Scorpions, rattlesnakes and #@%$*&! property taxes

[Dawg54]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Yes, but only in coach.

Mmmmm that baby would fry up nicely. Better than KFC. He must calling Bobby Flay to see how to season it.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

It doesnt matter, the airline would figure out how to make it taste worse than a $1 frozen dinner before serving it in coach.

[Art G]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Yes, but only in coach.

LOL! That was a pretty funny line! too bad it goes unappreciated in here.

[rs0460a]

Originally Posted by RDamien

Seriously. I pay over 12k a year in property taxes here in NJ. That's for about 3/4 of an acre.

For comparison (I'm 75 miles west of NYC, in PA) I paid $4,500 property tax in '07 for 1.1 acres (yes, with my home on it ).

Just to show you that nothing is consistent as far as property tax.

Oh - BTW, I used to "live" in Texas (stationed in Lubbock). I used to tell the "locals" (after a few drinks) the definition of a Texan. It was a Mexican that didn't make it to Oklahoma ...

Anyway, I left the "dry heat" of west Texas (along with the dust storms, the scorpions, rattlesnakes <and tarantulas> for the "wet heat" of SEA (that's Southeast Asia). It was a coin toss to say what "environmentals" were better/worse...

- Ron

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by rs0460a

Oh - BTW, I used to "live" in Texas (stationed in Lubbock). I used to tell the "locals" (after a few drinks) the definition of a Texan. It was a Mexican that didn't make it to Oklahoma ...

Please don't insult our neighbors to the South...

[rec7]

I thought about moving to texas. Are you paying about 2.5% of your house's total value in property taxes? Does that sound about right?

[Rustic23]

OK, here is a dodge that works in Texas. Buy a trailer, put it on a cheap lot and homestead it. Turn 65 and the value freezes for school taxes. The trailer is cheap and has little value so with the exemptions the Taxes paid are $0. This ratio can now be transfered to another purchase of a home.

How does portability work?

Your school tax-freeze portability is calculated in the following way: Your county tax appraisal district uses your current home's tax appraisal value and your current frozen school taxes to calculate a ratio. That ratio is applied to the appraised value of your new home to determine the school tax rate on that home. This new tax rate is frozen for as long as you live in that home. The formula is designed to keep your new tax freeze in proportion with your old tax freeze so you don't experience a huge increase in school taxes when you move.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by rec7

Are you paying about 2.5% of your house's total value in property taxes? Does that sound about right?

Probably in the ballpark but I'd recommend you use something closer to 3%. In some cities it may be close to 4% while in some rural areas it may be under 2%.

[rec7]

Thanks for the info. Boy those are high taxes. The only way to fight them is buy a small house.

[sweetana3]

We got hit with a 100% increase this year from $1700 to approx. $3700. No wonder the s**t hit the fan. Personally I believe that the government hid a whole lot of other changes in a court suit mandated change to the way houses are assessed.

Same house and same fair market value as 8 years ago.

[Ronstar]

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[Leonidas]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

Probably in the ballpark but I'd recommend you use something closer to 3%. In some cities it may be close to 4% while in some rural areas it may be under 2%.

Wherever those places are I definitely don't want to live there. I'm at 2.1ish and that's onerous enough.

[Telly]

Originally Posted by rec7

Thanks for the info. Boy those are high taxes. The only way to fight them is buy a small house.

Buy a mobile home, and the weather will make it smaller. In fact, it may be spread across many taxing districts.
Diversification... it's good for everyone

[MichaelB]

So many posts about property taxes and no mention of spending.
This is the fallacy of the Florida property tax laws - the voters focus on capping increases in assessment values but public employment grows and spending continues.

When voters put finances ahead of partisan differences this may change. Until then, I suspect lots of property owners are in for some disappointing times ahead - and major pain. Assessments may begin to fall in line with market values but tax rates will continue to rise.

Michael

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

When voters put finances ahead of partisan differences this may change.

I predict this will happen the same time dogs stop chasing cats.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by 73ss454

It's a long story but the bottom line is that Florida is one screwed up state for property taxes.

The longer you live here the less property taxes you pay with a 3% annual cap. So if you buy a house for lets say 300K and your property taxes are 6K your neighbor with the same house that's been there for lets say 5 years could be paying 3K.

Now since it's only a winter thing you can't homestead because you have a primary home in another state. This allows the state to readjust your taxes every year to what ever they deem necessary.

Now the homesteaded folks will see the downside. Property values, including theirs, will fall, but because their assessed values are so far below market they will rise this year - and taxes will as well.

That is, unless they vote on another "reform" - this time to completely abolish property taxes for themselves but not for anybody else. Hmmm ... wouldn't surprise me if they tried.

Michael

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

I predict this will happen the same time dogs stop chasing cats.

One of my cats chases dogs. Another one of my cats and one of my dogs groom each other.

So...theres HOPE!

[Art G]

Not to get carried away, I'd bet that Texas is still one of the cheapest places to live. No state or local income tax. Fairly low insurance costs. No salt in the air or on the roads so cars hold up. No snow tires and few winter clothes. No intangible tax. Cheap houses.

[Leonidas]

Originally Posted by Art G

Not to get carried away, I'd bet that Texas is still one of the cheapest places to live. No state or local income tax. Fairly low insurance costs. No salt in the air or on the roads so cars hold up. No snow tires and few winter clothes. No intangible tax. Cheap houses.

Winter lasts about four weeks, spring and fall are about an hour and a half each, and for most the rest of the year we have SUMMER. Then it gets really hot in September and October.

Your local electricity provider loves Summer, because that's when they extort you for every dime you're worth. They never worry about needing to hire collectors for back due accounts, they merely remind customers that the lifeblood of their AC system will be cut off if the debt is not paid.

I'll take to robbing liquor stores to pay off my Reliant bill before I'll melt in the dark.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

No, this is not another "Why you shouldn't move to Texas" rant - OK, maybe it is...

Instead of saving your scorpions to mail to Martha, perhaps you should look up a few of your elected officials. "Yer Honor, they needed killin'..."

Or maybe not-- the elected officials' stings might fatally poison the scorpions, and then you'd be indicted for cruelty to dumb animals. I mean to the scorpions.