Look out for rising rental prices in the Juneau housing market, as Juneau homeowners are experiencing sticker shock from the City and Borough of Juneau’s new property assessments. Some homeowners are saying their property value increased as much as 40%.
The average increase in assessments for single-family homes in Juneau is 16%, driven by high demand and a low supply of new homes, as well as rapidly rising building costs, the city said. However, the pain is not being felt evenly, with some modest residences seeing assessment increases of over $100,000.
A citizens’ initiative that was successful in Juneau last year, repealed the mandatory disclosure of real estate sales figures to the City Assessor. The Assessor’s Office is now being accused by some of seeking revenge on the voters by increasing real estate values, which are used to set property taxes. The values are part of the mill-rate formula.
The median home value in Juneau is $355,100, with homeowners paying an average of $3,492 in property taxes to the City and Borough of Juneau. The Assessor’s Office defended the increases in its report, citing the high demand for homes, low supply of new homes, and rapidly rising building costs as driving factors. The report notes that the national residential housing market has begun to soften following a peak in June 2022, but there is no clear evidence that this trend is occurring at a local level.
The increase in property values is a result of homes being sold for more than their asking price due to multiple offers and escalating contingencies from buyers trying not to be outbid, the report said. Some homes were even purchased with additional cash above and beyond what could be financed based on a market appraisal. The Assessor’s Office warns that inflationary pressures and low liquidity in the marketplace will continue to drive sale prices within the Juneau market to higher levels.
Commercial properties saw an increase of about 6%, the Assessor’s Office said.
In 17 years my taxes have gone from$900 to $3600.
Same house 900sgft. 1953 Spenard edition.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
From a 1952 Spenard edition with the same issue and same sqft!
Ridiculous, is it not?
This is why we should have a sales tax only and no property tax. Everybody should pay taxes as they use the infrastructure. This way nonprofits churches, and all the other IRS workarounds would end. We don’t want to taxes we just want a sales tax that way when these non-voters go to the store and ask what happened, they could be told That they happened.
” high demand for homes, low supply of new homes” The capitol of a state with 571,951 sq mi sq mi has a lack of housing? Maybe the land to build houses on is too expensive. Who controls it?
An essential aspect of creating a “15 minute city” is making sure the residents can’t afford to go anywhere.
They were always after your funds. It’s what anti-property rights democrats always do. Better switch sides before it is too late. Vote them out and keep your funds instead.
Those electric buses aren’t cheap in Juneau. Especially when you buy a few more after the first one failed! Then again, if you’re spending other people’s money (property taxes), it’s not painful at all.
When there are hard times for the average American, that is when the fleecing begins. Fuel, food, etc.
Anchorage get ready. Tax assessments are continuing to rise over the past few years. The argument will be inflation and what not.
So how much does it cost to keep the capital hid out and inaccessible by the vast majority of Alaskan voters?? Should have been moved the last 2 times we the people voted to move it.
Good for Juneau it couldn’t happen to a better city. I hope it’s just the start because liberals love other people’s money. The unions need all they can get to stay in power.
Juneau’s government is bloated like many others through out the State i note no comment about any plan to cut Government or efforts to make what you have work better.!!!
Sadly, nothing new here. The listed reasons are accurate, but there are the softer, slimier ones.
-the insatiable desire by the city fathers to make us into a socialist utopia with other peoples money. Money they don’t have.
-plain old fashioned pettiness.
-absentee owners who use us as write offs. They neither know nor care the effect they have on a shrinking community.
-the hoops necessary to build new homes is so annoying it’s not worth the effort.
-the eco fascist who’s insistence on not one more tree being cut down.
-Juneau is the home of NIMBY. With the understanding the progressives think CBJ as a whole is their back yard.
-the ongoing battles with native corps over boundaries.
There is ample room out the road and on Douglas to build enough modest single family homes to put an end to this issue. There are enough areas downtown to make a dent in it. But it doesn’t happen.
Why?
A sad mix of who moved my cheese, we like things exactly as they are, and will the right people benefit.
Juneau would prefer to die a slow death the make the smallest adaptations to status quo.
The single thing that would free us up space for people. Move the capital to the Kenai road system.
This happened in my community as well. Many have said they moved to AK to get away from this type of arbitrary theft by the state. It stops when we no longer abide it. Have you had enough yet?
Coming soon, to a theater near you. Even the partial tax exemption provided to the elderly won’t help unless you live in a trailer. But don’t worry, there’s many young “handicapped” people who are willing to pay subsidized rent. They are the ones with the new SUVs and the free groceries and subscriptions.
Mathematics doesn’t seem to be your strong suit Trig. Heheh!
No matter how you slice it that partial exemption still will hold for the elderly but your “won’t help” might be some sort of code that only you understand, eh? And, by the way, that exemption is $150k that is subtracted from the total assessed value (whether/not you live in a trailer).
Your turn.
Nothing against trailers,seen some nice ones. Rebuilt my family home many years ago and since Mayor Mark started jacking the assessments and including chicken coups, storage shacks and decks, my 125k hillbilly palace is now being taxed at 510k, so the 150k subtraction doesn’t help. Nobody in their right mind would pay what they value, especially since the municipality requires now that older homes be brought up to modern code in order to sell.
You keep saying this $150k exemption doesn’t help but I also get this exemption that resulted in my saving $1584 on my property tax bill paid last September. You also would have saved that same amount, based on Juneau’s total mill rate of 10.56.
Like I said earlier Trig, mathematics is not something you consider so it must be something else that drives your thinking.
$1500+ savings is not chopped liver in my book and clearly helps IMO.
Sorry, guess you get representation for your taxation where you live. I live in Chugiak.
Tough luck.
According to the Alaska Department of Labor, the population of the CBJ is static with a nominal decline over the period 2020 to 2022. Over the last decade, population has declined. I suspect that the leaders at the CBJ, when faced with increasing desire for revenue, have simply decided to increase the valuations without adjusting the mill rate. I recall that residents of the CBJ have the highest average income in the state. My callous reaction: You’all voted for this.
Correction: My old eyes did not read the data correctly. There was a very slight increase in population in the CBJ since 2010.
We need to convert empty commercial properties to housing, as the Dems have created SO much empty commercial space here. Then their rent subsidized voters can live there.
George, sorry, but code requirements render converting commercial to residential seldom feasible in the market. Its usually cheaper to demolish and build new.
Typical Socialist nightmare.
Ditch Juneau, move the capitol to the Matsu, Wasilla/palmer. Larger area then Anchorage, and more reasonable sensible folk.
acfak: Sure you can have the capitol, plenty of us here in Juneau would be glad to see it go. Just don’t forget that the socialists are going to come with it….
When Democrats want more money and the voters say no to raining rates, they simply raise the property value assessments.
It couldn’t happen to a better city. I think the price should be higher. The unions need their money, and the peasants need to pay. Got what you voted for.
Mari, we didn’t actually vote for these people. We have a “tabulation house” on the outskirts of town where all the ballots are tabulated. Suprise, Democrat sweeps every election.
Say there Jimbo, you complained when the votes were tabulated in Los Anchorage and now you think they are “cooked” locally. Make up your mind. Heheh!
They should have sticker shock. It’s the most expensive real estate in Alaska. Many of those who occupy those spaces think they are better than, and should run over, the rest of the people who live in Alaska. This couldn’t happen to a better group. How much more in property taxes will they have to pay to a local government who feels no compulsion to control spending before they say, “enough is enough?”
Haaaa rollo! You’re right there. The people In Juneau absolutely decide what goes on in your life. Of you want to be a part of it then move to Juneau alaska. That’s where the government is. Move down there and be a part of it. Or sit up north and whine… like the rest of these digital pusssies
Juneau’s entire planning and building department is an absolute mess so I could only imagine what the accessors office is like… archaic! I have built all over the world and it was easier to get something done in Russia after the Iron Curtain fell then it is here; seriously. We have been waiting 6 months for a meeting about a conditional use permit and our neighbor, whose husband fell ill, were trying to turn their garage into an apartment so their daughter w family could move in and help care for him. Well over a year later they pulled their request….because he died. City of Houston with over 3 million people I can walk into planning and permits and no matter the issue walk out around 8 hrs later with a permit in hand. Juneau with a population barely breaking 30 thousand and well who really knows how long anything truly takes because it’s a crapshoot.
The State/STATE should pay the property tax since they claim to own everything – Senate Document #43; SENATE RESOLUTION #62 (page 9) April 17, 1933. The Borough does not record anyone’s property as private.
They “register” it as “residential” which does not mean private. Anything registered becomes their property, not yours and you have to pay the Borough protection money every year. The BOROUGHS claim to be MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS, and therefore, are subject to 22 U.S.C.A. 286e where it states that a government, by becoming a “corporation” lays down its sovereignty and takes on that character and status of a private citizen. It’s like Walmart charging your fictional Person/PERSON and if you don’t pay they can run you off your property. It makes no sense at all.
Another area Alaska has unsecured the US Constitution respecting private property rights. Private property rights are paramount in our republic. If we can’t have all our property rights what are we working for. INVEST HERE?
Acfak, I hope you are joking about moving the Capitol to the Mat- Su. I say this because the Capitol comes with the disease of Government. This disease is highly infectious and the symptoms are devastating. I doubt you want to be coughing up your money and sweating profusely while your joints are racked with political pain. I say leave this disease Quarantined in Juneau. However, if you must move the damn thing, move it to Gulkana.
Palmer is a lovely place. Why destroy its inner beauty with the plague of politics?
Because the people of the Matsu are immune to the sickness and won’t stand for liberal politics, that’s why. The plague can be cured and those who spread it can sit right under the watchful eye of the people where they can’t hide from the common man way out in an isolated island. Fear of the people keeps politicians in line.
acfak, Sir with all due respect, there isn’t a cure for this disease called Government. Hubris upon your part cannot change that fact. Please refer to Madison’s copious notes and pay special attention to the debates regarding the formation of a National Capitol. Our Founders had no delusions about human nature and the direction that a National Capitol would take.
The citizens of the Mat- Su are no more immune than the good people anywhere else to this scourge.
Please, let’s keep this plague far far away.
Hey, Tok is a good spot, what do you think? Lovely weather in January, pretty flat too.
acfak, oh forgot to mention, that isolated island, if you meant Juneau, that island is called the North American Continent. ?
So the same community that wants 500 thousand dollars for a run down home or 150 thousand for a trailer is mad because they have high property taxes?
What I don’t understand is why the increase due to building supplies. Have the costs for the local government gone up that much. I mean what does the price of materials have to do with the price of the tax. so someone’s going to pay more to build a house and now they have to pay you more in taxes because they paid more to build the house.
This is just assessments Joshua, taxes come when the mill rate is determined (depends on budget). The assessments are an attempt at determining actual value and values tend to go up when building supplies go up (costs per square foot).
Anyway, the argument goes like if the assessments go up and budgets remain the same then it’s likely the mill rate would be reduced. That said, if building supplies go up then likely inflation is up and the budget would also likely go up, as well. Get my drift?
Bill, I respectfully take exception to your assertion the mill rate “depends on the budget.” Rather, it should actually be the inverse—the budget should depend upon the mill rate and assessments.
Your “should” is something else entirely Wayne but the assessments are largely known and the budget and mill rate are determined by different folks with the budget coming first with the mill rate politically determined by assembly.
Do you know of other communities that do it your way?
If assessments and mill rate are a known known then their determinations will effectively determine the budget leaving it essentially worthless, by itself IMO.
acfak, oh forgot to mention, that isolated island, if you meant Juneau, that island is called the North American Continent. ?
I knew it was coming. They hit the commercial properties a few years back with 50% increases. Many lawsuits were filed but I don’t know the outcomes thanks to our wonderful, unbiased media here. Mine went way up but I am going to refute it and push, push, push.
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