Downtown Long Beach Historic Homes Offered For Sale and Renovation

Downtown Long Beach Historic Homes Offered For Sale and Renovation

The Long Beach Redevelopement Agency is offering 4 Downtown Long Beach Historic Homes for sale and renovation.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) has made four historic homes available to the public for purchase and restoration. As part of its Willmore Historic Homes project that relocated three of the four early-20th-century homes, the RDA is seeking proposals for the ownership and restoration of the following:

• 539 Daisy Avenue: Built in 1908, this one-story, single-family home has two bedrooms, one bath, and 996 square feet. This home was relocated by the RDA to its current location in 2007, and sits on a 6,000-square-foot lot.
  

• 543 Daisy Avenue: Built in 1903, this one-story, single-family home has two bedrooms, one bath, and 887 square feet on a 5,250 square-foot-lot.

• 226 West 10th Street: Built circa 1905, this two-story, single-family home has six bedrooms, one bath, and 1,975 square feet. This home was relocated by the RDA to its current location in 2007, and sits on a 5,000-square-foot lot.

• 734 Maine Avenue: Built circa 1912, this two-story, single-family home has three bedrooms, 1½ baths, and 1,696 square feet. This home was relocated by the RDA to its current location in 2007, and sits on a 6,000-square-foot lot.

Curbed LA also presents pictures of the homes here. Don’t let the current condition of these homes turn you off. These homes are incredible once they are restored to their original magnificent stature. These homes, restored properly may qualify for substantial tax incentives through the Mills Act.

Oh, how I love the historic homes of Long Beach! Over the years I have sold many of these homes, some of them several times and I can tell you that each and every one of them is drop dead gorgeous in it’s own right. The attention to detail in many of them is just so beautiful; I have seen buyers just want to meld into these homes. The history contained in these homes is almost palpable. Restoration is very expensive, it is a shame to renovate one of these beauties. I hope they are sold to buyers for the love of the homes.

To those of you thinking about restoring a historic home (perhaps one of these), the California Heights Historic Assn., (the largest of the 17 historic districts in Long Beach) has a page of restoration resources that is just outstanding.

http://www.longbeachrealestatehome.com/downtown-long-beach-historic-homes-offered-for-sale-and-renovation-1

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To ease pressure created by mounting subsidy bills, various revenue intelligence agencies have gone on the overdrive to mop up revenue
and bring more corporate entities and services under the tax regime with the added emphasis on cases of duty evasion.

As part of the ongoing anti-evasion drive, the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) and various commissionerates of central excise and service tax authorities have in the last few months booked cases with major revenue implications.

DGCEI raided the premises of a leading Kanpur-based businessman, owner of a leading gutka brand, suspected of evading taxes that are likely to touch Rs 50 crore, sources said. Just before the search was launched against the gutka company, DGCEI had initiated investigation against a leading airliner for an alleged tax evasion of more than Rs 140 crore.

In the airline case, the company had allegedly not paid service tax of over Rs 1,700 crore payment of which it had received on account of branding of the payee firm through display of logos on both sides of the aircraft, tickets, boarding passes and baggage tags.

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Seriously, the Canadian Revenue Agency website is really good at publishing pretty much anything you need to know about Canadian taxes. Not only do they have the actual laws, but there is a virtual cornucopia of questions and answers covering most scenarios, all in relatively plain, if not quite Queen’s, English. And pretty much all forms are available in fillable and printable formats. You shouldn’t need to fill any of them out but they’re a good reference for when you call CRA so you can expect which questions they’ll ask.

The main phone number for CRA is 1.800.959.5525. As a call centre, they are better than Expedia but worse than Go Daddy (who, admittedly, gets a few bonus points for having the best on-hold music ever). For the most part, you aren’t on hold *too* long and the agents are friendly and seem knowledgeable enough even if they give conflicting advice.

Specific sections:

• International and non-resident taxes
• Non-residents
• GST
• CPP
• EI

Note that it’s still hard to get concrete answers to some questions, even if you call them up but this is still the best resource I’ve found short of paying someone a lot of money for advice. And speaking of paid advice, if you are serious about this scenario, you should seek it out. After you’ve gleaned all you can from the CRA website. I used KPMG in Calgary and am reasonably happy with the advice I got, if not the price I was charged (** UPDATE ** or the follow-up service I got). I also talked with someone at Continental Tax and I wish I remembered his name because he was amazing. Gave me a ton of free advice over the phone and I will not hesitate to engage their services in the future.

http://codebetter.com/blogs/kyle.baley/archive/2008/06/17/rehash-canadian-taxes-for-non-residents.aspx

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GST is handled completely separately than income tax, despite the fact that you call the same number to ask questions. There are different rules regarding residency status for GST. Meaning you may be a non-resident for income tax purposes but a resident for GST purposes. And residents need to collect and remit GST.

The rules here are a little easier to follow. If you expect to make more than CDN$30,000 in a given year while in Canada, then you need to charge GST. For most consultants, that’s ‘twixt two and four months worth of work so chances are, you’ll need to file.

To collect GST, you need a Business Number which is easy enough to get. Call up CRA at 1.800.959.5525 and they should be able to give it to you over the phone. Here is the gist of what to tell them:

• I am not a Canadian resident but I *am* a Canadian citizen. I will be working in Canada for a period of X months and expect to make over $30,000 during that time. I’d like to apply for a Business Number for GST for the period that I am in Canada.
• I will file GST annually
• I do not need a payroll account
• I am a sole proprietor

They may try to tell you that you need to call the International Tax Office but that’s wrong. The International Tax Office doesn’t deal with GST at all.

Grey areas:

Should I keep my Business Number active after I leave the country?
Probably not. In my experience, it’s pretty easy to deactivate and reactivate it so it’s worth the phone call to deactivate it when you leave. And that’s all you need to do. There’s no paperwork involved. And you do *not* charge GST for any work you perform outside Canada.

Should I incorporate?
My opinion is no, you shouldn’t. The major advantage of incorporation is to lower your taxes which isn’t really an issue for non-residents. More importantly, with you as the major shareholder, it constitutes a major residential tie to Canada, something you should avoid.

** UPDATE ** Setting up a corporation in Canada means the corporation will pay tax in Canada. In my experience, *EVERY* contracting agency will try to pressure you to incorporate. Fair enough, they don’t want to rock the boat any more than you do and dealing with a foreign entity is a warning flag. But stick to your guns. I had to go through three agencies in my last contract before I found one that would accept me. And even then, I had to sub-subcontract.

http://codebetter.com/blogs/kyle.baley/archive/2008/06/17/rehash-canadian-taxes-for-non-residents.aspx

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Canadian Taxes for Non-Residents

Hillbilly’s not in much of a position to wax technical this week as he babysits budding economists in an oil & gas course in London. There’s a story behind why I’m doing that but it’s nowhere near as interesting as the one you’ve just made up in your head so I’ll let that add to the perceived mystique that is my life. (Seriously, the Bahamas isn’t *that* great.)

In any case, I got tired of counting the number of times the instructor would say “consequently” (at last count, eighty-fi–er….eighty-six). So I went trolling through my old blog for something that was worth repeating to a larger audience. Slim pickings, let me tell you. But found one that has some uncharacteristically useful information. I’ve updated it with some recent experiences as well so for those that read the original, don’t forget to pay for the upgrade.

The topic is tax implications of non-residents working in Canada. It’s specific to the Bahamas, which doesn’t have a tax treaty with Canada. So, let’s start off by coverin’ my hillbilly butt

http://codebetter.com/blogs/kyle.baley/archive/2008/06/17/rehash-canadian-taxes-for-non-residents.aspx

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Can I deduct expenses to reduce my tax?
Maybe. My opinion is that you’ll make less waves if you keep it simple. Unless you’re going to be in Canada a long time (in which case, you will be a resident anyway), any “deductions” you think you might be able to claim won’t be worth the aggravation. Plus then you’d need to file a return. Which brings me to…

Do I need to file an income tax statement?
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What if you come back to Canada and work for a short period during the contract?
Use your judgement. When I come back for a few days or a week, I don’t generally notify the contracting agency. If I’m back for the summer, it’s reasonable to assume I’m hunkering down for a while and should pay the government their due.

http://codebetter.com/blogs/kyle.baley/archive/2008/06/17/rehash-canadian-taxes-for-non-residents.aspx

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The cumulative 6.5-cent increase in taxes means the owner of a $250,000 Wilmington home is on the hook next year for $1,131 in county taxes and $831 in city taxes – a total of $162.50 more than last year.

Council members said the city’s 11 percent tax increase looks more severe than it is. Last year, the county incorrectly included exempt properties such as schools in the tax base, leading the council to set the tax lower than it should have, in effect, giving residents a tax cut.

More than 2 cents in this year’s increase is just making up for that error, which wiped millions of dollars of anticipated revenues from the city’s balance sheet, Councilman Jim Quinn said.

“People should be satisfied that we did the best we can,” he said.

The council also chose to increase taxes to fund a $3.2 million plan to pull city salaries in line with the recommendations of a recent consultant’s report, which found Wilmington wages trailed benchmark organizations by an average of 7.2 percent.

Councilman Jason Thompson was the only member to vote against parts of the budget, which was approved in four ordinances. He said it included too many pet projects and not enough cuts.

“Don’t tell me money is the only way to solve a budget issue,” Thompson said.

In other business, council earned applause Tuesday for approving the consent agenda, usually the least contentious part of their meetings.

The vote marked the first use of electronic voting in place of voice votes. Mayor Bill Saffo said Wilmington is the first city in the state to use electronic voting, which makes it immediately apparent to the audience on television how each member voted.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080617/ARTICLE/806170363/0/news06

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As part of the effort to fix problems with Porter County’s property tax system, the commissioners endorsed another consulting contract.

The Porter County Council has already appropriated $150,000 for a team of consultants led by Beth Henkel, an Indianapolis attorney and former commissioner of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. The consultants are attempting to get Porter County’s tax billing back on schedule, while correcting years of incorrect tax data.

On Tuesday, the commissioners endorsed another contract – this one with the Crowe Chizek firm dealing with the implementation of new software and the conversion of old data to the new system.

Harper noted that officials who have been meeting regularly with the tax consultants have determined that the new contract is needed as part of the overall project. Evans remarked that every one of the tax contracts cited added requirements from the DLGF as the reason for the added work.

The contract, for three components of work, ranges from a total of $56,000 to $103,000. The contract is still subject to approval by the County Council.

In a separate but related matter, the commissioners approved an annual contract for Center Township Assessor Susan Larsen to retain a consultant to assess commercial parcels in her township.

Larsen said the contract was reviewed last year by the DLGF, but that at the current time, the DLGF is in flux due to a number of new staff.

Harper said office holders from both political parties are spending a great deal of time trying to determine just what the DLGF wants. “It’s really sort of sad,” he said.

Fireworks Ban

The commissioners approved a request from Expo Center Director John Thorstad to ban parking on Division Road during the upcoming fireworks show.

Thorstad said there has been a recurring problem with people coming to watch the fireworks by parking along the road, instead of paying the fee to enter the Expo Center grounds.

“For me, it’s a safety issue,” he said, noting that people don’t just park along the road, but that they also pull out chairs and sit outside their vehicles.

The “Expo Explosion” fireworks show will be held June 28. With the commissioners’ action Tuesday, parking will be banned along Division Road for one mile east of Ind. 49 from 5 to 11 p.m.

Thorstad noted that a large wedding is also scheduled that night at the Expo, so there will be a great deal of traffic in the area, further necessitating the roadside parking ban.

Building Concerns

The commissioners authorized the removal of the bulletproof glass at the County Treasurer’s office. The heavy glass is causing the shelf under it to bow, in turn causing cash boxes to stick, said Building Maintenance Engineer Joe Lain.

“We need to get rid of that glass,” he said.

The removal will cost $800, but Lain cautioned that it could go up to the $1,200 because the work will need to be done over the weekend.

In another building matter, the commissioners tabled action on a proposal to install a new air conditioning unit for the county’s Print Shop, which has had a persistent humidity problem.

One bid came in at $21,9000 and another at $32,500. Evans said that’s too much money to spend for a single department. Lain suggested delaying the matter until after he talks with the bidders about the large price discrepancy.

http://www.chestertontribune.com/PorterCounty/6183%20ten_hour_work_days_approved_for.htm

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o fix the problem, the city needs to hire more assessors and provide better technology, the consultant said. City officials said that is already being done.

City Assessor Deborah Bunn, who was hired in January, was recently authorized to hire four new commercial real estate assessors.

“That’s a good start,” said Richard R. Almy, of Almy, Gloudemans, Jacobs and Denne, a Phoenix firm hired by the city to review commercial real estate assessments.

Commercial assessments became a hot topic more than a year ago when the Norfolk Tea Party 2, a watchdog group that has pushed for lower taxes, complained of discrepancies between assessments for some downtown office buildings and the prices they fetched when sold.

Almy said his group looked at sales versus assessments and found problems as well.

“The level of assessment was 70 to 80 percent” of what it should be, he said.

His company also studied the Virginia Beach assessor’s office last year. He said that, although he found some problems at the Beach, commercial real estate assessments there were closer to market value.

“The reason for that is simple,” he said. “Virginia Beach had more people” than Norfolk working in the assessor’s office.

Brian Smith, who heads the Norfolk Tea Party 2, said the report “confirms what we’ve been saying all along, that home-owners have been carrying an unfair burden.”

Commercial real estate provides a small percentage of the estimated $203 million in real estate taxes the city will collect in the fiscal year that begins on July 1. Bunn said figures on how much commercial real estate will generate weren’t immediately available.

“It’s unfortunate we’ve lost the revenue we could have gotten the last few years from commercial real estate,” Councilman W. Randy Wright said. “The good thing is that we’re fixing the problem.”

Almy said computing assessments for commercial properties is more difficult than for residential, which is based on sales. Many commercial assessments are based on business income, and for that, the city must rely on businesses to honestly report income data.

Mayor Paul Fraim said the city has asked Attorney General Bob McDonnell whether it can require businesses to turn over federal tax return information.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/norfolk-council-says-city-losing-millions-commercial-taxes

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For folks who deal with sales tax on a regular basis, we would normally recognize the consequences of selling taxable property with non-taxable property or non-taxable services for a single price. Most state, whether by statute, rule, or policy, have held for years that such a combination will be treated as a taxable transaction.  Some states have set various thresholds before they tax the entire transaction.  I’ve seen examples in some states where such a transaction would be taxable only if the taxable portion represented 15% or more of the total value.  New York, on the other hand, has no such provision and is notorious for treating as taxable these types of transactions if even an insignificant component was taxable.  As a consultant, I have advised clients for years that there is great risk in bundling taxable and non-taxable items for a single price.

Leave it to California to create confusion in this area.  Back in January 2008, the California Court of Appeal  in a case involving Dell Computer held that Dell had over taxed its customers in transactions where a computer(taxable) was sold with an optional warranty (non-taxable) for a single price.  Traditional wisdom would tell me and apparently Dell, that the full amount of the sale it taxable since there was no breakout between the two items.  The State Board of Equalization also argued in court that the sale was fully taxable.  This may be the only time I’ve ever seen a taxpayer argue in Court that a transaction is taxable.

In deciding the case, the Court found that there are 4 different kinds of transactions in California.  These are:  Sales of property, Sales of pure service, sales that involve an inseparable combination of property and services sold for one price (Bundled Transactions), and sales that involve a combination of products and services that can be separated even though they are sold for one price (mixed transactions).   In California, there apparently  is no rule or statute that provides that when a non-taxable service is combined with a taxable product sale that the entire amount is taxable.

As such, the Court held that where you can clearly separate a non-taxable service from a taxable product that only the product is taxable even though they are sold for one price. This is a “mixed transaction”.  I had never considered that this was an option, especially in California.  A “bundled” transaction is one where the taxable and non-taxable items are so interconnected that they cannot be separated.  Because the optional warranty was separately priced when people bought their computers on-line, the Court determined that this service was not connected with the sale of the computer and was not integral to the value of the computer.

This case has clear implications to all industries.  I would expect the California legislature to correct the problem, however.  There could be a temptation to shift value in a “mixed transaction” to the non-taxable service and away from the taxable product.

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