How much will my taxes go up in Millbrook? [Real NEastate]

Q: I bought my home in Millbrook in December, and I just got my AVI assessment from the city. It says my value in 2013 is 110,200 and then it says my 2014 value will be $255,000! That is a huge increase. I already paid $3,446 this year in taxes. How much will my taxes go up in 2014?

A. The future of our property taxes in Northeast Philly in 2014 depends on a new tax rate, which still needs to be established. It also depends on whether or not you have applied for, and if your property is eligible for, the Homestead Exemption. It also depends on how much off your value the city will end up honoring for a Homestead Exemption.

Our taxable values before the Actual Value Initiative were based on a different tax rate, so now that the Actual Value is on deck for 2014, the city will be changing the old tax rate. You can make your estimations with this AVI calculator provided by the City of Philadelphia or the map from AxisPhilly. But these are just estimates because we don’t know what the tax rate will be until it gets passed by City Council.

If the tax rate ends up being 1.34 percent, it looks like you should expect your taxes to go down in 2014. If you don’t get the Homestead Exemption, your taxes may be $29, or 1 percent lower, but if you are eligible for the Homestead Exemption, your taxes may go down $431, or be 13 percent lower. The Homestead Exemption is expected to reduce your taxable value by $30,000, but that number could change. If you haven’t already, you should make an application for the Homestead Exemption.

Stacey McCarthy is a real estate agent with the McCarthy Group of Keller Williams. Her Real NEastate column appears every Wednesday on NEastPhilly.com. See others here. Read other NEast Philly columns here.