Property Tax Rates: Different States, Different Strokes?

[Orchidflower]

I have been making, so far, a futile effort to find out all the different State's property tax rates. If anyone knows of such a web page, please post it.
Recently, I read on city-data.com that a number of people in the State of Washington have received their 2007 property tax bills with an 80% increase over last year. Yes, you read that right! I am trying to avoid being caught in that sort of situation, so.....need some help here.

 

[RunningBum]

I don't think I've ever lived in a state that had a property tax. They've all been at the county, city and/or school district level. I think that's why you aren't finding such a web page.

 

[youbet]

I don't think I've ever lived in a state that had a property tax. They've all been at the county, city and/or school district level. I think that's why you aren't finding such a web page.

I agree with RunningBum. States don't levy property taxes that I'm aware of. Many states do impose income taxes which are partially distributed to counties/townships/municipalities and enable those taxing authorities to have lower property taxes. So, states with high income taxes often have local taxing authorities levying lower real estate taxes than local taxing authorities in states with no income tax.

 

[honobob]

California property taxes are governed by the state Revenue and Taxation Code. Prop 13 restricts taxes to 1% statewide and increases in assessed values are capped at 2% per year. It is administered by the counties and they and local cities/school districts can vote additional taxes. Counties can opt out of certain statewide provisions such as Prop 90 which allows you to take your tax base to other counties.

 

[OAG]

If you Google County Property Taxes BY State you should get what you want. But, since each county within a state has different rates you may find you have way too much data for it to be useful.

 

[peorth]

I have been making, so far, a futile effort to find out all the different State's property tax rates. If anyone knows of such a web page, please post it.
Recently, I read on city-data.com that a number of people in the State of Washington have received their 2007 property tax bills with an 80% increase over last year. Yes, you read that right! I am trying to avoid being caught in that sort of situation, so.....need some help here.

Hello,

States have side-wide policy on state income tax, but not property tax. Your property tax can vary within the state from city to city and from county to county.

Some counties have pretty arcane ways to calculate your property tax. For example, in Las Vegas:
Las Vegas Property Tax, How Las Vegas Property Taxes Are Calculated in Clark County

And note within the county they have different tax rates for different "tax districts":
Property Tax Districts For Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada

So if you were in Boulder City, the rate is 2.3153, and if you're in Las Vegas City, it's 3.2812.

I'm in California where we have prop 13 that restricts property tax, but if you purchase new or new-ish homes in places like South Orange County, you'll have to pay mello roose which is a tax bond. Realistically, plan on tax rate of about 2% for a new home in area with mello roose in CA, plus monthly HOA fees.

To best of my knowledge there is no one place where you can go and get property tax info for every city in the country. However property taxes are tax deductible, so you get to save a little bit.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

A few years ago I found a site that had the high and low property tax rates paid
for each county within the US. I did not save the site, but I did save the spreadsheet.
The data is from 2000. It is not uncommon for people in the same county to pay
double or even triple what others in the county pay.

 

[Rustic23]

This might help. As said, property tax varies with state, county, school district, municipal utility district, emergency services district, and I am sure several more.

http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=3&contentID=76984&subContentID=105281

 

[W2R]

This might help. As said, property tax varies with state, county, school district, municipal utility district, emergency services district, and I am sure several more.

http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=3&contentID=76984&subContentID=105281

Thanks for the helpful link! I have bookmarked it.

 

[Orchidflower]

Did you ever have some wrong idea that just stuck in your head and you keep saying or doing the same thing over and over? I keep saying STATE property tax rates over and over. I know better. What is up with that?
Regardless, I bookmarked that link, also. Most helpful.
Wow! Look at Texas the high next to Louisiana the low = big difference!

 

[Rustic23]

Texas, no income tax, fairly low property values, about 6.5% state sales tax. If you check

The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens Compared to Other U.S. States, 1970-2007

you will see Texas is down at the bottom for total tax. However, that does not consider the state chigger tax. It's murder!

 

[Orchidflower]

I've fallen in love with the tables from The Tax Foundation. Are they not great and ez?
Lived in Texas 22 years: Houston where the sales tax rate was 8.25%; I think (not positive tho) that the property tax rate was something like $19 per $1,000; corporate tax for incorporated biz was 4% then but I think this went up to 7% in 2007. They keep changing things.
However, I agree with you and all the realtors: Texas has the lowest property values--especially for metro areas--in the nation. Too much land, I suppose. And I have done enough homework on this computer to know that Austin in the next 20 years will be a boom area for retirees. It is just really starting now. Hope I am around to witness it.

 

[RunningBum]

And I have done enough homework on this computer to know that Austin in the next 20 years will be a boom area for retirees. It is just really starting now. Hope I am around to witness it.

Does that mean you are in Austin, hope to be in Austin, or just hope to be living for the next 20 years?

I'll have a house for sale in Cedar Park (just north of Austin) next summer if you want to take part! Catch me before I sign on with a realtor and we'll share the savings!

 

[Orchidflower]

WHY are you selling in Cedar Park? That is supposedly a hot spot now!

 

[RunningBum]

Aren't you supposed to sell while the market is hot?

My daughter finishes high school this year. The only reason I moved out here was to be able to spend time with her. Once she's out, I'm gone. Especially since she hopes to go to college at UVa, 45 minutes from my home in Virginia.

 

[cletis]

You have to be careful. Were I live now, they constantly preach the low property taxes but fail to mention the extremely high vehicle taxes. Cletis

 

[audreyh1]

you will see Texas is down at the bottom for total tax. However, that does not consider the state chigger tax. It's murder!

Not to mention the hail tax!

Left state for 5 month long RV road trip. Finally returned yesterday. Sure enough, last night first hail storm in > 5 months. At least marble sized hail.

What a welcome back!

Audrey

 

[WM]

Not sure if this will add anything beyond what's already been posted, but another site to check for state tax comparisons is RETIREMENT LIVING INFORMATION CENTER - Retirement Communities and senior lifestyle data.

 

[Raygun99]

Does this report include income tax or sales tax? For total comparison of average worker and retired households? Plus in Texas many communities cap the property tax for senior citizens. But as a whole I would say TEXAS property TAXs and Utilities and Property Insurance are way out of site compared to other states. I know.. I pay them ... Living in a no income tax state is not a true bargain if everything else is out of whack...and last the IRS deduction for sales tax may go away this year tooo. So we loose the tax dection other states provide via their income tax.

 

[REWahoo]

Does this report include income tax or sales tax?

From the website:

"...overall tax burden in each state, including taxes on retirement income, property taxes, senior exemptions and sales taxes."

 

[Htown Harry]

This tax collectors' website has some interesting charts comparing taxes by state: total, sales, income, excise, etc.

State Comparisons

On the 2005 tax burden charts, they show these 10 states as having the lowest per capita total state & local tax revenue (lowest first): AL ($2569), MI, TN, SD, SC, OK, AR, MT, ID, UT. The highest in the nation is $7383 in D.C.

Lowest total state and local tax collections, expressed as a percentage of personal income (again, lowest first): SD (8.7%), NH, TN, AL, CO, OR, TX, MO, OK, VA, GA. Highest: WY at 15.1%.

As a consolation to its residents, however, it appears WY has the nation's lowest taxe rate on beer.

 

[Nords]

I have been making, so far, a futile effort to find out all the different State's property tax rates.

This is gonna seem like a dumb question, but why do you care about different states' property tax rates?

Who among us chooses their residence by tax rate? You either love the taxes or hate them, but I can't see anyone crouching over a spreadsheet and saying "Ah, here's my retirement tax haven!" any more than I can see picking a location by cable TV rates or sewer bills. I think that taxes would rank very low in one's top ten criteria of choosing a location. You make up a list of places you'd like to live and then you check that taxes aren't too bad, you're not living on a toxic waste dump, and that you can get home insurance. But I don't know anyone who'd sort the entire database by tax rates and then start looking for a place.

But it'd certainly suck up a lot of analysis time. What's next-- world taxation rates by country & major cities?

Recently, I read on city-data.com that a number of people in the State of Washington have received their 2007 property tax bills with an 80% increase over last year. Yes, you read that right! I am trying to avoid being caught in that sort of situation, so.....need some help here.

Well, so it happens, but would you sell your house? Move to a different tax region? Go back to work?

An "80% increase" is useless data without the context of how much money you'd pay, what % of your budget it makes up, and how it'd affect your lifestyle. If it went up 80% in one year it'd probably go up at a lower rate in subsequent years, so do you pick that location for its potential lower tax rate inflation? Do you avoid everywhere else in the database because it's overdue for an 80% increase?

Our property taxes have darn near doubled over the last seven years but so have our property values. It wasn't that big a bite to begin with and it's still a tolerable amount of the total package. We ain't selling or moving. In fact the tax authorities are trying to reduce the effective tax rate through various rebates & exemptions to get the increases back down to a lower rate of inflation.

If property-tax rates are the single point of failure in an ER plan, then perhaps it's time to consider renting or to work for a bit longer.

 

[Moemg]

This is gonna seem like a dumb question, but why do you care about different states' property tax rates?

Who among us chooses their residence by tax rate? You either love the taxes or hate them, but I can't see anyone crouching over a spreadsheet and saying "Ah, here's my retirement tax haven!" any more than I can see picking a location by cable TV rates or sewer bills. I think that taxes would rank very low in one's top ten criteria of choosing a location. You make up a list of places you'd like to live and then you check that taxes aren't too bad, you're not living on a toxic waste dump, and that you can get home insurance. But I don't know anyone who'd sort the entire database by tax rates and then start looking for a place.

.

Thanks Nords , I thought I was the only one wondering about this .

 

[honobob]

I think you would be foolish not to consider the impact of property taxes. Here in CA I know that I can live in a $600,000 home and pay only $1,000 a year in property taxes and that my assessed value will not increase more than 2% a year. From what I've read here people in NJ & Fl are paying $8-12K per year in property taxes on much cheaper homes with no cap on future increases.

People do move (or not) to reduce their property tax burden. It's probably not the only reason but if I have a choice of areas to relocate to that are similar I would be more likely to choose the place that has a lower or more predictible property tax.

 

[W2R]

This is gonna seem like a dumb question, but why do you care about different states' property tax rates?

Property taxes are one of many things that can differ from location to location. Before relocating for retirement, it seems like a good idea to try to become familiar with that area and various differences that one might experience there, as opposed to other locations. Being sucker-punched with a huge property tax bill can be avoided (or at least one could plan for it). The same could be said for weather - - I am hoping that by learning about how to live in ice/snow in advance, and by experiencing it as much as I can before moving there, I will not be sucker-punched by the weather in southern Missouri where I intend to retire. But you are right - - taxes, climate, crime, natural beauty, recreational or educational opportunities, cost of living, and many other factors are worth considering in potential ER locations, especially if a new retiree has no particular ties to any place.

Yesterday I spent all day in a pre-retirement informational seminar at work. The speaker said something that I thought was pretty perceptive. She said that ALL states have to get their income from somewhere, except for Alaska (due to oil revenues) and Nevada (due to gambling revenues). She suggested that states will generally acquire this revenue through income, property, and/or sales taxes. So, if you are influenced by low property taxes or low/absent income taxes in your choice of location, she said you should realize that at least to some extent you are just "picking your poison".