required to resolve each one.

To read the full article from the National Real Estate Investor, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Real Property | No Comments »

Transfer Tax Refunds Available in the City of Philadelphia

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Taxpayers that paid Pennsylvania or Philadelphia real estate transfer tax on certain transactions involving real property located in Philadelphia during the period of July 1, 2012 through January 5, 2013 may be entitled to refunds.

Pennsylvania publishes a common level ratio (“CLR”) for each county in the Commonwealth, effective from July 1 until June 30 of the following year. In certain instances (e.g., taxable leases or acquisitions of real estate holding companies), the real estate transfer tax triggered by a transaction is based on a “computed value.” This value is the product of the assessed value of the property and the reciprocal of the county CLR (the “CLR Factor”) in effect at the time of transfer.

Because of ongoing litigation regarding the amount of the Philadelphia County CLR, the CLR Factor for Philadelphia County that was initially published by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue for the period of July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 was subject to change. On January 5, 2013, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue published a corrected CLR Factor for Philadelphia County. This corrected CLR Factor applies retroactively to all transactions on or after July 1, 2012. Because the effective date of the corrected CLR Factor is retroactive, any transfer tax paid with respect to real property located in Philadelphia County based on the tentative CLR Factor during the period of July 1, 2012 through January 5, 2013 was overpaid.

To read the full article from Paradigm Tax Group, click here.

For additional information and assistance in obtaining transfer tax refunds, contact one of the following Paradigm Tax Group Professionals today:

Holly Unck, Senior Managing Consultant: hunck@paradigmtax.com, (602) 427-4059

Jack Nash, Senior Managing Consultant: jnash@paradigmtax.com, (610) 409-9835

Posted in Eastern, Paradigm Info, Real Property | No Comments »

« Older Entries