Today's topic, property taxes. Try to contain your excitement! It seems like property taxes are usually an after thought, a number thrown in with and added to the mortgage. However, next time you get your assessment notice for the upcoming year's taxes, you might want to pay it a little more thought. Here's how it works in Laramie:
Fair Value X Level of Assessment = Assessed Valuation X Last Year's Mill Levy = Last Year's Tax
Definitions:
Using this method, here are what property taxes would be at various Fair Values:
$100,000 (Fair Value) = $655.50 Tax Due
$150,000 (Fair Value) = $983.25 Tax Due
$200,000 (Fair Value) = $1311.50 Tax Due
$250,000 (Fair Value) = $1638.75 Tax Due
$300,000 (Fair Value) = $1966.50 Tax Due
Another way to think about it is that for every $10,000.00 of estimated fair value, a typical property owner would owe $65.55 in Property Taxes.
This doesn't seem like a much until you realize that many properties are over or under valued by thousands of dollars.
For those who have properties that are undervalued, this can mean a tax savings. Under this circumstance, most homeowners opt not to challenge the assessment and have it changed.
However, for those who have properties that are overvalued, they might be paying too much on their taxes.
It is for this reason, that everybody should pay attention to those easily overlooked Tax Assessment Notices that come, in our case, at the beginning of every April! If you think your property might be overvalued, you have 30 days from when the notice was mailed to challenge the value. To do this, go the the Albany County Assessors website and click on the tab that says County Assessor Appeals for complete directions.
Notices should be arriving in the mail soon, so be sure to check yours over carefully - before you file it away and forget about it!
*This information is intended only to provide further clarification of real estate issues in Laramie, Wyoming. I am not an attorney. This article is not endorsed, approved or affiliated with Century 21 Real Estate Center, Inc. Any consumer with questions about the real estate process should always consult an attorney of their own.
Having a good attitude about altitude is essential the higher you go above sea level. Along with the cooler air comes thinner air and thus less oxygen. You can't go to the store around here without seeing at least one person carrying and using a portable oxygen tank.
Just last summer a visitor from a lower elevation developed altitude sickness just hanging out here in town - before they even had a chance to go to the mountains. I understand this is somewhat common and ideally, people who visit from lower elevations should add a few days to their plans to adjust to the thinner air, especially if they plan on being active.
The point at which the Belle Fourche river flows out of Wyoming and into South Dakota is the lowest elevation point in the state at 3,099 feet (945 m). This is the second-highest low point of any U.S. State. The highest point in Wyoming is Gannett Peak at 13,804 feet.
Just how high is Laramie's elevation? Laramie is 7163 feet above sea level, ranking it 9th highest of Wyoming towns. Centennial, also in Albany county, ranks number one at 8076 feet. By comparison, Denver, the mile high city is usually cited at 5280 feet above sea level. Amazingly though, Colorado lists 46 towns that are above 8000 feet in elevation with the highest being Alma, Colorado at 10,353 feet above sea level. Now, that's high!
The high altitude explains our weather and just why it's so cold all the time! Since we can't change the altitude, or the weather, we just have adjust out attitude and be happy where we are. So, ... I am!
As owners and managers of our own apartments (not affiliated with Century 21 Real Estate Center, Inc.), my husband and I made the decision to offer a smoke free, pet free and "party" free environment to our renters. All ads that we run explicitly say:
No smoking, No pets, No parties.
Why then, do so many smokers call and come to view our apartments anyway? We've heard it all:
Do we hate people who smoke? No.
Do we think smoking is the root of all evil? No.
Is smoking smelly and hazardous? Yes.
We go out of our way to maintain a strict, smoke free environment. People who live here have all agreed to abide by that rule.
Some renters seek out our apartments to be assured of a smoke free building. We've rented to people with severe asthma, allergies and every now and then, a person on oxygen. How do you think they feel when they open their windows only to inhale the smoke from the people standing around smoking outside? Is it fair to them to walk across sidewalks that are littered with cigarette butts?
Regardless of whether or not anyone has smoke related health issues, there is one issue that remains the bottom line: Each tenant creates an obligation to all the other tenants to forgo smoking on the property when they sign the lease.
So seriously, make life easier on yourself, if you smoke, isn't there another place that you would rather live?
Since we are the land of wide, open spaces, we get lots of calls from people looking for rural land. Many of those calls come from people not familiar with the area. One thing to consider about country living in Albany County is the roads.
Albany county has miles and miles of dirt roads. Some of them county, some of them private, some a little bit of both. These roads range from ones somewhat maintained regularly by the county to those not maintained at all, ever. Even the well maintained roads can become impassable for days at a time with no guarantee or assurance of county assistance in getting them open again.
The Albany County Planners Office at one time published a helpful guide called Code of the West (By Michelle Weimer). It realistically describes what a homeowner can expect if they take on the challenge of country living in Albany County. It is an easy to read document that I think should be required reading for anyone considering an out of town purchase.
Unfortunately, out of respect for copyright law, I cannot share the copy I have here. And even more frustrating, I can't find a copy anywhere online so that I can provide a link to it!
However, I did find two very, similar versions of the Code of the West that two other towns here in the region have published. While not identical, they are nearly the same except for some local details.
http://www.co.tooele.ut.us/pdf/engineering/code_west.pdf
http://www.co.larimer.co.us/planning/planning/code_of_the_west/index.htm
If you are actually in Laramie and thinking about a rural land purchase then I'd be happy to provide you with an actual copy of the Albany County version of the Code of the West.
After watching a small snippet of the Charlie Sheen interview on the Today Show this morning, I just want to say: Small people of the world I am here for you!
If you wonder why I would say such a thing, first, watch the interview yourself. Charlie Sheen must adhere to the old adage that bad publicity is better than no publicity and he is a master at bad publicity!
In his interview he let us know that he is special, probably more special than the rest of us. The other great people who have relapsed after rehab are trolls, weak, defeated, and lacking the Adonis DNA that has. And in regard to those people who don't get him and see that he's "like a total bit**en, freakin', rock star from Mars", they "can find the most comfortable chair in their small house, sit back and enjoy the show"
AND this is where I come in!
I'm gambling that there are a lot of us small people out there in our small houses - some choosing to tune in to his show and some not. (Me, I'm one of the NOTS - not before, not now, not ever)
Anyway .... regardless of where I stand, if your ever want to watch any show, even one of Charlie's, and you'd like to do it in a bigger chair in a bigger house, then I am here for you! I may be no Charlie Sheen and I'm not more special than you, but I'd still be happy to help you find that bigger house within which you could enjoy viewing all the TV you want. I would even do it for far less than the three million dollars Charlie is now demanding per episode.
Small people of the world I am here for you!
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Laramie, WY is my favorite place in the whole world. Small enough to be friendly, big enough to be diverse. After 30 years here, I would not want to live anyplace else!
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