I have a question for those of you who own your home and pay Prperty Taxes. My husband and I built a $125,000 home 5 years ago and now our School District wants to raise the Property Taxes 45% because of deadbeat tax payers and little State Money for Special Education as well as rising Teachers saleries.. We will be facing a tax bill of combined county, local and school tax of about $5,000 a year. This does not include what is taken from my husbands paycheck for state, local, social security and federal. I just wanted to see if my area is becoming outrageous in taxes or if this is a norm throughout the US. We have a small school district of 1500 kids and few business. The average income here is in the mid twenties to low thirties. The average teacher salary is mid forties to mid fifties. I am ready to move as our taxes will have doubled in the five years we have been here. Is this a norm?

-- Cassie (cassie_059@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000

Answers

That is over twice my property tax for a home of equivalent value. What state do you live in?

-- (taxes@confiscatory.rates), June 08, 2000.

Cassie,

That sounds pretty outrageous to me. That's about what I pay on a $600,000 house in Silicon Valley. The disparity you list between teacher salaries and the local average income also sounds out of line. Where do you live?

In San Francisco street sweepers and bus drivers can easily make $75,000 or more a year, which is a lot more than the army of low-paid private industry kids make.

-- Flash (Flash@flash.hq), June 08, 2000.

Phoenix $260,000. home = $2,200 property tax..

meanwhile out in the desert a $3,500 trailer house = $36. and 5 acres of raw desert ($15,000.) = $200.

-- fauna (x@x.edu), June 08, 2000.

It looks like you're paying 4% if the value of your home has remained constant during the past 5 years. Has it, though?

I'm in a town of less than 120,000 in North Texas. Part of the town is in one county and part in another county. Total taxes if in one county is 2.589% of current home market value; total taxes if in the other is 2.873% of value. The median income for the town is $44,753. The teacher pay begins at $33,xxx and tops off at something like $51,xxx [after like 19 years of experience.]

My town has many businesses. I don't know how much that affects the tax base.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 08, 2000.

Let me guess--you live in MA or NY or WI or MN or OR?

-- (lars@indy.net), June 08, 2000.

Cassie here in ohio, they (being whoever, not really sure) have big debate going on about property taxes being used to help finance school system. I believe they are going to do away with that and schools are now scrambling to figure out what to do next.

We have a lottery here, and the money is 'supposed' to go to schools, goodness knows there are enough gambling fiends here in Ohio to fund the schools, yet it appears the schools are in the Worst shape, I believe we are in top 10 worst schools here. Sad, yep.

I would have a problem being taxed on property ie home if I was senior who had no children in system. Soon, my son will be out of school, but I will still have to pay, until all legal crap is cleared up.

Chuck: you out here? Chuck is from my area, and he may know more about this than i. BTW, I pay over $1,200 per year for mine.

Yes, I'd say that is a lil on the hi side Cassie, here in Ohio, depending upon what area you live in the taxes on a 125,000 home would run about roughly 2,500.00 for a GOOD neighborhood.

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), June 08, 2000.

Hi Cassie

Property taxes have always concerned me. I live in Michigan and we have a 5% per year cap on tax increases, but don't fret, school millages can and do increase taxes above this rate. Our lottery money does go to the schools; however, the money that the state used to give the schools before the lottery now goes other places, so the school districts didn't really gain.

There is nothing like renting your property from the State year after year.

-- r (r.1@juno.com), June 08, 2000.

Here in MO we have a triple A school system. People move here so their kids can go to this school. I think the taxes are high, but our school has lots of amenities. Teachers salaries are below average.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 08, 2000.

Wow, Gilda, I guess that means your school administrators are well paid and that's what REALLY matters, huh?

Cassie, in our county, when property taxes are unpaid for 3 years, the county siezes the property, sells it at auction on the courthouse steps and it isnt' a drag on the school district. This way, folks are motivated to keep their property taxes paid up.

Of course, I am a libertarian and think that government has no business running schools, but hey, what do I know? I'd feel better if I could direct where my mandatory "tribute" goes, I honestly feel that the christian and catholic schools budget their money much better than our regular school districts, and would not mind supporting those.

-- (formerly@nowhere.zzz), June 08, 2000.

You live in Glide OR, right?

-- (nharrold@terragon.com), June 08, 2000.

Cassie:

I live about a two hour drive north of Gilda in Missouri. Our public schools are supposed to be the best in the state and among the best in the nation [I really am not sure what this best stuff means, it is something that administrators have made-up in their spare time]. Our taxes are a fraction of yours. The public schools work really well. We have private academies, but they mostly serve folks from out of state. They cost a bundle. As you might expect, the religous schools don't do well here. We no longer have a religous high school and haven't for many years.

Best wishes,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 08, 2000.

formerly, our school administrators are well paid, and that's what gripes me, for the teachers have the hardest jobs in my opinion, and should be paid more. The problem with the taxes here is this. We are on a very large lake, surrounded by numerous rivers and streams. People come here in vacation and like it so well they stay. KLots of revenue here.

We are in a very wealthy county and for some the taxes are very cheap. But for elderly people who live on farms they've owned forever the taxes are really a burden. In Iowa at a certain age you have an exemption for elderly people. We need something like that here.

Bingo, religious schools are not popular here either, and I'm glad of that. But naturally you wouldn't expect to find to many religious schools in an area that has Party Cove, (check it on the web) and a bar called Big Dick's Half-Way Inn.

I guess you probably heard that the government bureaucrat that issues the liquor licenses is making the owner change the name of his business, although this has been the name for years. First it was just Big Dick's, and a new owner added the Half-Way In, but our prissy liquor license bureaucrat thinks it's offensive. This is a tourist mecca, not a religoius mecca. Luckily, the people trying to get Party Cove shut down, lost in court. It's a good thing that Ameren owns the lake.

Our taxes are low compared to some places, but our school is asking for more money than schools in K. C., St. Louis, and Springfield, Mo. It simply doesn't compute.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 09, 2000.

Thank you all. I see we are getting ripped off. I am in Pennsylvania in a small county that has little business and is economicly depressed. What business comes here is low paying below 10 dollars an hour. Obvioulsy my husband does not work in this county but I felt we are getting butchered with taxes. I personally want to move, my husband thinks we are paying our fair share. In Pensylvania The school system taxes your Real Estate property value, In some counties they also tax your occupation so they can generate additonal money to run the school, my husband pays a few hundred dollars on his occupation tile. I just wanted to know if other states do this. Thanks

-- Cassie (cassie_059@yahoo.com), June 09, 2000.

Cassie:

The unemployment rate in our county is presently 1.5%. Folks at the golden arches get those kinds of pay, plus a signing bonus [if I read the sign under the arches correctly.]. It is just different in different places.

Best wishes,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 09, 2000.

Gilda:

Please note that I am not Bingo.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 09, 2000.

Interesting numbers on this thread. I live in a 2500 sq. ft. home, excellent condition, upper middle class neighborhood, up against the mountains, great climate. It cost $100,000. We have an outstanding school system here (all these engineers take education very seriously) but in exchange we pay the 2d highest property taxes in the state -- ours are $540 a year. The town is big enough for all the amenities, with a low crime rate and no traffic problems.

What are you all *getting* for your money, anyway?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 09, 2000.

Flint:

We're basically getting NOTHING here in Texas for our money. After we moved here and I learned about the education my oldest was getting at the local high-school, I shipped the other two back to Illinois for High-School when their times came.

How Texas Rates:

1st Children without Health insurance (%) 1st Toxic Air Releases. 1st Smog Days (Houston) 3rd Hunger (%) 5th Highest Teen Birth Rate 45th Mothers Receiving Pre-Natal Care 46th Public Libraries and Branches 46th High School Completion Rate 46th Water Resources Protection 47th Delivery of Social Services 48th Per Capita Funding for Public health 48th Best Place to Raise Children 48th Spending for Parks and recreation 48th Spending for the Arts 49th Spending for the Environment 50th Teachers' Salaries plus Benefits

I'm pretty amazed that I actually LIKE it here, considering the above. The colleges are much better than the high-schools, and a bit cheaper than Illinois. I keep an eye out for signs of educational deficiency in my children. If I see them making obvious errors, I'll send them to college elsewhere.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 10, 2000.

Gilda:

Please note that I am not "Z".

Best wishes,,,,

Bingo

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), June 10, 2000.

Z1X and Bingo, my sincere apologies. I must have been having a senior moment. Z, I know you're the person who lives in my state. Have you heard of our Party Cove fame?

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 10, 2000.

Gilda:

No need to apologize. We were just joking. Party cove. Yeah, I hear about it all of the time. It was just on the local news not long ago. Unfortunately, I seldom get to the lake, although I drive by it quite often when I head to the sw part of the state on business. It is the shortest way to I44.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 10, 2000.