I am getting ready to start my own public survey of the whole country, man this internet thing is neat! I have recently become a bit of a political activist locally, and have determined that the county that I live in needs more money. Taxes should be raised, in my opinion, to pay for many much needed improvements. So the questions are, at what rate are your real estate holdings taxed, are the assessed values in line with the current market value, and are there many exemptions.
for example our home is assessed at just over 200,000 probably worth twice that if it was not half finished, and taxed only 840 per year.
this seems cheap to me, what say you of this great country?
My mom pays nearly as much for a 54000 valued mobile home and lot, so the ratio’s must vary Dramatically. Any body know of a web site for tax rates?
Thanks to all those who choose to participate, I do really care
Dan
Replies
Read the closing costs thread started by me.
why would anybody in their right mind decide that the govt is not stealing enough money and then offer more. you must really make too much money. I know you going to say, our children need it or our roads need it, Well they properly have enough right now but putting all in their pet project. You think more money will solve the problem.
If you want to be helpful. The poor here has no housing so take half your paycheck and write to " Citzen against Substandard Housing"
just make the check to C.A.S.H and send it to me.
I want my property value to go down, why should I pay rent on something I own.
You are not going many real meaningfull information from a survey like this. Just WAY to many variables and unknows.
You are asking about COUNTY TAXES, but I bet you that most people will report the total property taxes. My tax bill shows the rates for the different enities, but not the amount of taxes for each. It would take a little work to figure out the amount going to the county.
My tax bill inclueds schools, library district, fire protection district, city, county, and several other enities.
And in some areas some of the enities send out separate property tax bills.
And in some locals the local governemnt also collects sales taxes and/or local income or earnings taxes.
"for example our home is assessed at just over 200,000"
Is that the assested envaluation or the market evaluation. In my state the market evaluations is multipled by percentage (that varies by property type) to determine assested evaluation.
i dont have my tax bill in front of me, so i can't give you the breakdown how much each entity gets...
so for what its worth to you...
our yearly property tax bill is 1.08527% of the purchase price of our home
im on the san francisco peninsula
Unfortunately, it's not a simple question. Formulas are rarely a flat rate per valuation, but usually have some sort of "homestead" break built in to the first $100K or so of value. Additionally, what real estate taxes pay for varies: A few states don't have any income tax and much of the RE tax goes to the state. In other states, income tax is used to pay a large portion (or possibly all) of school costs, so there is little or no school tax in the RE tax.
I can't recall precisely, but I believe we're paying a little under $2K per year on our house worth roughly $130K. But to show you how things are swizzled, supposedly the state took over virtually all school financing about a year back, but property taxes remained about the same, due to a reduction in the state-funded homestead credit and other such gimmicks. The whole program was sold, of course, on the theory that it would cut RE taxes in half, since about half the tax bill was school taxes, but it really was just a way to shift tax burden from businesses (who did get a significant RE tax break, due to the homestead stuff) to income tax payers, and also to stiff local governments (who lost a lot of state funding).
2.9% of assessed value in western Wisconsin -- why live here? Assessments are done annually, so there's always an increase in the amount paid. Now that kids are gone, may have to move to a place with crap schools but low property taxes.
I'm in Arlington County, Virginia. Close-in suburb of D.C.
I don't have my bill in front of me, but I think that our tax rate is 0.975. In any event, it's just a hair under 1%.
They assess the properties annually and are as close as they can be to market value.
The markets are through the roof. No way could I afford to buy here today. If things keep going like they are, I might have trouble staying here. It's not the rate, but the value of the property. We bought our house 7 years ago for 194K and now it's assessed at almost 400K. So, while I'm rich on paper, all it really means is I pay more in taxes. Almost 4K a year.
Arlington has more money than it knows what to do with. Living in a financially solvent county is nice. I may pay a lot in taxes, but I get a lot back too. The roads are in good shape and they keep building new schools, etc. Our kids take county swimming classes, we have several nature centers that offer programs for kids, tons of parks and playgrounds, a planetarium, several modern libraries, wooded bike trails, they are even adding a new park here for dog owners and one for skateboarding kids. Having all that stuff means that I can get out and meet other people in the neighborhood and community. It makes it a much nicer place to live. We didn't have any of this stuff when I was a kid growing up in Maine. When I was a kid, we just played in the dirt with sticks.
The thing is that property taxes vary dramatically from place to place.
This has a lot to do with what they are used to fund.
In some towns, schools are largely funded by state or county tax dollars. That is probably the single largest factor. Also, even the Feds have been kicking in more in some places.
What I'm saying is that cheap vs. expensive property taxes is relative, depending upon what they pay for.
Another consideration is average valuations. Within the same State, small towns with low valuations may have very high tax rates, while the overall burden may still be less than in a more expensive town.
FTR, our tax rate is about 1.9% of market value. Average assessment is about 400k.
We pay about 80% of school costs, with the State picking up the rest.
Most states have a department that tracks local property tax data.
Try http://www.taxfoundation.org/staterevenue.html
Taxes are not set arbitrarily by a person or committee, they are set by legal amendments(?) (where is Bob Walker when we need him?) in state legislatures.
Go to your county tax assessor's office and talk to the ones working there.
They have to attend meetings and seminars to keep certification to work there. In those seminars they learn all the rules all over again and the new ones that have been passed.
Local taxes are a set percentage of valuation, as determined by the state, with little room to fudge either way. On a house, so much per square foot, for type of construction, for age, improvements, etc., all in black and white for you to read.
Edited 3/1/2004 5:19:10 PM ET by Ruby
As others have said you need to check a few different things to get a complete picture, but ours is .008 of assessed value. Sales tax is 7.7%. There is no state income tax.
When we were in California, property tax was at least twice that much, sales tax was higher, and there was a state income tax (about 5% I think). And the schools are close to worst in the nation (which is only partly related to the aforementioned).
Here in Stafford County Virginia, real estate tax is now $1.14 per hundred dollars of assessed value. So it is 1.14% of the current assessment. Our assessments are based on 100% of current market value. Reassessments are now being done every two years. My real estate tax bill per month is more than the mortgage on my first house. I am beginning to sound like an old curmudgeon more every day.
Frank DuVal
Running for office on a platform of "I promise to raise your taxes..."
Hmmmm....
hgope you've got a thick skin - and your retirement all funded.
;)
The comparisons will not do you too much good.
Let me give a comparative example.
Here in Maine, the property tax goes into the state general fund and is doled out to the counties and some uneven portion to some of the towns, schools, and cities. Most is hppily wasted by the state capital beauracracy when it is not flirting with it's other mistress, the income tax. The sales tax is married to the state and she seems quite happy with these other concubines to share in sating her husband
Out in Colorado, there was not much of an income tax, but it could be felt. A portion of the blow was eased onto the shoulders of industry with a tax on the mineral bounty taken from the ground. The county recieved a bulk of its funding from sales taxes. The sales tax was a whore. She was shared by the state, county, and city or town. The general idea was that since a lot of tourists came to Colorado and spent money, they would bear a portion of the tax burden. ( this was good to some measure in that additional fire, rescue, ambulance, and police services were neded to provide for the needs of the visitors.)
land taxes there - what a nightmare. I think it was fairlyefficient but try to figure it out!
there were "districts"
school district
fire district
recreation district
etc
Each dist would have a board of directors and a property tax levy to support it. If you lived in between town A and B you might be getting mail adressed town A but in the fire district for town B, have your kids schooled in town A and find out that both towns are in the greater triple pond recreation district so you and all your neighbors could swinm together.
Then there was all that public land. In Grand county, 80% of the land is owned by the federal govt as National forests, BLM and other kinds of holdings.
So they did some negotiating and had a law passed that requirted that in such circumstances, the feds were required to pay to local governing bodies a rate that represented a certain percentage of what a private party might be requirted to pay for owning the same land as a sort of prop tax.
Totally different
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All of my property taxes here in houston texas run 4.2% of my homes value a year. Less a roughly 20% discount on the one house I live in (homestead exemption). The taxes make real estate investing rough here.
Well, thanks to a small computer problem I am a little late in saying thanks for those willing to try and enlighten me. csnow, I will shortly be trying the link, thanks!
What I am trying to learn, is how heavily the county must tax, in order to fund at least basic needs.
I live on the Island of Hawaii, largest of the chain, but not real populated. We have about 160,000 people on roughly 4200 square miles of land. next years total county budget is proposed at 246 million, to provide everything except schools, which are a state problem. Not enough fire, police or road maintenance. Lots of normal problems, but seemingly exagerated here in what we like to think of as paradise and of course more money might fix some of it. Our county does not get sales or income tax from the state for most things, so RE taxes are the funding of choice. I was looking for some comparison to see if we are wasting to much money, or just not willing to tax enough to pay the bills. No, I am not running for office, just tired of hearing that we cannot afford to fix anything because not enough money to do it. I was surprised to find when we moved here that the taxes would be about one third of what we paid in Seattle for the same value of home. After living here for almost five years, now I understand why!
Thanks again for taking the time to respond, I guess that simple answers are not available, but I will keep looking. Simple is what I do best!
Dan
You rank 6th. Piffin wins this round! Maine was also recently rated the worst place to operate a business.
Tax Burdens by State in 2003(Measuring Taxes as a Percentage of Income)
Combined State and Local Tax Burdens by Rank
Adding Federal Taxes to State/Local Changes the Ranking
Change in Ranking
Tax Burden
Rank
Tax Burden
Rank
Total
9.7%
30.0%
Maine
12.2%
1
Maine
30.8%
9
-8
New York
12.0%
2
New York
32.7%
3
-1
Minnesota
11.0%
3
Minnesota
31.2%
7
-4
Rhode Island
11.0%
4
Rhode Island
31.1%
8
-4
Connecticut
10.9%
5
Connecticut
35.4%
1
4
Hawaii
10.7%
6
Hawaii
28.4%
31
-25
Wisconsin
10.7%
7
Wisconsin
30.0%
14
-7
California
10.6%
8
California
32.7%
4
4
Utah
10.6%
9
Utah
29.1%
20
-11
Ohio
10.3%
10
Ohio
28.7%
24
-14
Idaho
10.2%
11
Idaho
28.7%
25
-14
Vermont
10.1%
12
Vermont
29.5%
15
-3
Massachusetts
9.9%
13
Massachusetts
33.6%
2
11
Arizona
9.9%
14
Arizona
29.4%
16
-2
Georgia
9.9%
15
Georgia
29.2%
19
-4
Nebraska
9.8%
16
Nebraska
28.2%
33
-17
North Dakota
9.8%
17
North Dakota
27.7%
36
-19
Washington
9.8%
18
Washington
32.1%
6
12
New Jersey
9.8%
19
New Jersey
32.3%
5
14
Kansas
9.8%
20
Kansas
28.4%
29
-9
New Mexico
9.7%
21
New Mexico
25.6%
49
-28
Indiana
9.7%
22
Indiana
28.5%
28
-6
West Virginia
9.7%
23
West Virginia
26.5%
45
-22
Mississippi
9.6%
24
Mississippi
26.7%
43
-19
North Carolina
9.5%
25
North Carolina
28.3%
32
-7
Iowa
9.5%
26
Iowa
27.7%
35
-9
Maryland
9.5%
27
Maryland
29.4%
17
10
Louisiana
9.5%
28
Louisiana
26.7%
44
-16
Michigan
9.4%
29
Michigan
29.3%
18
11
Illinois
9.4%
30
Illinois
30.3%
12
18
Kentucky
9.4%
31
Kentucky
27.3%
38
-7
Colorado
9.3%
32
Colorado
30.5%
11
21
Arkansas
9.2%
33
Arkansas
27.2%
40
-7
Missouri
9.2%
34
Missouri
28.0%
34
0
Oklahoma
9.1%
35
Oklahoma
26.5%
46
-11
Pennsylvania
9.1%
36
Pennsylvania
28.6%
26
10
Montana
9.1%
37
Montana
27.3%
37
0
South Carolina
9.0%
38
South Carolina
27.1%
41
-3
Oregon
9.0%
39
Oregon
28.5%
27
12
Virginia
8.9%
40
Virginia
29.0%
21
19
Nevada
8.9%
41
Nevada
30.2%
13
28
South Dakota
8.5%
42
South Dakota
27.1%
42
0
Wyoming
8.5%
43
Wyoming
30.7%
10
33
Florida
8.4%
44
Florida
29.0%
22
22
Alabama
8.4%
45
Alabama
26.3%
48
-3
Texas
8.3%
46
Texas
28.4%
30
16
Tennessee
7.7%
47
Tennessee
26.3%
47
0
Delaware
7.3%
48
Delaware
27.2%
39
9
New Hampshire
6.6%
49
New Hampshire
28.8%
23
26
Alaska
5.5%
50
Alaska
24.6%
50
0
District of Columbia
12.9%
-
District of Columbia
34.8%
-
-
We were 9th, but when looking at funding for schools we are 51st. Hmmmm. Where does this chart come from? Does it include property taxes or is it just state and local income tax?
"We were 9th, but when looking at funding for schools we are 51st. Hmmmm. Where does this chart come from? Does it include property taxes or is it just state and local income tax?"
Data comes from http://www.taxfoundation.org
All kinds of good stuff there.
This data does include property taxes, though it is an average of all towns in your state. Obviously can vary a lot from town to town.
So what changes with the addition of the federal tax burden to change the ranking of the state burden. The federal burden should not change because of where you live, at least not on the 1040 IRS form. Virgina changed from 40th to 21st. That is quite a change. Notice that Washington DC had more tax burden than any state. And those people have no federal representation. Another good reason not to have people living full time in DC!
Frank DuVal
It depends on how the state income taxes coordinate with the federal.
For example MO allows for deduction of federal income taxes.
And federal allows for deduction of state and local. But if the state does't have an income tax, but depends more on sales taxes then that does not reduce the federal income tax.
"So what changes with the addition of the federal tax burden to change the ranking of the state burden. The federal burden should not change because of where you live, at least not on the 1040 IRS form. Virgina changed from 40th to 21st."
The big factor here is the relative wealth of the residents. "Rich" states like MA and CT move to the top when you throw in Fed Income taxes. "Poor" states like NE, NM, LA all drop way down the list. If you consider that the median income household pays zero (or near zero) Fed Income Taxes, you can see how this makes a huge difference.
See this page for more info on how this works:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/press-bestworststates.html
> All of my property taxes here in houston texas run 4.2% of my homes
> value a year. Less a roughly 20% discount on the one house I live in
> (homestead exemption). The taxes make real estate investing rough
> here.
What??? Texas is the land of taxes?? Couldn't possibly be!! (Could it?)
Aren't they collecting enough taxes from all that oil?
What??? Texas is the land of taxes?? Couldn't possibly be!! (Could it?)
It could, indeed. The per capita rate of taxation, for all taxes collected makes Texas the 4th most taxed state i nthe union. Now, that includes al collected taxes, like Railroad Comission taxes on oil and gas fields, highway taxes, business & corporation etc. No income tax (yet<crossed fingers>), but we do have a stout 8.5% sales tax (up from 5% 20 years ago in 0.5% "temporary" increments).
Texas also tends to have uniformly high property taxes, too. I'm not quite aHouston levels, but right close. My total tax bill is right at $2300 on an assessed value of $87K for my 1951 1400 sf 3/1.5 sitting on .377 acres. (Oh, and I owe $0.00 against the assessed $28 value of my mineral rights, too).
Now, the gas and oil taxes you pay are function of where you live. In Texas, about 40¢ of every gallon of gas at the pump is going back to the State as a highway use tax. There's more for the federal fuel tax, too. Texas is about 15th in state fuel taxes, if my memory is correct, so there are 14 other states that pay more for gas at the pump to their respective states.
I remember in Indiana, about 30 years ago, much grumbling by my grandfather when the state applied a tax on gas that could not be calculated at the pump, but only at the register. It took about 5 years, but they fixed that, and declared that daylight savings time occured at the Illinois state line . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)