SIDs and LIDs are additional taxes levied on homes that exist within a Special Improvement District, or a Local Improvement District that benefit from the improvements to that district. If you live in Mountain’s Edge Master Planned Community, your additional taxes are paying for things like Mountain’s Edge Park, and Exploration Peak Park. If you live in Summerlin, they are paying for things like Summerlin Parkway. The idea is that not all of Clark County will benefit from these expensive improvements, but the homes in the area will, so they will pay for the improvements through these taxes in addition to the regular Clark County Property taxes that fund things like our police force, firefighters, and teachers that we all benefit from.
Just like regular property taxes, SIDs and LIDs need to be paid, if they aren’t, a first priority lien can be placed on your home an you could be foreclosed upon over an unpaid bill of a few hundred dollars, usually charged twice a year until the total assessment is paid off; even if you’d been paying your mortgage and HOA dues. Many times, a SID or LID can be requested to be paid off by the existing homeowner prior to transfer to a new buyer. This, like many points of negotiation is highly variable in every real estate deal.
Take for example our most recent purchase in Mountain’s Edge. We purchased a home that didn’t include the very nice washer, dryer, and refrigerator and had a SID amount of about $2,800.00 left on the home. We asked to keep the appliances, and in return would assume the remaining SID balance. I look at it this way, the cost of replacing these appliances + interest if we put it on a credit card, even at 10% would be more than the balance of the SID, so in our case we were coming up a little over $1000.00 + the savings on interest if we chose to finance the purchase.
These payments in our situation are due June first and December first in the amount of $***.** until the balance is paid off. Many times your mortgage company may not make these payments out of your escrow account, and you would need to make a separate payment before those dates to the county assessor. Sometimes, the mortgage company will make these payments, though if they discover they haven’t included their collection into your escrow account, your payment may go up from when you initially purchase the home until the debt is paid. Remember, either way you are going to pay this tax or loose your home for a fraction of it’s worth, so be sure you know what’s required of you.
The company that auctions off your SID/LID taxes to investors in the Las Vegas area is a company called Assessmentt Management Group. You can visit their site to check your balance and payment history & be sure that if payments need to be made, someone is making them, whether it’s rolled into your mortgage payment, or you need to make payments yourself. Remember, we are not tax, or legal professionals, only sharing our experience to increase awareness. If you need to consult a professional in these areas, always be sure they’re qualified to help.