Property taxes

[LuckyRobin]

Yikes! No wonder all the Californian's are moving up here.

[MonkeyMama]

Most of the people I know moving up north personally did it for cheaper housing. But eons of our more wealthy clients are moving up for cheaper taxes, as are many retirees, etc. Yes indeed!

This is why AMT is such a big issue in California. Most people who have the money to afford a home make decent money but pay some huge property taxes and income taxes. AMT disallows those deductions on your federal tax return. So you can even argue AMT is driving out more people than the state taxes really...

[txex86]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

This is why AMT is such a big issue in California. Most people who have the money to afford a home make decent money but pay some huge property taxes and income taxes. AMT disallows those deductions on your federal tax return. So you can even argue AMT is driving out more people than the state taxes really...

It would be great if Congress would permanently amend the AMT for those income brackets that it was intended for in the first place--those making $500,000 or more. It's ridiculous that Congress must waste time changing the AMT every year.

[KellyJef]

Here in NY, my house is appraised at $57,000 and I pay $2,100 in property taxes

[Daylily]

1400 sq ft home + 2 acres.

1999 assessed value $99,100 annual property tax $1120
2007 assessed value $164,850 annual property tax $2054

I knew there was a reason I love living where I do.
However, I figure that by the time the mortgage is paid off (9 years), the property tax will be as high as the mortgage payments.

[willowstudios]

Whoa, I never thought of that...property taxes will eventually be (in 30 years when I want to retire???) as much as the mortgage payments are today.

[Daylily]

Yep! Mortgage is $1000 a month, property tax is $171 a month, insurance is $100 a month. I'm guessing that by the time I retire, my property tax will be in the $800-1000/month range. Just a guess.

Look at my example. Eight years ago I was at $93 a month, now I'm up to $171 a month - almost double! What will it be in another 10 years? 20 years? 30 years?

[willowstudios]

That's scary. What's even more scary? I live in NH...some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

My house is assessed at $200,000 - my property taxes are about $5,000/yr.

[momof1in150]

Originally Posted by willowstudios

That's scary. What's even more scary? I live in NH...some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

My house is assessed at $200,000 - my property taxes are about $5,000/yr.

But, you don't have an income tax or a sales tax.

We are in RI and buying our first home next month. The house is costing us $430000 and the taxes are $4600. We have a 7% sales tax and a ridiculous income tax.

[FrugalFish]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

hell if I knew that property taxes would make it too cost prohibitive to move when we bought our home in 2001. Yeesh. Glad we went with our long-term home. We'd be priced out on property taxes alone.

We are in that boat too. It's likely that as long as we live in CA (and I've been here all my life), this will be our home because we can afford the property taxes on this one. If we were to sell this house today and buy an identical one, the property taxes would triple based on sales price. I've heard this predicament called "the golden prison" many times. With all the lending troubles, perhaps home prices will be forced down closer to what they were a few years ago- though I have no intentions of moving at this point.

[Aleta]

I had read that the AMT was originally for people who were wealthy and it was to make sure that they couldn't excape paying taxes. All at once, it's hitting the people it was never intended for.

Write your congressmen and women and complain that it is an unfair tax. They do listen. I write often on areas that I have a problem with. Problem is that there is so much apathy with our voters and that doesn't change anything. Therefore, they the congress get by with alot, including now coming to light , the pork barrel spending they've been doing. Become active and voice your opinions.

[My English Castle]

Milwaukee's awful with property taxes--particularly the North Shore.
People blame the teachers' union, but if you've ever seen the county pension scandals around here, they have my vote for most culpable.

[SingleGuy]

I just got my county property tax bill today. The value my house at $190k and my taxes are $1705.00

[kv968]

I'm surprised some of my fellow New Jersians haven't replied to this thread. Although I don't own a house now, when I did back in 2000 it was assessed at $130,000 (who knows what it is today...~$330k?), in a middle class area and my yearly taxes were around $4200 (3.2%). I'm sure the taxes have, if anything, gone up. Tack a now 7% sales tax onto just about everything and an income tax range that's tiered and averages from ~3.5% - 6% and you've got yourself one pretty expensive state.

And just to be fair, we do get a "tax refund" check once a year for 20% of the first $10K (if you make less than $100k) you pay in property taxes. That in effect would have dropped my past rate to 2.6%. At least our gas tax is one of the lowest in the country

[myself]

Originally Posted by devils_advocate

Who else is getting murdered by property taxes? I live in Lake County, IL, live in an average house in a middle-class neighborhood and I pay almost $10,000 in annual property taxes.

What's even scarier is Lake County is just #15 on the top counties in term of median property taxes paid. Link (Sorry for you folks who live in NY and NJ.)

Thanks Devil!
Now I know I'm at a high tax rate.


2,700 sq. ft. house (Gloucester County, NJ). Taxes paid last tax year: $6,800, this tax year: $7,200. When we first moved in (2000): $2,500.
Like some other folks said, the schools are driving ours up.

The school population has gone up 5-6 times of the amount that it was when we first moved in. We've built 2 additional schools, and expanded on 3 already existing schools, and there's one new school being built around the corner from us.