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I live in Alden NY (Very close to Buffalo) and my husband is a Production Manager over 20 years making $50,000 a year.. Our taxes are $4,200 dollars a year to be exact.. which includes School taxes in September and then Land taxes in January on a 3 acre property with 1300 sq feet....
Wow! I would love to pay taxes like that. Try this: $10,200 on a 1123 sq foot home on .16 of an acre. I live on Long Island. I wouldn't be complaining if I were you!
My husband and I quit smoking 7 yrs ago and in doing the math I saved over 57000.00. I bought a new car and paid off my mortgage on the house. That to me was a huge win. I hear of people moving to other states because smoking is cheaper I think its just silliness. That's really all I got from that post... sorry.
I find more and more people are leaving Erie and Niagara county because of the taxes or the weather. Being a Realtor I help many people take that step in getting them moving on. Real Estate is a passion of mine and I really don't blame people for wanting to leave this state for the price they have to pay to live here. There are many states where you can purchase a much more expensive home but pay much less in taxes. I will NOT factor in cigarettes or gas prices because that is a battle we will never win. Cigarettes should be band (for everyone's health) and we need a break on gas but we know that is beating a dead horse...
I live in Alden NY (Very close to Buffalo) and my husband is a Production Manager over 20 years making $50,000 a year.. Our [u]taxes are $4,200 dollars a year to be exact
I live in "low tax" Texas and people I know would kill to pay $4,200 in property taxes. Buffalo/WNY has lower property values than here in DFW, so the $$$$ in property tax will be less even though the rates are a tad bit higher. By pure $$$$, the average property tax bill is less in Erie County than it is in DFW.
I have family who lives in TX's that left S.Buffalo 4 years ago and said their cost of living is much cheaper in TX when they calculate entire COL for the year. Utilities, Taxes, Food, gas.. they said they saved over 3,000 a year just in heating oil in one year from the harsh winters (said they lived in snow belt area) and that although the heat is higher in summer (air conditioner) it doesnt come even close to what they paid for electric in western NY. Therefore I guess it all depends on where you live in TX's
It's going on 6 years since moving to Chandler AZ, I got a great Job at Intel and
since then, I saved about $40,000 on Property taxes, Saved another $25,000 on utility bills & other fees from Erie County NY , with the money saved, it helped me build a new house, buy a new truck, now I'm ordering a new car and next year, I'm buying a condo in Las Vegas, Today Chandler announced that they are lowing property taxes again, on top of hiring more police officers, firefighters, and building new parks because of all the growth. It's called the American dream, something that you can't have in WNY, unless your related to someone who works for the city, county, town, state etc.........
I live in "low tax" Texas and people I know would kill to pay $4,200 in property taxes. Buffalo/WNY has lower property values than here in DFW, so the $$$$ in property tax will be less even though the rates are a tad bit higher. By pure $$$$, the average property tax bill is less in Erie County than it is in DFW.
Add to the mix the rapidly rising housing costs in DFW and Houston.
Also, back to the OP, cigarette taxes have nowhere to go but up down south too, especially when they can't find more ways to raise revenue that are politically feasible. All the people moving in require more infrastructure.
Smoking inside restaurants and the like are going away too. It's a thing of the past in most Texas municipalities now. I'm currently living in a little industrial town of about 40K near Houston and smoking-permitted is getting hard to come by even here.
Add to the mix the rapidly rising housing costs in DFW and Houston.
Also, back to the OP, cigarette taxes have nowhere to go but up down south too, especially when they can't find more ways to raise revenue that are politically feasible. All the people moving in require more infrastructure.
Smoking inside restaurants and the like are going away too. It's a thing of the past in most Texas municipalities now. I'm currently living in a little industrial town of about 40K near Houston and smoking-permitted is getting hard to come by even here.
Many of the school districts in the area also raised their property taxes to the maximum allowed by the state of Texas. it wasn't a unilateral decision either, it was voted on and approved by the voters in school district boundaries. Many low-tax Texans voted themselves a tax increase.
It's going on 6 years since moving to Chandler AZ, I got a great Job at Intel and
since then, I saved about $40,000 on Property taxes, Saved another $25,000 on utility bills & other fees from Erie County NY , with the money saved, it helped me build a new house, buy a new truck, now I'm ordering a new car and next year, I'm buying a condo in Las Vegas, Today Chandler announced that they are lowing property taxes again, on top of hiring more police officers, firefighters, and building new parks because of all the growth. It's called the American dream, something that you can't have in WNY, unless your related to someone who works for the city, county, town, state etc.........
Living in Erie County is not expensive at all. Anyone who thinks such has never been to a big city.
If you can't find the American dream in WNY (voted the #1 affordable "large" (>1,000,000) Metro in the US), that is your own problem.
After 50 years of being born and raised in Western NY an hour South of Buffalo its time to say good riddance. This "High tax paying citizen is sick of the control our Govt puts on us" Shortly After sending out to Catt County NY our yearly property/school taxes of $4,000.00 on a home thats "only" valued at $95,000 we left to visit Conway South Carolina. While we were there we stopped at a local store to grab a pack of cigarettes "COST $4.85 a pack, vs $10.50 a pk back in NYS. My husband thought WTF... And as we are driving down the highway in SC we noticed people using their Cell Phones, (We thought wow Id be scared to try that back in NY) We later learned from a residents in SC they have "NO" use of cellphone laws. (Im not saying thats a bad law to have in NY "BUT" its nice to have a Govt of SC allow the people of their state make their own decision for themselves and not have a Govt of NY make that decision for you!!" ) We pulled into a Bar/Restaurant and was asked by the waitress who greeted us with a huge smile.. "Would you like smoking or non smoking?" Once again we thought wow.. Are we in another country.. because just that feel of FREEDOM that we once lived years ago is NO LONGER THERE BACK HOME IN NYS. Now husband checks out the cost of a fishing and hunting license and he starts asking all sorts of living cost comparison between Buffalo NY and Conway SC .. We decide to meet with a realtor and we learned that Property taxes on a $300,000. home is "ONLY $900.00 a year.. VS $6,000.00 A YR IN a suburb of Buffalo NY. Savings wow.. $5,000.00 a year!! So we went to Cityratings web site to type in the comparison of living and we learned if you make $25,000.00 a year in Buffalo NY then you would ONLY have to make $12,000.00 in Conway SC to keep the same life style of living. Sure they have Tornado's in SC But we also did our homework and its only certain areas that are higher chances then others. Minimum wage may be lower to start out in SC vs NYS but at a cost of living cut into half and with beautiful temperatures year around that SC has to offer VS what BUFFALO HAS TO OFFER, We cant sell our home here in Western NY fast enough. We want out of this high taxed, Govt Controlled state NOW.. My husband says the only regret he has is we didnt make this move long before now, We may have been much richer in more ways then one. In money and in the feeling that a free America does still exists. From a 50 yr life long citizen of NYS all we have to say is "I hate NY" and no more will you get another tax dollar from this citizen or its family members who are all hard workers and will be transitioning out of NY very soon!
Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy the change! I left WNY 20 years ago this year and regret that I didn't do so sooner. There is a very real difference in the attitudes about government control (and oppression) between NYS and other parts of the country. Some want more freedom, some want the "security" of a government that controls many aspects of your life. That's the beauty of 50 different "experiments in democracy". NYS is among the highest tax state in the nation, with questionable benifits for the taxpayer. I guess you are supposed to get satisfaction from having among the highest paid and best "benefitted" public employees in the nation. WNY does have some pretty country, but so does much of the rest of the country. It's well worth the adventure to see if another area suits you better. I'm happy I left, but have nothing against those that chose to live there.
Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy the change! I left WNY 20 years ago this year and regret that I didn't do so sooner. There is a very real difference in the attitudes about government control (and oppression) between NYS and other parts of the country. Some want more freedom, some want the "security" of a government that controls many aspects of your life.
Please tell us how the government "oppresses" you. (I strongly disagree with your insulting euphemism)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake
That's the beauty of 50 different "experiments in democracy". NYS is among the highest tax state in the nation, with questionable benifits for the taxpayer. I guess you are supposed to get satisfaction from having among the highest paid and best "benefitted" public employees in the nation. WNY does have some pretty country, but so does much of the rest of the country. It's well worth the adventure to see if another area suits you better. I'm happy I left, but have nothing against those that chose to live there.
Questionable benefits?
Like a strong public school system? An extensive university system? A strong park system? Two of the 20 most productive Metro economies in the world?
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