Happy Perihelion Day!

A friend whose business is to know these things assures me that at 3 PM today, the earth will have its closest approach to the sun. This may appear as little more than a cruel joke to areas of the planet currently under several feet of snow, but it's an excuse for a party. Break out the tropical hats, bermuda shorts and froo-froo umbrella drinkies!

And start planning for Aphelion Day, July 7!

Happy Perihelion Day!

A friend whose business is to know these things assures me that at 3 PM today, the earth will have its closest approach to the sun. This may appear as little more than a cruel joke to areas of the planet currently under several feet of snow, but it's an excuse for a party. Break out the tropical hats, bermuda shorts and froo-froo umbrella drinkies!

And start planning for Aphelion Day, July 7!

Property Taxes

We bought our humble abode in the Maryland suburbs of Washingto DC in the tail-end of 1999. The state re-assessed our property value each subsequent December as follows:

Year	Market Appraised Value	Phased-In Market Value	Actual Taxed Value	Actual Taxes
2000	$207,070	$149,580		$1,956.60
2001		$168,743	$164,532	$1,947.73
2002		$187,906	$164,532	$2,292.72
2003	$355,890	$207,070	$164,532	$2,605.14
2004		$256,676	$218,991	$2,834.50
2005		$306,282	$218,991	$2,886.58
2006	$475,870	$355,890	$218,991	$2,865.52
2007		$395,883	$291,476	TBD
2008		$435,876	$291,476	TBD
2009		$475,870	$291,476	TBD

The numbers are a bit hard to follow. Maryland reappraises property value every three years (2000, 2003, 2006), but state law only allows tax assessment value to rise only 10% per year. Property values have been rising much faster than the 10% cap allows so even if values flattened immediately, our taxable value will keep increasing for five more years.

Our actual property tax bill has risen 46% in the time we've owned our property. While I consider a bill of nearly $3,000 to be fairly reasonable for platinum-level gov't services we get from our county, further increases are gonna start to be painful. I can't imagine what people on fixed incomes must feel... suddenly cheap real estate in the backwoods of South Dakota must look fairly attractive.

It would appear that our home increased in value 318% between 1999 and now --$149,580 to $475,870-- but the more interesting numbers come in the fine print on the re-evaluation years...

Year	Value of Land	Value of Buildings	Total Value
2000	$60,460	$146,610	$207,070
2003	$120,920	$234,970	$355,890
2006	$301,080	$174,790	$475,870

From this, we see that the value of our otherwise uninteresting 0.15 acres went up 498% in the span of six years, whereas our house grew 162%, then dropped 26%. I guess they didn't like the computer room remodelling.

(All values in US$.)

Property Taxes

We bought our humble abode in the Maryland suburbs of Washingto DC in the tail-end of 1999. The state re-assessed our property value each subsequent December as follows:

Year	Market Appraised Value	Phased-In Market Value	Actual Taxed Value	Actual Taxes
2000	$207,070	$149,580		$1,956.60
2001		$168,743	$164,532	$1,947.73
2002		$187,906	$164,532	$2,292.72
2003	$355,890	$207,070	$164,532	$2,605.14
2004		$256,676	$218,991	$2,834.50
2005		$306,282	$218,991	$2,886.58
2006	$475,870	$355,890	$218,991	$2,865.52
2007		$395,883	$291,476	TBD
2008		$435,876	$291,476	TBD
2009		$475,870	$291,476	TBD

The numbers are a bit hard to follow. Maryland reappraises property value every three years (2000, 2003, 2006), but state law only allows tax assessment value to rise only 10% per year. Property values have been rising much faster than the 10% cap allows so even if values flattened immediately, our taxable value will keep increasing for five more years.

Our actual property tax bill has risen 46% in the time we've owned our property. While I consider a bill of nearly $3,000 to be fairly reasonable for platinum-level gov't services we get from our county, further increases are gonna start to be painful. I can't imagine what people on fixed incomes must feel... suddenly cheap real estate in the backwoods of South Dakota must look fairly attractive.

It would appear that our home increased in value 318% between 1999 and now --$149,580 to $475,870-- but the more interesting numbers come in the fine print on the re-evaluation years...

Year	Value of Land	Value of Buildings	Total Value
2000	$60,460	$146,610	$207,070
2003	$120,920	$234,970	$355,890
2006	$301,080	$174,790	$475,870

From this, we see that the value of our otherwise uninteresting 0.15 acres went up 498% in the span of six years, whereas our house grew 162%, then dropped 26%. I guess they didn't like the computer room remodelling.

(All values in US$.)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My father doesn't go online, is only vaguely aware there is such a thing as the internet and will never read this, but still...

Happy 65th birthday, Dad. Thanks for not feeding me to the wolves years ago as you were doubtlessly tempted to do. :-)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My father doesn't go online, is only vaguely aware there is such a thing as the internet and will never read this, but still...

Happy 65th birthday, Dad. Thanks for not feeding me to the wolves years ago as you were doubtlessly tempted to do. :-)

Productive!

My day at work Wednesday sucked out loud. It wasn't that there was anything particularly bad, I just felt completely depleted, lacking in any form of creativity and devoid of motivation. Ick. My energy didn't return once I was home either, but a late afternoon hour-long nap did wonders and I'm more or less back to where I should be.

Later in the evening, we wrapped the remaining xmas presents for cuyahogarvr, sent off a gift & card to paigemom and ordered the last xmas present for my niece Kaylee. We couldn't find her the item I wanted at a reasonable price despite our best efforts and two weeks of searching so we went with a different toy. She's 2.5 years old... I'm sure she'll forgive the delay.

I also caught up on e-mail, sent a few reminders to various people, paid some online bills and renewed our CallerLab memberships for the coming year. Whee!

Time for bed...

Productive!

My day at work Wednesday sucked out loud. It wasn't that there was anything particularly bad, I just felt completely depleted, lacking in any form of creativity and devoid of motivation. Ick. My energy didn't return once I was home either, but a late afternoon hour-long nap did wonders and I'm more or less back to where I should be.

Later in the evening, we wrapped the remaining xmas presents for cuyahogarvr, sent off a gift & card to paigemom and ordered the last xmas present for my niece Kaylee. We couldn't find her the item I wanted at a reasonable price despite our best efforts and two weeks of searching so we went with a different toy. She's 2.5 years old... I'm sure she'll forgive the delay.

I also caught up on e-mail, sent a few reminders to various people, paid some online bills and renewed our CallerLab memberships for the coming year. Whee!

Time for bed...