Escrow account for home, how does it work when paying taxes?

OK I am clueless here. I have an escrow account with $3900 in it. The bank, says online, that in 12/2006 the next estimated scheduled county tax payment is $532.98 (seems low) . It also says the next estimated scheduled school tax payment is $334.02 (seems low) on 12/06.





I grasp the insurance part, but the taxes I dont get. Why are they so low? The Appraisal District website for my county shows estimated taxes at... City $1,210.27, School $2,347.94, County $292.46, College $108.20, and Hospital $339.30...for me.





So what do I owe? Do I have enough in there? Will the bank automaticaly pay the taxes? Why are the College, Hospital, and City taxes not showing up as getting ready to be paid on 12/2006?





I also plan on putting another $512 in the escrow account before 12/2006, bringing it to $4412.
Escrow account for home, how does it work when paying taxes?
My escrow is set up to pay my county taxes twice a year. The first half in June and the second half in December. Possibly this is what is going on with you and that's why it seems so low?
Reply:The taxes are paid out of the escrow acount the same as your homeowner's insurance. The taxes must be billed at different times during the year. This is not unusual.
Reply:The only reason for an escrow account is to make sure taxes an insurance are paid on time. When the bank set up the account, you can bet they checked the amounts and due dates for all the taxes and insurance and required enough to cover them. Don't forget, part of each monthly payment goes to keep the escrow account funded. In my area, property taxes are billed every 6 months. The differences between your numbers is probably explained by comparing full year number to part year payments. If the home was reassessed for tax purposes after they checked, that could explain minor differences left after accounting for multiple payments.
Reply:I'd talk to the mortgage holder and ask them to explain it. You should get a statement from them at the end of each year showing what taxes have been paid. If you/ve owned the house since at least early 2005, check last year's statements for the amounts you paid then - they might have changed some, but probably not a lot unless you had a major reassessment.





Also, your county assessment office should be able to tell you what taxes you'll owe for a year. If those numbers you show are specifically for your property, then the amount in escrow might well be about right depending on when payments are due.





If you just bought the house recently, it's possible that this year you only owe part of the taxes. From your question, there's no info on how often the various taxes are due. Where I live, school tax is due once a year, in the fall; county tax also once a year, but in the spring. Each area has different schedules.





The idea of an escrow account is that the total taxes and insurance are totalled, and 1/12 of the total is added to each month's house payment so the money is there when it's due. Escrow accounts can go negative depending on timing. If over the course of a year it doesn't even out, your payment for the following year should be adjusted up (or down) to compensate.
Reply:My escrow account is set up to pay my Homeowners Insurance and property taxes only. I don't know about the other taxes you have. Contact those departments and ask them. I wouldn't complain about them being low.
Reply:The website is usually including all the properties in a county per se and the numbers are average. Depending on the value of your house compared to the average, the tax payment may be high or lower.





These accounts are set so that the mortgage company can your insurance and tax. A portion of your mortgage payment gets deposited into these accounts monthly.





You should be able to call the company and ask then to refund the excess, unless you anticipate a dramatic increase in your tax and insurnance payment.