Property Taxes

[Trainwreck20]

I have wondered about this lately...lots of people are opting to retire in Texas, so I am assuming that they have decided the property taxes are passable for them. Is it only affluent people that are retiring here? Are they chosing to give their house to the state as payment, instead? I have thought that Texas is a good place to work, but, money-wise, not a good place to retire....

[austindoxie1972]

Originally Posted by cdelena

Taxes PER CAPITA are higher else where but on average taxes ON APPRAISED VALUE have been highest in Texas in recent years (there are a few individual counties in the Northeast that are worse). After living and investing in Texas most of my life the heat and taxes (and some politics) got to me and I am in the process of getting fully extricated.

You're right about that!! The Wall Street Journal ran an article a few weeks ago. According to them, Texas has the second highest property tax rate in the country. Only New Jersey was higher. I'll say it again....the only way to get ahead in Texas is to make a lot of money [high personal income] and live in the smallest house possible.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by Biscuits

And this affects not being able to afford $0 in taxes, how?

You still pay ungodly taxes, you just wait until death to do it.

There's something very wrong with that. The average person pays for a home over 30 years and then the State takes anywhere from 0% to over 100% of your home's equity depending on when you kick the bucket.

I agree, I'd rather pay a State income tax as long as property taxes were eliminated at the same time. No politician in TX is smart or brave enough to suggest that though.

[gregandvicky]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

School tax sucks especially if you have no kids

You are right. We have no kids. Live in a rural area and the Sheriff's dept has a response time of 37 minutes to us and the roads are in sad shape.

Where is the MONEY?

[texasdreamin]

Originally Posted by Biscuits

Any Texas homeowner who is 65 or older can choose to defer [quit paying] their property taxes all together.

This could leave the estate upside down after the death of the owner(s) (in that case the government takes the home) but the argument that a retiree can't live in their home due to not being able to afford taxes is false. There is also a freezing of the school portion of the tax bill once the owner reaches 65.

In short, it actually is the 65+ crowd, retired or still working, that is in the best Texas property tax position of all.

Don't get me wrong, I paid over $11,000 in property taxes last year and also feel the system is severely flawed. I too would prefer a state income tax if there were air-tight provisions in place to make sure that it permanently reduced the property tax to next to nothing.

The tax rate freezes at 65...but the appraisals still go up, so seniors will still have to pay more and more taxes. No sense for everybody to keep complaining about it if no one is going to step up to the plate to try and change it. I went on a forum and wrote a 4,000 character rant about it. I also sent an email to the governor. You have to fight for change.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin

The tax rate freezes at 65...but the appraisals still go up, so seniors will still have to pay more and more taxes.

I don't see them "having" to do that if they don't choose to.

Hypothetically speaking, the senior couple may have deferred $1 to $1,000,000,000 in past property taxes and interest that they "owe" the tax collector upon the passing of the last surviving spouse.

Who cares? They're freaking dead! In a worst case scenario, the house may get sold/auctioned and the government takes their cut - which is capped at the [then] current value of the home.

I know, now comes the "but I want something left to pass on to my heirs" argument. Well, that is your choice. Personally, I would prefer my parents live tax free and comfortable rather than be burdened with worrisome property taxes for the rest of their lives.

For the record, my grandmother did this very thing from '86 to '03, at the advice of her children. She got to live in her home for her entire adult life while getting the most out of her fixed income. When she passed, the heirs paid the $40,000 in back taxes and took ownership of her homestead which was worth significantly more. Even if there would have been nothing left after the tax burden, nobody would have given it a second thought; it was her property to milk as she saw fit.

My feeling remains that it is not the 65+ crowed that is in the worst shape. It is the rest of us suckers who risk the loss of our property if we become unable to meet the ever-growing annual tax burden.

[austin-steve]

For the record, my grandmother did this very thing from '86 to '03, at the advice of her children. She got to live in her home for her entire adult life while getting the most out of her fixed income. When she passed, the heirs paid the $40,000 in back taxes and took ownership of her homestead which was worth significantly more. Even if there would have been nothing left after the tax burden, nobody would have given it a second thought; it was her property to milk as she saw fit.

This is how I would approach it with my Mom, or I would just pay the taxes for her. Between my wife's and my parents, only my Mom is still alive. She loves her home and won't move until health or safety reasons make it necessary. Her taxes are pretty low though.

I agree with the income tax. I'd rather pay that than property taxes. Problem is, they would introduce an income tax but keep the property tax also.

Steve

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

T
I agree with the income tax. I'd rather pay that than property taxes. Problem is, they would introduce an income tax but keep the property tax also.

Steve

Hush your mouth~ One way to justify our move from ATL is that the increase in prop tax is offset by the lack of state income tax. Don't give them any ideas!

[tibbar]

Well I got my tax bill today. It is $219 lower than last year and they have the house appraised at about $24,000 more.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by tibbar

Well I got my tax bill today. It is $219 lower than last year and they have the house appraised at about $24,000 more.

Don't spend it all in one place... God bless financial black holes; otherwise known as our public school systems.