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

[Ronstar]

These floating homes may have water snakes, but no real estate taxes

HarborsideMarina.biz - HARBOR HOMES™ Luxury Houseboats

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[Leonidas]

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]

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]

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

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

 

[MichaelB]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[ziggy29]

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

Ugh, Reliant. I'm having flashbacks to when I lived in Houston.

Our town has municipal electric purchased wholesale from a co-op, so it's cheaper than most power through Texas utilities. Last I checked it was about 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. I remember paying about 16 to Reliant before I switched away from them.

 

[REWahoo]

Ugh, Reliant. I'm having flashbacks to when I lived in Houston....I remember paying about 16 to Reliant before I switched away from them.

Just another benefit of life in the big city...

 

[Tom52]

They must not include property taxes when calculating cost of living increases

I am always depressed when the tax bill comes.

2001 increase + 17.3%
2002 increase +19.5%
2003 increase +0%
2004 increase +10.5%
2005 increase +9.5%
2006 increase +7.9%
2007 increase +13.1%

In the last 10 years my property taxes have increased 237% on the same house. I was so fed up after paying the taxes last year I intended to protest the assessment. I researched comps in my neighborhood and found that I have significantly higher than everyone else. Unbeknownst to me one of the houses in my comparison was the township assessor's house. Guess what, big drop in assessed value and my tax bill this year went down $1.420.00.

I suggest you all take the time to evalulate your taxes and protest if they are out of line. In doing my research it became obvious there is no magic formula that insures everyone is assessed in the same fair manner. It is definitely "by the seat of the pants" which the county can't defend when you call them on it, at least where I live in suburban Chicago.

 

[Basenji]

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.

Good points, but ...

8.25% sales tax, 2-3% property tax, long distances and very little public transit (so the increasing cost of gas is painful), houses not cheap any more in central metro areas.

Then again, there are solutions: don't buy much stuff, ride a bike or drive a small energy-efficient car, and live in a small energy-efficient home or apartment.

 

[Basenji]

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.

Let's not forget to thank the previous governor for pushing through "deregulation" that took Texas from lower-than-average rates to higher-than-average rates, and let's not forget to thank the current governor for insisting that it's all going very well, thank you.

(Oh, did we forget to mention that the price decreases would go to a few very large industrial consumers, while the 50-100% price increases would be reserved for residential consumers?)

[FYI - I put "deregulation" in quotes because it really was not deregulation; it was a badly mismanaged "restructuring" and partial reduction of regulation.]

A longtime Louisiana & Texas utility company employee recently told me, "In Louisiana, we would never shove so much of the industrial customers' costs onto residential customers like Texas does. Louisiana wouldn't let us, but Texas demands it."

EDITED to add:
Excellent description of the Texas seasons.

 

[2B]

The oppressive Texas property and sales taxes are why I'm looking at moving to Missouri (most likely), Louisiana or Oklahoma. I've checked my total tax cost and all 3 states would result in significant savings plus less scorpions and fewer ebola outbreaks.

One thing I've considered is a Texas "base" at one of my kids' places. They would effectively be a mail service and could sort the junk from real stuff for us. We'd also have the benefit of no state income taxes for further savings. We could stay at our "vacation home" wherever that turns out to be.

 

[W2R]

The oppressive Texas property and sales taxes are why I'm looking at moving to Missouri (most likely), Louisiana or Oklahoma.

Good idea, but just mentioning parenthetically that if you happen to live in New Orleans, total sales tax is 9.75%. It varies in different parts of the state, so in general it isn't anywhere near that bad. Property tax is low.

Missouri has yearly personal property tax on your car, boat, and such items. I don't recall the rate but I figured out last week that it would be over $400 for a $25K car. I don't care. The rest of the taxes are not exorbitant, prices are low, and I feel safe and happy when I am there.

Not considering Oklahoma, so I don't know about their taxes. Now I am wondering why we haven't considered that state! I'll have to review my notes.

 

[Spanky]

The oppressive Texas property and sales taxes are why I'm looking at moving to Missouri (most likely), Louisiana or Oklahoma.

According to this site (Real Estate : Top 10 U.S. Cities With The Lowest Taxes? :: Free Article by Real Estate Advisor), Houston ranks 9th as one of the friendliest in tax.

 

[2B]

According to this site (Real Estate : Top 10 U.S. Cities With The Lowest Taxes? :: Free Article by Real Estate Advisor), Houston ranks 9th as one of the friendliest in tax.

I didn't look up your article but I've seen similar ones that only count the county portion of the property tax. They neglect to include the school tax (the highest part) or the MUDD tax for the cost of installing utilities when the subdivision was first developed. I pay $3.85 for every $100 of assessed value. The assessed value is the absolute highest a drunken buyer would pay for the property without deducting real estate fees.

Our rapidly appreciating house was last appraised at $270,000 but my homestead exemption brings the tax down to a little over $7,300 (current estimate). I wish we could "put" our house to the appraisal district at their presumed value.

 

[Spanky]

Our rapidly appreciating house was last appraised at $270,000 but my homestead exemption brings the tax down to a little over $7,300 (current estimate). I wish we could "put" our house to the appraisal district at their presumed value.

The tax rate is almost 2X of ours currently. The property tax will likely rise if the school referendum is approved. I wound not mind paying for a higher property tax rate if the state income tax rate were 0 as it is in Texas. Our state income tax is over 7.5%.

 

[2B]

The tax rate is almost 2X of ours currently. The property tax will likely rise if the school referendum is approved. I wound not mind paying for a higher property tax rate if the state income tax rate were 0 as it is in Texas. Our state income tax is over 7.5%.

I think you live in one of the highest tax states. You should also consider moving.

 

[Pete]

I hear farm property in Texas is treated much more fairly. Move out of town a little and plant a couple of avocado trees.

 

[Leonidas]

I hear farm property in Texas is treated much more fairly. Move out of town a little and plant a couple of avocado trees.

There may be a few places in Tejas where an Avocados would survive, but the climate in much of the state would murder those suckers.

A lot of people just lease pasture land for grazing, or grow hay and either cut it themselves and sell it or sell the mowing rights to someone else. Probably a lot less work than planting an avocado tree just to watch it go up in flames one August afternoon.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That was tried in my old county...preferential tax treatment for small farms. What constituted a small farm wasnt well defined, so a lot of folks bought nice 10 acre plots, built minimansions on them and then planted a bunch of peach trees in the back yard.

Of course the law was repealed after a couple of years. Right after all the friends of the guys who enacted it had their homes built and were grandfathered in.

 

[W2R]

That was tried in my old county...preferential tax treatment for small farms. What constituted a small farm wasnt well defined, so a lot of folks bought nice 10 acre plots, built minimansions on them and then planted a bunch of peach trees in the back yard.

Of course the law was repealed after a couple of years. Right after all the friends of the guys who enacted it had their homes built and were grandfathered in.

Apparently Louisiana doesn't have a complete monopoly on corruption! California is giving us a run for the money. That's awful.