How much are your property taxes compared to your household income/FIRE budget?

[Sittingduck]

+1. I considered getting out of IL but DW is resisting it because of the children/grandchildren.

Our (Cook County) sales tax is 9.75%.

That's punitive. Think of it this way. It's like leaving a gratuity for less than good service but on everything you buy.

 

[bizlady]

Oh man - this thread has me thinking of overcoming the inertia of living in Illinois.

$7,800 for a $240K crappy house on 7 acres in a rural county.
Thats going to be about 12% of my RE budget. (2nd biggest expense after healthcare).
5% state income tax sure to go up drastically when the state goes kaput.
7% sales tax - see coment above

We have a long and proud tradition of getting hosed.

BUT you are lucky in that IL does not tax retirement income such as Trad IRA's pensions, etc.

 

[steelyman]

BUT you are lucky in that IL does not tax retirement income such as Trad IRA's pensions, etc.

That is correct, whether for private or public pensions. IL also does not have a progressive income tax.

 

[FIREd]

The property taxes on our retirement home located in one of the wealthiest counties in Alabama amount to $1,233 a year for a nice but modest house valued at $250K (about 1.5% of our planned retirement budget). The top income tax bracket is 5%, although our effective rate has always been much lower. The sales tax is pretty high in that part of the state though (8.5%).

 

[FANOFJESUS]

+1. I considered getting out of IL but DW is resisting it because of the children/grandchildren.

Our (Cook County) sales tax is 9.75%.

You don't have to move far over to IN will do wonders.

 

[BTravlin]

Where do you live?

Where do you live?

Cozumel, MX. Love the low property taxes!

 

[tdv2]

I am a NJ resident as well. Live about 25 miles due west of NYC. Somewhat rural area but taxes do sting a bit. Right now I am at 4.4% while working and will be 7.5% when I retire in a year or two. Will be 50 in a few months.

 

[DayDreaming]

Another FIRED NJ resident here: property taxes were 16.6% of what I spent last year.

 

[JoeWras]

+1. I considered getting out of IL but DW is resisting it because of the children/grandchildren.

Our (Cook County) sales tax is 9.75%.

Lake County (just north) is a tiny bit better on sales, but real estate is worse.

For the record, Dad's place had market value around 150k and he was spending nearly 6k in RE taxes, with the senior exemption. (You cannot go by the assessor's value -- they play number games in Illinois that cannot be correlated to reality.)

Yeah, no income tax on the pension, but geez this RE fixed tax is just murderous.

 

[KingB]

(You cannot go by the assessor's value -- they play number games in Illinois that cannot be correlated to reality.)

You mean like this? From Zillow - figures are correct for my property of just over 2100 sq ft.
Year Property taxes Change Tax assessment Change
2011 $8,690 -5.3% $32,366 -4.5%
2010 $9,179 11.9% $33,893 -11.1%
2009 $8,201 -1.7% $38,139 -15.7%
2008 $8,345 10.0% $45,263 --
2007 $7,588 7.7% $45,263 28.1%
2006 $7,048 10.7% $35,338 --
2005 $6,366 1.1% $35,338 --
2004 $6,295 -4.3% $35,338 18.6%
2003 $6,577 -- $29,801 --

 

[golfnut]

Another Illinois resident (would love to get out but wife won't listen). RE taxes here in western burbs of Chicago are $9700 for a house valued on Zillow at $440,000.

 

[jebmke]

3.5% of total spend for RE. By comparison, income taxes are ~10%.

 

[meierlde]

I pay 5950 or so on a 380k house in the Texas Hill country. Would pay about 2k more but I live in an unincorporated area. Of course garbage service costs $500 a year so the net cost of being in the city would be 1700 or so. The city penalty might be a bit less as the emergency services and lateral roads taxes would also go away about $200 making the city cost $1500 more.
Of course there is no state income tax, our sales tax is 8.75.

 

[ScoutAZ]

1.35% of pre
2.4% of post
Arizona

 

[jkern]

Castro Valley, CA

12% of retirement budget.

My property taxes have increased approx. 60% over the last 25 years, even with prop 13.

 

[Sittingduck]

That is correct, whether for private or public pensions. IL also does not have a progressive income tax.

Yet ! States broke. BTW 5% isn't insignificant when everything else has gone up including having to pay tolls to drive anywhere.

 

[Sittingduck]

You mean like this? From Zillow - figures are correct for my property of just over 2100 sq ft.
Year Property taxes Change Tax assessment Change
2011 $8,690 -5.3% $32,366 -4.5%
2010 $9,179 11.9% $33,893 -11.1%
2009 $8,201 -1.7% $38,139 -15.7%
2008 $8,345 10.0% $45,263 --
2007 $7,588 7.7% $45,263 28.1%
2006 $7,048 10.7% $35,338 --
2005 $6,366 1.1% $35,338 --
2004 $6,295 -4.3% $35,338 18.6%
2003 $6,577 -- $29,801 --

Thats crazy - What kind of Alchemy is used by the assesors office?

 

[Ronstar]

Another Illinois resident (would love to get out but wife won't listen).....

+1

House in Illinois 12.5% of my budget
Condo in Az 2.5% of my budget
(DW budget separate)

Illinois house taxes are 5 times Az condo, but value is at 2-3 times.

 

[kmt1972]

About 2% of current income. After FIRE it would around 10% of income.

 

[jebmke]

Castro Valley, CA

12% of retirement budget.

My property taxes have increased approx. 60% over the last 25 years, even with prop 13.

if I did my math right, that is less than 2% per year. That seems pretty good.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Mine are 12%

Check this thread for overall costs.:

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...your-retirement-home-68480-4.html#post1361218

 

[jollystomper]

Mine are 2.3% of current income, will be 4.1% of target FIRE income.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We're retired and property taxes are 3.2% of our annual budget for a 940 SF co-op.

South Orange County, CA -- inland 7 miles from beautiful Laguna Beach!

MV?

 

[MooreBonds]

I'm in Missouri and pay $2600 on a 2500sq. ft house. But I also pay $1000 to $1500 a year for personal property tax.

We are also thinking of relocating and trying to add up all the taxes to make sure we don't miss anything. And I guess we should also wait to see what the Obamacare rates may be at other states.

I'm across the MO river from you. With HI rates, don't forget that MO has one of the lowest HI rates around. I expect them to still be among the lowest after Obamacare starts, so don't raise your hopes up too high!


Home market value is about ~$260,000, with 1,760 sq ft. Pay just under $4,000/year.

Still working. Estimated ER budget would have RE taxes at about 8%.

State income taxes in ER would be estimated at about 4.5% of budget (probably less, depending on the mix of income I play around with when retired in taxable vs deferred accounts).

 

[ocdokie]

MV?

Nope, not Mission Viejo, but pretty close. We're in Laguna Woods (aka Geezerville).