What's Up With Property Taxes???

[audreyh1]

I never really got the concerns about high property taxes in TX because the house values were so low anyway.

But now I don't even own a home there - living in an RV with no real property!

And campground rates in TX are on par or cheaper than most places we travel in the US, so tax rates don't get "passed through" in that sense either.

We will probably buy real property in TX in a few years - probably in rural/small town west TX. No way would I live in the expensive urban or semi-urban areas of the state. Urban living has no appeal to us, so that's the main reason.

Given our "moderate" style of living, a state income tax would hurt us far more than property taxes.

Oh yeah - don't forget about all the real reasons not to live in TX - hellish summers, scorpions, rattlers, mediocre Italian food, etc.

Audrey

[2B]

Originally Posted by audreyh1

I never really got the concerns about high property taxes in TX because the house values were so low anyway.

But now I don't even own a home there - living in an RV with no real property!

And campground rates in TX are on par or cheaper than most places we travel in the US, so tax rates don't get "passed through" in that sense either.

We will probably buy real property in TX in a few years - probably in rural/small town west TX. No way would I live in the expensive urban or semi-urban areas of the state. Urban living has no appeal to us, so that's the main reason.

Given our "moderate" style of living, a state income tax would hurt us far more than property taxes.

Oh yeah - don't forget about all the real reasons not to live in TX - hellish summers, scorpions, rattlers, mediocre Italian food, etc.

Audrey

I hadn't noticed anything from our resident RV goddess for awhile. Welcome back or my apologies for not noticing your postings.

The only way to live in Texas is to be in a more rural area. That keeps the property taxes down and exposes you to few gunbattles between rival drug gangs. Carjackings are also much less frequent. Houston is just about unlivable and I'm only tolerating it because we live in one of the outermost burbs. I go inside Beltway 8 only when absolutely necessary.

[Helena]

Originally Posted by audreyh1

We will probably buy real property in TX in a few years - probably in rural/small town west TX. No way would I live in the expensive urban or semi-urban areas of the state. Urban living has no appeal to us, so that's the main reason.

A few years before I retired I visited many small towns
within 200 miles of DFW... but the real estate prices...
and taxes... were not much different than in the urban
area. Also, I discovered that in a small town or rural area,
one might have to travel long distances [especially in Texas]
for certain shopping or business needs. In one small town
I visited, Mineral Wells, a local told me that Wal-Mart
was the only decent place in town to shop for groceries.
Since no empire lasts forever, not even Wal-Mart, I didn't
like the idea of depending on one local store for necessities.

So, I have retired in my DFW urban hometown and am close
to everything I need... and can shop the sales of various
different stores who compete with one another... and now
that the price of gas has gone through the roof, I'm glad I did.


~

[REWahoo]

Audrey, it's been a while and I was wondering if you'd run out of diesel money and parked for the duration. Nice to hear from you again.

Originally Posted by audreyh1

Oh yeah - don't forget about all the real reasons not to live in TX - hellish summers, scorpions, rattlers, mediocre Italian food, etc.

How quickly some people forget - thanks for the reminder.

[Helena]

~

Also, when I began to shop around for a retirement place,
I found that my own hometown [which owns its own electric
company] had one of the cheapest electric rates in the state.


I haven't come across any scorpions or rattlers in my life [and I am a native]


The summers are hot... so be sure you have decent A/C


Texas food = BBQ & Tex-Mex !!... yummmm !!

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Helena

~
I haven't come across any scorpions or rattlers in my life [and I am a native]

Texas food = BBQ & Tex-Mex !!... yummmm !!

If you people don't stop talking like this you'll end up having a bunch of folks move here to clog our roads, streets, parks and restaurants and have them really miffed at you once they discover you're just handing out a chamber of commerce sales pitch. Better stick with the facts:

Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty stinky beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, staggering homeowner insurance rates, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects, and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees (per Orchidflower).

[Helena]

Texas also has horny toads !!

Texas horned lizard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Ohh... the humanity !!


~

[Rustic23]

RW,
you will have to drop the 'mandatory death sentences for DUI', or we could just go back to being our own country again and reinstate it!

[rs0460a]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees.

Per Wikipedia:

"Outside the United States Yank or Yankee is a slang term, sometimes derogatory, for any US person."

Just as I suspected. Texas is outside of the U.S.

- Ron

[ladelfina]

Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty stinky beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, staggering homeowner insurance rates, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects, and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees (per Orchidflower).

and you left out the deal-breaker: "mediocre Italian food"!!!

(forgot who posted that, but )

[growing_older]

Yes, similar assessment happened to me too. Zillow says the value of the property is down about 20% from last year. Tax Assessment says the value is up about 20%. There have been a number of stories in local papers with many people reporting similar issues and the assessors saying their formulas are based on 2-3 year old results so they don't expect them to reflect current markets. I suspect that taxing authorities were not prepared for and cannot tolerate a drop in revenue that would follow a drop in assessments, so we are unlikely to see drops in assessment, regardless of market conditions. But maybe that's just my naturally suspicious attitude towards politicians.

[audreyh1]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

Audrey, it's been a while and I was wondering if you'd run out of diesel money and parked for the duration. Nice to hear from you again.

No, definitely not parked! Yes, diesel is more than twice, TWICE!!!! what it was when we started our touring three years ago. The price increases are shocking, but we still have room in the budget for fuel.

We have been enjoying the northwest coast for the past couple of months. We last filled up in Medford OR on May 2nd, and spent all of May in the northern CA redwoods and now June and July slowly moving up the Oregon Coast. I think we can go another 200 miles (all the way to the northern tip) before needing to shell out for another tank of diesel. Not bad - three months of touring a spectacular part of the country on one tank of fuel!!! The killer will be when we turn inland again to travel back across country.

Right now we are parked at Sea Rose Beach (mid OR coast) facing the ocean. Todays high is to be 78 degrees!! ( a heat wave for around here). We've been loving this northwest coast spring/summer weather!

Audrey

[ERD50]

In many tax districts, the assessment is only one part of the equation.

The tax rate is the other, and often it is normalized. So talk to your tax officials and see what they can tell you.

Simple example - the way our works is, they can collect $X in taxes (increased by some factor each year, but ignore that for now). So, if everyone's house doubled in assessed value, everyone's tax RATE would be cut in half. Same tax paid.

Your main worry may be, that your assessed value went up at a higher rate then the overall.

-ERD50

[Rustic23]

Texas, value can only go up 10% per year on homestead property. The jurisdictions usually keep the rate the same or reduce it a penny or so. That means that for many, taxes have been going up at 10% for the past 4 or 5 years.

The politicians, love to say 'We have not raised your taxes!' or 'We cut your taxes' because they made a minor cut in rates. So far the public has been dumb enough to let them get away with it!

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty stinky beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, staggering homeowner insurance rates, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects, and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees (per Orchidflower).

Don't be so modest. You left out the worst of all ... Politicians and Aggies

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Don't be so modest. You left out the worst of all ... Politicians and Aggies

HEY!! I think you meant "Politicians and T-Sips"...

Being an Aggie myself, I'll add a gratuitous "Gig'em" and leave it at that

[hankster]

Originally Posted by REWahoo

If you people don't stop talking like this you'll end up having a bunch of folks move here to clog our roads, streets, parks and restaurants and have them really miffed at you once they discover you're just handing out a chamber of commerce sales pitch. Better stick with the facts:

Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty stinky beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, staggering homeowner insurance rates, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects, and, lest we forget, doesn't look kindly towards Yankees (per Orchidflower).

Most likely caused by the Tex-Mex

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

and you left out the deal-breaker: "mediocre Italian food"!!!

(forgot who posted that, but )

Now that I think of it, the Italian food in Texas must have been pretty bad! After living there for almost 13 year, the only Italian restaurants that I recall were chain pizza joints.

One of the first things I checked out in Missouri (other than property taxes there, which are a lot less than in Texas) was the Italian food. Found a Sicilian place that is at least "mediocre" and maybe even as good as "OK in a pinch".