Despite Nightmarish Housing Market, 78 Percent of Homeowners Describe Home as the Best Investment They Ever Made

Trulia.com released the results of it's biannual American Dream survey. Harris Interactive conducted this online survey on Trulia’s behalf in January 2011 among 2,079 U.S. adults aged 18 and over.

KEY FINDINGS:

• American Dream Still Lives: Although foreclosures and underwater homes continue to plague the current housing market, 70 percent of Americans still view homeownership as being part of their American Dream. In fact, more than three out of four homeowners (78 percent) say their homes are the best investment they ever made. Conversely, only 20 percent feel trapped in their “underwater” homes while 14 percent said they would walk away from their homes in a heartbeat if they could.

• Millennials Driving Economic Recovery: Although many of today’s young adults came of age during the housing crash, more than one in four (26 percent) say their views on owning a home have become more positive over the past six months. With 88 percent of 18-34 year old renters aspiring to be homeowners, this new generation of buyers will likely play a crucial role in stabilizing today’s uncertain real estate market.

• Stronger Long-term Recovery in Southern and Western Regions: Despite today’s low mortgage rates and high affordability, most would-be homeowners are in no rush to buy. By comparison, a brighter beacon of hope shines in the South and West where the outlook for long-term recovery is much stronger. Undeterred by ongoing reports of foreclosures and underwater homes, 79 percent and 70 percent of renters in these respective regions say they plan to purchase a home.

This is encouraging news, although the majority feel somewhat apprehensive about buying right now but plan to within the next 2 years. The key to the housing market is job security which depends on the economic well being of businesses out there to support the job growth. I'm hopeful that this year has a strong economic outlook and looking for more job growth so that the housing market will continue to be strengthened.

2011 Housing Trends

MARCH - 2011 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.

The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau and Realtor.org reports, videos, key market indicators and real estate sales statistics, a video message by a nationally recognized economist, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, plus local neighborhood information and more.

Please click here to view the MARCH - 2011 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter.

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the Home Evaluator link for a free evaluation report.

Homebuyer tax credit back in play? | Inman News

Homebuyer tax credit back in play? Inman News

The market does seem to be a bit slow. I wasn't 100% for the last tax credit but it did keep the housing market moving. It's great for real estate but what about the national debt. Where is all of this money coming from that the government is giving away? Our children's debt. Anyway, it may help the housing market now but I don't know about years down the road.

This is a great blog post! Who needs to participate in the recession? Take advantage of the market while everyone was is too fearful to move, and you'll be ready when the markets bounce back (and it looks like that will be soon!).

Enjoy:


Talk of a recession??? Now, more than ever, business people need to network to stay in business. Show this article to anyone wondering whether now is the time to join BNI!

According to Dr. Ivan Misner, you can actually prosper—do your personal best—while everyone else flounders in fear. This month Dr. Misner and BNI Area Director Tim Houston share their insights on how do so.

I Refuse to Participate in a Recession!
When you can't control the economy, control your response.
By Dr. Ivan Misner, BNI Founder and Chairman

Many economic gurus are saying the "R" word … recession. For the most part, the U.S. economy has been strong and business has been good for the past decade. However, the economy goes through cycles. Even if we don't see a full-blown recession, business is slowing for many people.

Unfortunately, every time the economy takes a downturn, the fallout is felt strongly by salespeople, business owners, and professionals alike. Successful business professionals learn from the past. For some, this will not be our first recession.

So what did we learn from previous economic downturns? In the early 1990s, right in the middle of a nasty recession, I was at a business mixer in Connecticut meeting many local business professionals. It seemed that everyone was feeling the crunch from the slow economy. Throughout the entire event, the favorite topic of discussion was how bad the economy was and how things were getting worse. The whole affair was depressing because nearly everyone was obsessed with the problems of the economy and its impact on his or her business.

I was introduced to one of the many real estate agents attending. Given the decrease in property values in the state, I was leery of asking this gentleman the standard "How's business?" question. He shared with me, though, that he was having a great year. Naturally, I was surprised and asked, "You did say you were in real estate, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"We are in Connecticut, aren't we?"

"Yes," he said with a slight grin.

"And you're having a good year?" I asked.

"I'm actually having my best year ever!" he said.

"Your best year!" I said in amazement.

After thinking for a moment I asked him, "Is this your first year in real estate?" "No," he replied with a laugh. "I've been in real estate for almost 10 years." I asked him how he was doing so well, given the conditions of the economy and the stiff competition. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge that said: "I refuse to participate in the recession!"

"That's your secret?" I asked. "You refuse to participate in the recession, so business is booming?"

"That's correct," he said. "While most of my competitors are crying the blues about how bad business is, I'm out drumming up a ton of business networking with my contacts and generating referrals."

Considering what he said, I looked around the room and listened in on people for a while as they complained about how bad business was. While nearly all were commiserating with one another, I concluded that very few were actually networking and working on seeking new business. As a result, very little business was actually being accomplished. If you want to do well in business, you must understand that it does absolutely no good to complain to people about tough times. When you complain about how bad business is half the people you tell don't care and the other half are glad you're worse off than they are.

While you cannot control the economy or your competition, you can control your response to the economy. Referrals can keep your business alive and well during an economic downturn. During the last recession, I watched thousands of businesspeople grow and prosper. They were successful because they consciously made the decision to refuse to participate in a recession. They did so by developing their networking skills and learning how to build their business through word of mouth.

Don't let a bad economy be your excuse for failure. Instead, make it your opportunity to succeed. While others are looking at the problems, those of us looking for opportunities will not only get through a bad economy but will prosper.

BNI has grown through every previous recession because business people know that referrals are a key to their success and it is the most cost-effective form of advertising there is. NOW is the time to invite your closest business associates into BNI.

Read Dr. Misner's sequel to the above article at his www.NetworkingEntrepreneur.com blog.

Called the father of modern networking by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest New York Times best selling book, Masters of Sales, can be viewed at www.MastersBooks.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. He can be reached at misner@bni.com.



… and I Agree to Create Prosperity for Others and Myself!
It's about recommitting yourself to the basics of networking.
By Tim Houston, BNI Area Director, New York City Outer Boroughs

Dr. Ivan Misner has written an insightful-and timely-post on his blog, Networking Now, called "I Refuse to Participate in a Recession!" In the article, Dr. Misner writes:

"While you cannot control the economy or your competition, you can control your response to the economy. Referrals can keep your business alive and well during an economic downturn. During the last recession, I watched thousands of businesspeople grow and prosper. They were successful because they consciously made the decision to refuse to participate in a recession. They did so by developing their networking skills and learning how to build their business through word of mouth."

After reading these comments, I committed to not participate in the highly talked about recession. Instead, my response will be to create prosperity for others and myself during the economic downturn.

Here are three, simple ways I intend do just that—and so can you:

1. Restart a Relationship with Old Referrals Sources
Ideally, your business should be in constant contact with your referral sources. But there will be times when, for some reason, old referral sources may have stopped referring you or you may have stopped referring them. Perhaps you—or they—were "out of sight" and thus "out of mind." Whatever the reason the relationship has faded, reestablish the relationship: send them a handwritten letter, send a greeting card, make a phone call, or offer to take them to lunch or dinner.

2. Get a Referral for the Giver
All too often, someone refers a prospect to you, and the prospect becomes your client. You do a great job for them, and they are happy. Your source (the "giver") receives great feedback about the experience and you make money. That's nice for you … but what about the giver of that referral? What if there was a way for you to get the prospect to refer business to both the giver and you?

To generate more referrals from a prospect that was referred to you, lay the foundation for future referrals from the first minute you meet them by doing the following:

• Focus on and acknowledge the source of the referral by talking highly of them in your first meeting with the prospect. The giver referred the prospect to you; now your job is to bolster their credibility in the presence of the prospect.
• Talk about the giver's services/product to the prospect before you talk about your own. In advance, talk to the giver and ask, "What should I say to the prospect about you?" A third-party testimonial may help them to contact the giver to either buy the product or to refer someone to them. Plant seeds so that the prospect starts thinking outside of the transaction he/she has with you. You are seeking to create a win-win-win situation for all of the people involved: the giver, the prospect, and yourself.

3. Seek Referrals from Current and Former Clients—for Both Your Referral Partners and Yourself
Seems simple, right? Yet too many of us are so focused on getting new clients that we forget about the old ones—who are often times just as valuable if not more valuable than new ones. There's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking referrals from your current and former clients, provided that you have established a good relationship with them.

Do not ask for referrals immediately during the sales process or right after the sale. That turns people off. You don't want to pressure them by using the old, outdated technique of telling them to "refer three people who can use my services." Quite frankly, it places undue pressure on them.

As you develop the relationship with your client/customer/patient, you should make reference to the fact that you prefer to deal with people who are referred to you by satisfied customers/clients/patients. Show them testimonial letters and thank you notes from others who have referred business to you or were referred to you. Third-party testimonials not only help you to establish additional visibility and credibility, but they also act as a catalyst for your prospects to refer you business. It's the concept of Social Proof that Donald Trump and others use.

Generating referrals for your referral partners from your existing and former client base can be done in a simple way. When I opened my consulting practice in 1996, I sent a letter to my clients and everyone with whom I had a relationship that highlighted personal contacts who offered specific services. After I listed them, I told my contacts that if they ever needed the services of one of these professionals to please contact me for a personal introduction.

Many people did that. In turn, it helped me develop referrals for my referral partners. In many cases, I got a referral for people I did business with as well as for myself. I became known as the "go-to guy."

These three simple techniques should help you realize that you always have the ability to create prosperity for yourself and others, and you don't need to wait for a recession to do so. The payoff is priceless—and not just in terms of money. You will delight in the satisfaction of helping someone get what they want or need, and relationships (new and old) are improved. This is what Givers Gain is all about.

Tim Houston has been with BNI since 1996. Since 1999, he has been BNI's Area Director for the New York City Outer Boroughs Region, www.bniouterboros.com. His blog, SmallBizSaver.com, offers his observations on business in America that are very educational, inspirational, and confrontational—and at the very least entertaining. He can be reached at tmhouston@bni.com.

Housing stats imply its time to buy

According to a recent report from Global Insight, an economic and financial analysis forecasting firm, current housing statistics indicate that now is the right to time to buy.
They claim that the U.S. housing market as a whole is undervalued by 3.8 percent. Global Insight analyzed 330 metropolitan areas in the United States and found that 241 metro areas experienced price declines in the third quarter of 2008 in comparison to 150 metro areas in the second quarter.
The markets that were hardest hit were in areas that were most overvalued three years ago. This study, a combined effort by HIS Global Insight and National City Corporation represented 78 percent of all existing housing units in the United States.
Low intrest rates and increased affordability make today's market a buyer's dream!

Source: Global Insight (12/03/2008)

Tips for avoiding foreclosure fraud

1. Contact your lender as soon as you become delinquent.

2. Seek the advice of a competent real-estate professional or attorney, recommended by someone you know and trust.

3. Do not transfer the title to your home to a third party.

4. Contact government agencies that can help you. They can be found at www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm

5. Report any person or company who guarantees they will solve your problem. You can report real-estate fraud to the Utah Division of Real Estate at 801-530-6747 or by filing a complaint form: www.realestate.utah.gov/complaint_form.pdf.

Source: Utah Division of Real Estate

Reports of foreclosure fraud double

The number of reports of foreclosure fraud in Utah has doubled during the housing-market meltdown, and general complaints about real-estate schemes have increased 25 to 35 percent in the past year, the head of the state Division of Real Estate said Monday.
With so much turmoil, division director Mark Steinagel said his agency is offering advice to homeowners on how to avoid foreclosure scams, as the foreclosure rate in Utah has soared.
"A lot of the scams are repackaged schemes that have existed in the past," he said. "They're not new, but they are increasing in frequency."
A report this month from real-estate data firm RealtyTrac Inc. showed that the number of Utahns facing foreclosure increased by more than 136 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2007. Utah had the 10th-highest rate of foreclosure filings in the nation for the third quarter of 2008, with 4,867 people receiving at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September.
Steinagel said that while the number of homeowners struggling to keep their houses has increased drastically over the past year, so has the number of "fraudsters."

"They look for an opportunity, and they pounce on it," he said.
The crooks often hold themselves out as someone who can save people from losing their home. But in reality, the scam perpetrators are looking for vulnerable people, so they can "take their home or their money or their home equity," Steinagel said.
One of the main ways people can protect themselves is to verify licenses or credentials of people who offer help. If any red flags pop up, contact his agency, he said.
"If we are unable to take action against the person because what they are doing doesn't fall under our jurisdiction, then we have connections on the mortgage-fraud task force to do things," he said.

His division has compiled a list of the "Top Five Common Foreclosure Frauds." The top scam was people promising to save your credit by having you pay a fee and sign your home over to a third party. The scam perpetrators claim the foreclosure will be recorded against the third party. But in reality, the lender will record the foreclosure against the homeowner who does not pay as promised under the original mortgage.
Fraudsters also may offer to buy a homeowner's property and lease it back, with a promise the homeowner will have the option to buy it back. Fraudsters prey on trusting individuals to get access to their home equity, title, credit or money, the division said.
Crooks will sometimes say they have "a special relationship" with banks and can solve homeowners' problems quickly with no harm to their credit. Such claims are usually false, and there are no easy solutions to foreclosure, the division said.
Consumers also should be wary of offers of a "guaranteed short sale" that will "save" a homeowner's credit rating. Short sales can be a legal, effective method for preventing a foreclosure, but they are not guaranteed to be accepted by a lender, and they can affect a homeowner's credit.

Scam perpetrators sometimes urge homeowners to claim bankruptcy, the division said. But legitimate financial advisors typically recommend bankruptcy only as an absolute last resort, so consumers should weigh all alternatives before pursuing that option.
"One of the important things is for people to turn on their warning lights," Steinagel said. "When you're vulnerable, realize there are ways to protect yourself."

Why A Chicago Real Estate Developer Is Setting Its Sights On Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City might pale in comparison to the high-rise office towers of Chicago, home to three of the world’s 20 tallest buildings. But it is a Chicago commercial real estate development firm that has set its sights on Salt Lake City and will soon change the city’s skyline forever. It all started more than a decade ago when Ron Lunt found himself spending the night in downtown Salt Lake City after being bumped from a Delta flight. "The next day I was walking around downtown," said Lunt, a partner at Hamilton Partners, a Chicago-based commercial real estate developer. "At that time the American Stores building on Main Street was under construction and it looked pretty good. The One Utah Center looked nice, but there wasn’t a lot of other good office space downtown." When Lunt returned to Illinois he asked Bruce Bingham, also a partner at Hamilton, to research Salt Lake City’s market. "From what I saw we could certainly compete," Lunt said. "And my sense was that the market was in pretty good shape." In fact, at a value of $2.23 billion, 1997 turned out to be a record year for Utah’s commercial real estate scene, according to James Wood, director of the University of Utah’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Driving the city’s growth back then was the ambitious construction of the 21,000-seat Conference Center by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In addition, construction had started on the Grand America, a 775-room five-star hotel that the Wall Street Journal touted as rivaling New York City’s best hotels. Today, with the ongoing construction of the $1.5 billion City Creek Center, a 20-acre mixed-use development of retail, residential and office space, 2008 is on track to setting a second-place finish in commercial valuation to 1997’s record performance year. Such activity prompted Hamilton partners to invest in Salt Lake City. Not only is the Chicago developer constructing a new office tower, but the company has purchased several downtown landmarks including the Broadway Centre at 300 South State Street, the Lollin and Kerrick buildings on Main Street, and the Newhouse and Boston buildings on Exchange Place. In fact, Hamilton Partners recently completed a $10 million renovation to the Boston Building, a 100-year-old tower that is considered one of Salt Lake City’s first skyscrapers. "We are very bullish on Salt Lake City," said Bingham, who is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the Downtown Alliance of Salt Lake City, a non-profit organization that represents more than 2,500 business and property owners in a 40-block area of the city’s central business district. "We believe that 222 South Main represents an element of the renaissance of Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City probably had its downtown heyday in the 1950s. It was really downhill from there." However, according to Lane Beattie, president and chief executive officer of the Salt Lake Chamber, the city’s restoration is in full swing. "Four years ago there were four projects in the downtown area approved or under construction," Beattie said. "Today there are 54 projects under construction including condos, warehouses, offices, restaurants and hotels. Those projects are in addition to the City Creek Center." Driving new population growth in the downtown area is the addition of 750 residential units in five new towers in the City Creek Center, according to a recent report by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Currently, Salt Lake City’s central business district has roughly 3,700 housing units, about 1 percent of Salt Lake County’s total housing inventory. The 3,700 housing units provide housing for roughly 7,500 residents. But the number of residents living in the
downtown area is projected to grow to more than 10,000 people by 2011, according to the BEBR report. Tom Colemere, principal broker of Colemere Realty Associates based in Salt Lake City and a member of the board of directors of the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®, believes downtown Salt Lake City will have a completely different feel and look in the next three years.
"City Creek will change the face of Salt Lake City," Colemere said. "I don’t recall ever seeing that much activity in downtown Salt Lake City in my 25 years as a commercial broker." Barbara Johnson, a commercial real estate agent with NAI Utah, said downtown’s resurgence can be traced, in part, because of the LDS Church’s commitment in protecting its interests and keeping the area in order. "That is known and understood by businesses across the country," Johnson said. "They know that Salt Lake City will always be vibrant so they have a lot of faith and confidence in driving their business to a city such as Salt Lake." Johnson also attributes Salt Lake’s strong commercial growth to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has set economic growth at the top of his agenda." Huntsman has been so successful with bringing people and organizations together. That’s one of the major reasons that I see that is driving business," she said. "We’ve got an active government that is pro-business and will do everything they can do to get business to Utah. That is very helpful for the commercial market." Indeed, Utah consistently ranks at the top when it comes to business rankings. In July, Forbes magazine placed Utah at the No. 2 spot for "The Best States For Business." In a separate report in July, CNBC ranked Utah the No. 3 Top State for Business. Utah received high marks in the cost of doing business, its workforce, the economy, quality of life, and business friendliness. Last year the Boston-based Beacon Hill Institute ranked Utah the most economic competitive state in the nation. Those favorable business conditions are driving new job growth in Utah’s professional and business sector, which in June saw a 2.1 percent increase (more than 3,300 new jobs created) compared to last year, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. That is good news to commercial brokerage firms like CB Richard Ellis, the listing agent for 222 South Main, which has already signed three lease agreements in 222 South Main that secure more than 20 percent of the tower’s 425,000 square feet of office space. The building is expected to be completed in late 2009. "One of the things about this building that is so important is that it is designed by the world-renowned and internationally awarded architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill," Bingham said. "On I-15 at night you see an orange triangle from the pyramid on top of the One Utah Center and you see some blue lines from the Wells Fargo Center. In between that there is going to be a white rectangle with a three-story glass veil at the top that is going to glow like a lantern at night. The architects who did this have designed a building that is going to be an icon and a real addition to the skyline."

Dave Anderton is the public relations director for the Salt Lake Board of Realtors

Home Buyers Hopeful About Market

An online survey of potential home buyers found that 44 percent believe the real estate market will improve once the new president takes office. In the meantime, 81 percent say they remain nervous about the current market.Respondents cite a variety of barriers to buying a home: 28 percent say they are stymied by the cost of a down payment; 20 percent are concerned about their income level, and 31 percent (39 percent in the West) say home prices are still too high.Practical reasons motivate these potential buyers. A quarter say they need more space; 17 percent have gotten married, had a baby or experienced some other life-stage change, while 9 percent want to downsize.Seventy-eight percent say they are willing to save or earn extra money for the down payment and are willing to compromise on amenities in their new home to make it more affordable.Harris Interactive conducted the survey for Move Inc., which operates Move.com and REALTOR.com.
Source: Move Inc.

Bank of America CEO: Lenders Must Step In

The CEO of Bank of America Kenneth D. Lewis called on the lending industry to avoid foreclosure and “help borrowers manage through the current crisis.”

He told 175 California business and lending professionals at a conference this week that now is the time for the lending industry to "return to a more disciplined view of risk standards that will protect everyone from a repetition of what we are going through today."

Bank of America sidestepped the mortgage market meltdown by avoiding subprime loans, but it recently acquired Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender and a company that was whip-lashed by its subprime lending practices.

So far this year, Lewis says Countrywide has worked to help nearly 100,000 customers remain in their homes.

"If borrowers can afford to pay market rates and want to stay in their homes, we can and do work with them to make that happen, even when it means modifying the terms of a loan they can no longer afford,” he says.

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune (07/08/08)

Builders Bank on Turnaround, Buy Up Land

Builders, including Lennar Corp, KB Home, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc, Meritage Homes Corp., are back buying and developing land again.

Lennar spent $162 million on new land in the second quarter and will spend at least $200 million more by the end of the fourth quarter, JP Morgan analyst Michael Rehaut wrote in a note to clients. KB expects to spend $300 million on land and $400 million on land development this year, Rehaut said.

Hovnanian is working on a land development joint venture, company spokesman Jeffrey O'Keefe says. And Meritage is "beginning to shift from defense to offense," looking to buy land in the second half of the year, wrote Wachovia analyst Carl Reichardt after meeting with Meritage management.

In theory, buying land now is a smart move, said Todd Lowenstein of HighMark Value Momentum Fund, which owns 187,000 shares of Pulte Homes Inc.

"You have to be a predator in these down markets to position yourself for the upturn," he said.

Source: Reuters News, Helen Chernikoff (07/10/08)

Riverton City Taxes go up!

By Amy Choate-NielsenDeseret News
Published: Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:10 a.m. MDT
RIVERTON — Hard times have fallen on Riverton.Like many other cities feeling the crunch of a faltering economy and skyrocketing fuel prices, Riverton is considering increasing property taxes by more than 200 percent to fill a gap in the city’s revenue caused by evaporating new construction.
Mayor Bill Applegarth trimmed about $700,000 from the 2007-08 budget, and five city employees — including the public works director — have been laid off, but still, the city needs an additional $1 million in revenue, Applegarth says. The city currently receives about $460,000 in property-tax revenue, which is roughly 2 percent of the total tax bill property owners in Riverton pay.
“Our problem isn’t expenditures, it’s revenue stream,” Applegarth said. “We’ve had, in the past, a high building rate of residents. The last fiscal year we were right around 1,000 residential building permits for the year. This year we’ll be right around 100 building permits. You can see that revenue stream has dropped a great deal.”
The city’s projections for sales-tax revenue is $700,000 short, and the city is running on a loss of about $1.5 million in new construction fees from its 2006-07 budget. All but $800,000 of the city’s rainy day fund has been tapped to supplement the 2007-08 budget, and Applegarth says he doesn’t want to deplete those funds any further.

The city commissioned a survey of 454 Riverton residents in April to gauge how receptive residents would be to a potential tax increase of about $8 a month — or $96 a year, for an average home valued at about $330,000 — on the city portion of property owners’ property-tax bill. About 59 percent of residents polled in the survey said they would be willing to pay the increase to keep the same level of city services, including 6 percent who said they would pay the increase if no other sources of revenue could be found.Applegarth is quick to point out that Riverton residents pay some of the lowest property taxes in the state — even if the increase is approved the city will still be lower than most of its neighbors — and he is emphatic that he hates suggesting raising taxes, but the mayor is comforted by the statistics of the survey.
“If I had not had the support of the people to increase property taxes I never would have taken that budget to the council,” Applegarth said. “We’re dealing with the people’s money and people need to make decisions on how they feel about services. … If (the survey) had come back that over 50 percent of us wanted to cut services, that’s what my budget would have reflected.”
Some residents are skeptical that a majority of residents would support such a dramatic tax increase — and that the city really needs the revenue. Resident Bill Cox says he thinks the survey of 454 residents was misleading and manipulative. His wife was one of the 454 polled, but he does not support a 230 percent increase.
“With the economy being so bad, I don’t think it’s the best idea,” Cox said. “I think operations need to pull back. If they can’t cover costs for essential city services, then they should go to the residents. But a 300 percent increase at once? That’s a lot.”The city will have one more public hearing on Aug. 12 before the new tax rate is approved by the city. In the meantime, each property owner should receive a property-tax notice in early August detailing how much the increase would cost them.
Former City Councilwoman Lisa Mariano says she can see how the increase will hurt, but she understands why the city would need to raise the tax.
“In terms of percentage, (the tax increase) looks huge, but in terms of money, that’s the least of my worries,” Mariano said. “I know no one wants to pay more than they have to right now, everything is tight, but everything is tight all the way around, and it’s tight on the council, too.”