A $100,000 home bought in California in 1980 will not be taxed at $100,000 in 2024. That is misleading. They allow a maximum 2% increase per year which they apply each and every year regardless of whether property values are increasing or decreasing.
My home was purchased in 1992 and the assessed value has doubled, which is still less than what is it worth. But it is surprising how much that 2% each and every year adds.
From a buyer perspective, though, I respect the privacy factor of not disclosing purchase price. I don’t want the world to know what I paid for a property. The current owner of course is part of the public record.
When assessing comparables it may not be relevant to current market values, anyway.
my little city of 8,000 collects 2 cents (2%) on just taxable sales within the city which adds up to just under $1,100,000 collect each Month
@Alterration I haven’t gone through what you are talking about but your post means so much to me. First, I’m so sorry for all your pain and sadness. After a lifetime in horses, having them at home growing up, boarding for 22 years, finally building and having them at home, I’ve been shocked at how hard it is physically. I keep feeling Amish. 
Like, is this what it’s like to be Amish?
But your post helps me realize what a gift it is and relish it and dig in because it will all end. All this horsiness will end for all of us at some point.
And yes, pain. Wow, I’d never felt it and these last couple years I’ve gotten a taste and boy is it a buzzkill. The last couple days I’m chasing my back thinking of seizing up and keep digging with my hard rubber ball and stretching and working and finally have it hopefully reversing those thoughts. But gee, this never used to happen.
You are someone I would want to know. Your history and taking in the troubled horses tells me so much about you and your gifts and kindness. I’m so happy you have a good place to land for your horses and I agree to euthanize your loved one(s) that it’s best. Yes, people who don’t understand have opinions and they don’t know. You know.
I’d love to hear your stories when you settle down and get through all this maybe you’ll start another thread about your life of adventure doing all this.
We are your people. 
Thank you PaddockWood - your words are so kind and yes! I would love to get to know you as well.
I always felt like that too (Amish) on the days I would be sunburnt and scratched up by hay, dog-tired and with about a 3” layer of grime everywhere. And always hurting from something - if it wasn’t an actual injury it was just bone-weariness.
Today I took the one horse who I was in the process of restarting to a trainer friend of mine. He settled quickly and I am relieved - I was a bit worried about him as he is more than a little quirky. That is where I’ll be taking my other horse too, when it’s time, and so it was nice to have something to look forward to.
Now comes the process of getting rid of stuff. I have so much of it. Between tack and years of just living so much stuff shows up. But thank heavens we have a dumpster and the DH and I are going to get started pitching with impunity 
We’ll donate plenty, but it will feel good to offload some of this.
OMG me too. I can’t believe the stuff I found in my barn this week. When did I even buy 5 bridles? I only ever had 2 horses ridden at the same time.
see: “which bases the tax rate (and increases) on the purchase price of the property.”
and also: “Which means, for a purchaser, the ongoing cost of property tax is relatively knowable over time,” which was the point of the post. Few surprises.
here that would be true for the Taxable Value but the Tax Rates are adjusted yearly as to the needs of the taxing district
The property is appraised at a value then the jurisdictions or taxing units Each sets its own tax rate to generate revenue based upon the appraised value
Check with local horse rescues, please … if they don’t use this stuff, some will sell donations for funds. 
Oh of course!! Once I sort things.
In addition to the things I brought to the farm, the previous owners and boarders left 20 years worth of stuff that may or may not be any good. It’s a LOT of stuff.
When we purged most of our horse stuff, we had two riding bridles and multiple saddles and pads. No one had ridden any of our horses for years. I had a longe line that got used once; the pony took off and I couldn’t hold onto him. DH built me a round pen and I used that from then on, free longeing. I had a beautiful harness for a pony that had been euthanized years before, and halters for all the horses, but only one pony was still alive. I lived in an equine subdivision, so all we had to do was say “free tack” and it all got scooped up. We did sell the two best saddles, but not for much.
Then when the last pony died of old age related issues, I gave all his stuff to the BO where he lived at the time. I don’t know what she was going to do with a Colorado weight blanket in South Carolina, but she said she’d take it. She liked his halter and grooming tools, so that was good.
Rebecca
If there are any 4H clubs anywhere near you, they always can use stuff. Not just horse tack, barn tools, buckets anything that can be used for livestock and their upkeep. They come get it too.
I had to do my downsizing during the first months of the pandemic. No donating anything, really.
I got rid of some furniture and big stuff to neighbors on the mountain, but I had to pitch most of it in the dumpster. Terribly wasteful but it just had to be done.
It has made me much more aware of what I purchase and what I just shove in a cabinet thinking I will deal with it “later.”
Hi, all. In case anyone needs a good cause to support with their extra “stuff”, I co-host a St. Jude event. We do a silent auction which is where we try to earn money for St. Jude. We also do a trail ride with lunch on the trail. We sure could use some auction items! (Horse related, dog related, farm related, just about anything!) Please feel free to send me a PM if you wish.
Thanks!
Estate sales company.
Doesn’t hurt to have them out, get some information, maybe an estimate.
Good estate sales companies have sales channels that are closely watched by people who buy – let us say, offbeat items, out-of-date items, etc.
Anything that you don’t want, the estate sales company makes it disappear. They sell it or discard it. They leave behind an empty house/property.
The best one locally will go through drawers and look in closets and bins, all that stuff. Before they come, you take just what you want to keep. They make the rest go away, however that happens.
In your case you want to find one that deals with farm stuff. Even old, rusty, out-of-date stuff – it is crazy the people who will come, take it, and leave their money behind.
There is a charge for the estate crew’s time to clear every item from the property. The sales proceeds may cover that charge, or it may fall short and you make up the rest. But at the end, it is done. 
If you can find charities that do similar things as an estate sales company, that’s a good way to go, too.
Find out if any of the equine rescues in your area take donations. Some rescues will take all kinds of stuff, not to use, but to sell to benefit the rescue.
Thank you all! Haven’t managed any decluttering yet but we got the tall boy settled at the new farm and oh man am I enjoying being a client.
I show up, watch her longe him, help with a bath (he’s kind of green and the wash rack is new and scary!), hold for a grooming so he doesn’t roll, sit and socialize for a bit and go home.
I didn’t have to touch hay, nothing to clean or tidy - it was lovely. His stall was immaculate, his water buckets full, nothing to sweep or mutter at. He has a run so he can go in and out and I don’t have to worry about him doing something stupid in the pasture (this one was made for show horse life). I was still clean enough to go out to eat afterward without changing
There was nothing on my perpetual running to do list like I have at my farm. I don’t look around her farm and tally up all the things that need to be done - I’m sure she has them too, but it is different when it isn’t your to do list. I didn’t notice every single one of her weeds or every cobweb, or whatever. And not that she has a weedy, cobwebby, farm (nor do I), it is just that when it is yours all that sh*t weighs on you.
What I pay in board and training is a tiny fraction of the cost and concern of owning a barn. I knew that already, but wow was the contrast stark. The mental overhead is just so much.
Then I was thinking - oh man - if she is doing all the “risky” work and I’m just showing up as a client, I might actually be able to keep this horse too - her barn is super affordable for what I get and he isn’t a terrible horse (a little quirky, but I’ve always had quirky so it doesn’t bother me).
If he is in daily training and he is prepped for me, the chances of me coming off are significantly slimmer. He is headed for a different division than my other horse, the one I was planning on keeping, so it could work. I don’t have to ride him until he is ready.
And it isn’t like I’ve lost my actual riding skills, just can’t take the beating that riding and working multiple green horses a day takes any more. Now I can work on my fitness in a controlled environment (so I don’t lose that) and still maybe ride!
Right now it is offsetting the pain of selling the farm a little to live in this luxury. I can have my horse clean and gorgeous and worked and I don’t have to lift a finger. If I go on vacation, they still get worked. If I can’t ride for a week because I’m busy at work, they still get worked. I mean, come on - how awesome is that.
I was inspired enough to come home and longe and groom the other boy that I’m keeping - I had been avoiding working them in part because it felt so raw. Almost like if I could just keep them at arms length then I wouldn’t feel so sad about everything.
But I feel so much better now and want him to be in decent shape so when the farm sells and I move this one, we will be able to hit the ground running.
Now if we could just figure out where we want to live, then it will make things so much easier.
You are doing it the right way – first find the best available place for your horse, then find a place for you nearby.
There are many more places for people to live than horses. Through relocations I finally figured out to locate a place for the horse(s) first! LOL
We don’t have our place up for sale yet but are doing repairs and working toward that goal in a few years. I had to look and make sure I didn’t write your post because it sure sounds like I could have.
Getting old sucks and so does having old injuries and such come home to roost.
It’s been hard for me to accept as well, but I just keep telling myself that I had a good run and just need to slow down before I end up in a wheelchair. We had a good run, didn’t we?
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