We actually have nothing, good or bad, to say about death except that it's inevitable. Just like taxes.
We just paid our property taxes, having heard rumblings from friends about large increases this year. We thought maybe it was just in the rich areas up north, but no, the increase has hit our centro area as well.
We have yet to be billed -- sometimes they bring us one instead of two bills and some years, no bills at all. The property tax assessments are not mailed, but get put into our mail box randomly. So to be safe, we are proactive about paying our taxes. And, yes, this year, the costs have doubled for the properties we own.
We are among the few people we know who put the actual purchase price on our documents when we bought the two properties -- most people value houses well below what they pay, for no apparent reason since there is no capital gains tax if you live in the house when you sell it. That means that the only reason people falsify purchase prices is to avoid paying more in property taxes (an exception to this is if you've bought your house through a Mexican corporation and then there is a reaon to lie about the purchase price -- a 30% capital gains tax for the corporation upon sale).
Our assessed value has only just caught up to the purchase prices two years later, and actually exceeded one of the purchase prices. These are, of course, still well below market value since our remodeling is not reflected at all (valuation is about $140,000 US). May it always be so!!
Our property taxes are not due until the end of February. But by being so forthcoming with our money and paying this month, we saved 10% of the property tax bill.
Last year, for both parts of the house, we paid 1067 pesos or around $100 US. And this year, after the discount, we paid 2198 pesos or about $210 US. HARD to complain!!! Especially when we remember paying Glenview taxes not so long ago!
We have hopes that this increase will not only benefit the municipality by increased revenues and therefore better services for those who need them, but also that some of the homeowners whose property is run down and crumbling, but who have held on to it since it hardly costs them anything in taxes to do so, will be encouraged to sell out to interested gringos who will rehabilitate the properties.
Imagine being OK with paying increased property taxes!!!!!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Beginning the new year...2008
Finally, we are settling in after a wonderful trip north for Christmas holidays with family (note the two brothers toasting), and many good friends. We were delighted to see lots of daughter Marilla (at left with
Grandpa and Ford) and her boyfriend Rhodri. Sisters-in-law Carol and Tricia took care of Christmas dinner with Santa and Christmas brunch with chidren. It was bitter (to us) cold in Chicago area and both Eva and I got colds (since we are opposites, hers was a chest cold with complete loss of voice while mine was a sinus infection with bloody noses) that seemed to last and last until we’d been back home in Merida for a few days and the moisture and perfect temperatures here worked their magic on our bodies.
We came home to a “new” house. We had engaged painters while we were gone to repaint really every square inch of wall and fix some crumbly walls outside the kitchen and in the garage/service area before painting those. Jose supervised and cleaned around them and was cute enough to hang back up our art pieces, although not necessarily in the right places or even in the right rooms. One of his selections, however, we are considering keeping since he improved on where we’d chosen to place one piece!! Once Jose has the chance to really clean the floors (damned polvo (dust from sanding the walls)), we will get settled in completely. We kept all the same colors, just fresher and in some cases, a tone deeper, so we are yellower and oranger than before. We also painted the wall of the upper terrace, which had been concrete colored and now is orange, and the garage and service areas, which also had been just concrete and are now a pale pale blue that really looks white. It is fun here in Mexico to use bright colors, brighter for sure than what we’d dare to use in Illinois (and this from a woman who painted her house cornflower blue with a pink front door!!).
Our outdoor dining table, which had been painted turquoise
after having served our workers who built the house as “their” table) , had been looking pretty shabby. The last time Sandy sanded and painted this table and it was fun and funky but had some divots from lack of elbox grease and just didn’t pop. Well, now it does!! We decided that it would look better in a shade of purple since we have picked up orange elsewhere in pillows and yellow just would not work. Our curtains and seat cusions outside are shades of orange, yellow, and purple, so we were matching those plus our purple chairs inside and lots of purple in various paintings. Again, we asked Jose to do this while we were gone and we are thrilled with the results.
We came home to a “new” house. We had engaged painters while we were gone to repaint really every square inch of wall and fix some crumbly walls outside the kitchen and in the garage/service area before painting those. Jose supervised and cleaned around them and was cute enough to hang back up our art pieces, although not necessarily in the right places or even in the right rooms. One of his selections, however, we are considering keeping since he improved on where we’d chosen to place one piece!! Once Jose has the chance to really clean the floors (damned polvo (dust from sanding the walls)), we will get settled in completely. We kept all the same colors, just fresher and in some cases, a tone deeper, so we are yellower and oranger than before. We also painted the wall of the upper terrace, which had been concrete colored and now is orange, and the garage and service areas, which also had been just concrete and are now a pale pale blue that really looks white. It is fun here in Mexico to use bright colors, brighter for sure than what we’d dare to use in Illinois (and this from a woman who painted her house cornflower blue with a pink front door!!).
Our outdoor dining table, which had been painted turquoise
after having served our workers who built the house as “their” table) , had been looking pretty shabby. The last time Sandy sanded and painted this table and it was fun and funky but had some divots from lack of elbox grease and just didn’t pop. Well, now it does!! We decided that it would look better in a shade of purple since we have picked up orange elsewhere in pillows and yellow just would not work. Our curtains and seat cusions outside are shades of orange, yellow, and purple, so we were matching those plus our purple chairs inside and lots of purple in various paintings. Again, we asked Jose to do this while we were gone and we are thrilled with the results.It seems as if all my Glenview friends are on diets and are losing weight like mad (see mini Marlene and anorexic Angela below and not-pictured, but disappearing quickly also is Chrissy).
Fortunately, I was able to buy some pants that fit me so I could join this club. They are jeans called “Not Your Daughter’s Jeans” which fit great and are flattering. I mention this since I think that the name is a darling one (many of us have gone through decades of watching our daughter’s clothing get skimpier and skimpier and the jeans get shorter at the top and longer at the bottom, not to mention quadruple in price!!) and because they are really comfortable. I do recommend buying the size smaller than fits you in the store since there is some give to these jeans, and that will also really make you feel like a million bucks!! Right away we started entertaining and seeing pals once we returned here. Janet Stewart and husband George (my daughter's boyfriend's aunt and spouse) came from East Texas to Merida again this year for a two-week bicycle-riding tour so we had drinks and dinner before they headed out. Once they return to the city, they will stay with us for a bit, enjoying some Carnival time. Then our good pals, Don and Paola (yoga instructor and healer), came over for a drink and hug tonight on their way to a dance recital. This month and next here are full of interesting cultural entertainment and almost all of it is free -- dance, orchestra, cinema, art, children's activities, there is something going on every day, and usually many things. And tomorrow is the beginning of an exhibit by a famous Cuban painter... life in Merida is just as busy as you want to be. We think that it's a wonderful place to call home.
Forgot to mention some information from a seminar I went to at the Merida English Library about planting down here. It is so interesting and I have to assume that it would translate to other places, and certainly to other limestone shelf areas. One should transplant and cut trees during a full moon when they are full of water, but one should never trim trees during this time. The best time for trimming is at the new moon. Monica Hernandez, who is an organic farmer and landscape designer here, also said that the siricote leaves are great for cleaning pots.
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