Many questions about property tax assessments

Around 16,000 property owners recently received their tax assessment notices for 2025 from the town of Beckum. This means that property taxes will be set for the first time on the basis of the new measurement amounts and assessment rates. This is currently leading to many enquiries in the City of Beckum's treasury and tax department.

Contact the tax office about measurement amounts
Employees often have to explain that the tax office is responsible for all questions relating to the measurement amount. The administration has no knowledge of how the measurement amounts are calculated. "The measured amounts are determined exclusively by the Beckum tax office. And only the tax office can change them," explains city treasurer Thomas Wulf. The city is bound by these measurement amounts. "Of course, this also applies if there are any changes now," adds Wulf.

No separate objection to the municipal tax assessment notice is required in the event of an intended change in the amount to be measured. All changes notified by the tax office will be taken into account. The tax office has set up a property tax hotline for all questions relating to the measurement amount: 02521 25-1959. Further information can be found at www.grundsteuer.nrw.de.

Different effects on property owners
Numerous enquiries show that the new measurement amounts have led to changes in the amount of property tax for individual taxpayers. Across the city, the measurement amounts have fallen overall. As the property tax revenue for the city should remain stable - additional revenue is expressly not the goal - new assessment rates had to be decided for 2025. Current figures show that no additional revenue is to be expected for the city of Beckum. In 2024, the city collected around 7.35 million euros from property taxes. Currently, around 7.24 million euros in revenue is expected for 2025 from property tax A and property tax B, i.e. slightly less in total.

"However, this does not mean that each individual taxpayer will pay the same amount of property tax as in the previous year," explains city treasurer Wulf. There are both significant increases and significant reductions in individual property tax. These changes are an effect of the nationwide reform, which cannot be influenced locally.

New assessment rates
From 2025, the assessment rate for property tax B in the city of Beckum will be 607 per cent for residential buildings and 1,110 per cent for non-residential buildings. This differentiation in property tax B is intended to avoid placing an additional burden on Beckum's residents. Uniform assessment rates would have meant an additional burden of over 1 million euros for residential properties in the overall calculation for Beckum. For property tax A (agricultural and forestry land), the rate is 331 per cent.