John Jones

The Tarrant County property tax rates for 2009 have finally been released. These tax rates will apply to tax year 2009, which are due at the end of 2009. Current Tarrant County homeowners that have specific questions about their property taxes should contact the Tarrant County Central Appraisal District at (817) 284-0024.

Tarrant county property taxes have several different taxing authorities and jurisdictions. In general, homeowners will pay a combination of County, City and School taxes. Additionally, some homeowners in Tarrant county will also pay an additional fee of $.02 per $100 for areas contained in the Tarrant County Regional Water District and .064% per $100 for the Tarrant County Emergency Services District. Contact the Tarrant County Appraisal District or visit their website at www.tad.org to verify if a particular property lies in one of these additional districts.

The total 2009 Tarrant County property tax rates are as follows:

CITY City Rate ISD Rate County Rate TOTAL TAX RATE

** Some cities may lie in overlapping school district and county boundaries and some properties may have different final tax rates than the ones shown here. This information was obtained from Republic Title and other third party agencies and I make no guarantee that these are accurate.

The $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit has been officially extended and expanded to include a new $6500 tax credit for move-up buyers. Dallas area first time homebuyers and move-up buyers now have until April 30, 2010 to obtain a written, binding contract and until June 30, 2010 to close the transaction.

Some of the details and guidelines for the homebuyer tax credit were changed slightly with passage of this new legislation. Some of the guidelines were loosened while others were tightened. And there is a sepearate set of guidelines for the new $6500 tax credit for repeat buyers as well.

EXTENSION OF THE $8000 FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT

The new legislation extends most of the guidelines of the previous $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit with the exception of the deadline extension, increased income limits and a few other details:

Guidelines that REMAINED THE SAME:

• Amount of tax credit remains the lesser of $8000 or 10% of the purchase price.
• Home must be primary residence that will be occupied by the owner. Investors do not qualify.
• The tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the homeowner sells the home in the first three years.

Guidelines that worked out BETTER for homebuyers:

• Deadline to obtain a WRITTEN AND FULLY EXECUTED CONTRACT is now April 30, 2010 and the transaction must CLOSE ON OR BEFORE JUNE 30, 2010. The previous program had no specific date to obtain a fully executed contract, but the deadline to close the transaction would have been November 30, 2009.
• MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS who were on active duty overseas for a period greater than 90 days in 2008 or 2009 will be allowed until April 30, 2011 to claim the first time homebuyer tax credit.
• Income limits for single taxpayers raised from $75,000 to $125,000. The program phases out completely at $145,000.
• Income limits for married couples raised from $150,000 to $225,000. The program phases out completely at $245,000.
  

Guidelines that became MORE STRICT for homebuyers:

• Maximum purchase price cap is now $800,000. Previous program had no price cap.
• Requires written proof of home purchase in the form of a certified HUD-1 closing statement. Also, the IRS has more authority to conduct oversight on claims for the tax credit. The previous program was plagued with fraud since it did not require homebuyer to show any proof of purchase.

CREATION OF THE $6500 TAX CREDIT FOR MOVE-UP HOMEBUYERS

This is a completely new program that was passed as part of the legislation that expanded the first time homebuyer tax credit. Current homeowners who are "moving up" will quaify for the $6500 tax credit beginning with all purchases that close after November 6, 2009 and who meet the other guidelines listed below. Many of the guidelines and deadlines are the same or close to the same as those of the first time homebuyer tax credit:

General guidelines (beginning after November 6, 2009):

• Amount of tax credit is the lesser of $6500 or 10% of the purchase price of a new home.
• Homebuyer must have owned and lived in their previous home for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight years.
• Home purchased must be a primary residence that will be occupied by the homebuyer. Investors do not qualify.
• Maximum purchase price is $800,000.
• Tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the owner sells the new home in the first three years.
• Income limits are the same as for the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit ($125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for married couples, phases out completely at $145,000 and $245,000 respectively).
  
• A written, binding contract must be signed on or before May 1, 2010 and the transaction must close on or before July 1, 2010. This is ONE DAY LATER than the deadline for the first time homebuyer tax credit for some reason, perhaps because simultaneous closings can often take two days to fully consummate.
• IRS will require proof of purchase for the new home and will likely require proof that the previous home was both owned and occupied by the homebuyer.

Stay tuned for some additional updates and some frequently asked questions. If you have any questions about the extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, please email me.

The Dallas County property tax rates for 2009 have been released. These tax rates will apply to taxes due in December for tax year 2009. All current homeowners should have received a property tax statement in the mail recently that shows the amount of taxes due.

The county mails a copy of the invoice to the homeowner regardless of whether or not the taxes are escrowed by their mortgage company.

The total amount of property taxes for Dallas county homeowners consist of three different taxing jurisdictions: County, City and School taxes.  In some cases, homeowners who live in overlapping areas may receive two separate statements from different taxing authorities. For example, a homeowner who lives in the portion of the city of Dallas that lies in Collin county will receive a tax statement from the City of Dallas for ISD and city taxes, but will receive a statement from Collin county for county taxes. 

The total 2009 property tax rates for each city in Dallas county are as follows:

CITY                                      CITY RATE       ISD RATE   COUNTY RATE      TOTAL

For more detailed infrormatoin on property tax rates in Dallas county, as well as to search by property address or owner name, visit the Dallas Central Appraisal District online.

This information was provided by Christina Annoboli at Republic Title.   

The Lochwood Branch of The Dallas Public Library will be having its Grand Opening on Saturday November 7th, 2009 beginning at 10AM.

The City of Dallas has invited all citizens to the official grand opening of the new Lochwood Branch Library this coming Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 10AM.  If you live in or near the Lochwood area of East Dallas, then you have probably noticed the rather unique building that's been slowly taking shape for  the last several months across from the Home Depot on Lochwood Boulevard.   I had a chance to visit the library yesterday and it is quite amazing, both inside and out. 

In addition to the over 70,000 books available to the public, the library has a huge selection of magazines, DVDs and CDs.  The computer area has almost two dozen computers with high resolution flat screen monitors.   

The Lochwood Branch Library replaces the old Casa View Branch of the Dallas Public Library that was on Ferguson road.  When that library opened in 1964, they broke a record for the most books ever checked out in a single day at a U.S. public library.  The organizers are hoping once again to break a new record, and they certainly have the inventory on hand to make that happen as long as enough people turn out on Saturday. 

In addition to calling all citizens of Dallas to attend the grand opening, they are also asking for help from volunteers to come by the library between the hours of 10AM and 6PM to help put the finishing touches on the remainder of work that has to be done before the big event.

The Lochwood Branch Library also has a theater room with a maximum occupancy of 420 people.  This room will likely be used for community affairs and theater events.  The library is an impressive 19.000 total square feet, including the black box theater, classrooms and public meeting areas.  The parking lot has enough space for over 100 cars and there is also an area to park and lock up bicycles close to the entrance.  

The area is close to the DART bus lines as well.  The DART rail station is only a few miles away on Northwest Highway.

The building itself is a Silver Rated Leadership in Energy building, so it will consume less energy and use recyclable materials. 

The computer area is right in the middle of the library.  There are 25 desktop computers available, as well as 10 laptops and wireless access.  The library will also have self-checkout stations.

The residents of Lochwood and East Dallas have been anxiously awaiting the formal grand opening of the library ever since construction began back in April of last year.  The previous building that occupied this land was the old YMCA building, which had been somewhat of an eyesore in the neighborhood for quite some time.  The city of Dallas did a wonderful job on the Lochwood Branch Library, and hopefully the residents of Lochwood and East Dallas will have the opportunity to enjoy it for years to come.

SCHEDULE OF THE GRAND OPENING EVENTS ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7TH:

10AM - Grand opening begins.

11:30AM - Reilly Elementary Choir will perform.

12NOON - Reinhardt Elementary and Bryan Adams High School will perform

12NOON to 2PM - Childen's Crafts

3PM - Tango lesson with Laurie Vego

4:30PM - Teen Time.

The Lochwood Branch Library is located at 11221 Lochwood Boulevard in Dallas, TX 75218 almost directly across from the Home Depot. 

The Proposed Extension and Modification of the $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit

November 4, 2009

Today, the Senate passed legislation to modify, expand and extend the homebuyer tax credit by a vote of 98-0. This bill must still be passed by the House of Representatives and then signed into law by President Obama, but the overwhelming consensus is that this will happen and happen quickly, perhaps by the end of this week. The House of Representatives does have the ability to change the bill before making a final vote, but the meat and bones of the legislation is likely to remain intact.

THE FIRST TWO HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT PROGRAMS:

There have been TWO versions of the homebuyer tax credit thus far. The first, which initially applied to homes purchased between April 9th, 2008 and July 1, 2009, was essentially a $7,500 tax-free loan that had to be paid back over the course of 15 years at $500 per year. If the home was sold before the 15 years, then the remainder of the tax credit was recaptured in most cases.

Then the current $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers was passed into law as part of the stimulus plan in February. This new law applied to homes purchased between January 1 and November 30th of this year. Homebuyers that purchased a home after January 1 but before the new law was passed were allowed to claim the revised tax credit. In addition to the increase, the new plan did not require repayment of the $8,000 unless the home was sold in the first three years.

THE PROPOSED NEW HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT PROGRAM AS PASSED BY THE SENATE TODAY WOULD:

• EXTEND THE CURRENT $8,000 TAX CREDIT FOR FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS to June 30, 2010 with a stiplulation that they must enter into a written, binding purchase contract on or before April 30, 2010.
• CREATE A NEW TAX CREDIT OF $6,500 FOR "MOVE-UP" BUYERS who have occupied their current home for at least five out of the last eight years.
• ALLOW MILITARY PERSONNEL who have been deployed overseas by more than 90 days in 2008 or 2009 to claim the credit until APRIL 30, 2011.
• Cap the price of a new home at $800,000 in order to claim the tax credit. The current law does not have a cap on the purchase price.
• RAISE THE MAXIMUM INCOME LIMITS from $75,000 to $125,000 for single homebuyers and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married homebuyers.

There will most likely be some other minor changes that haven't been fully explained as of yet. Again, it's important to remember that this HAS NOT BEEN OFFICIALLY PASSED INTO LAW AS OF RIGHT NOW (November 4, 2009).

In addition to these changes, the IRS will be given greater authority to verify the legitimacy of each tax credit claim rather than waiting for the results of an audit. There have been allegations that a significant amount of fraud has occured under the current program.

At one point, there was even speculation that many lawmakers would vote against the bill because of fraud concerns. The current tax credit doesn't require taxpayers to show proof that they purchased a home. The new law would require homebuyers to attach a certified copy of a HUD-1 statement in order to claim the tax credit. The HUD-1 statement is normally the first form that buyers sign at closing and should be kept in a safe place for those that plan to claim the new tax credit.

So stay tuned for updates as they occur. The consensus is that this will likely be passed by the House and signed into law by President Obama by next week at the latest.