Question on Dallas area city income taxes and school taxes (Mart: low income, for sale)

[ulsterscot]

Here in Ohio, in addition to the usual taxes ( state income tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, etc etc ) I have to pay several local taxes.

I also have to cover city income tax in the city I work in, city income tax in the city I live in, and city school tax.

These three infuriate me as our local govt and school systems are a mess. ( sending the marching band to perform in Europe on my dollar while the school district has a 50% graduation rate, for example)

The teachers union puts in for a levy here for a rate hike on the school tax every year. If it fails, they punish the voters for not giving them their raise by raising the cost of extra curricular activities, i.e. $500+ if your son wants to play football.

Are there any decent suburbs of Dallas that don't have city income tax or school tax? Preferably in the north, north-east of Dallas ( this seems to be a good area from what I've read on here ).

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[NEmommy]

Hi neighbor!!! We are moving to DFW area from OH and my tax guy told me there are no state taxes or city taxes, as far as he knows. Not sure on school taxes, but I'm sure someone will be able to tell us both more about it.

[cityconvo]

No state income tax in Texas and I can't think of any city income taxes anywhere, but beware, the property tax rate is insane and offsets the no state income tax.

[scyogi]

Normally the marching bands parents have to PAY to send their kids on those type of trips. I have NEVER seen a school underwrite such a huge cost.

But your question was about taxes ........................

Typical property tax is between 2.4%-2.9% on 90% of house value

So you would be paying into the public schools which is bringing up your future doctors, police officers, city officals, bankers, etc.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Originally Posted by cityconvo

No state income tax in Texas and I can't think of any city income taxes anywhere, but beware, the property tax rate is insane and offsets the no state income tax.

Moving from Virginia where there was a reasonably low income tax rate as well as a reasonably low property tax rate (.9% where I lived), I find that we pay less tax here. Sure we could have sold our $600k home in VA and bought a $600k home here and wound up paying more in taxes... but instead we were able to buy a $300k home that was just as nice as the $600k home in VA.

Now when I got a raise at work, and when my wife moves into management, we weren't/won't be punished by the state of Texas for our achievements. We will be taxed at right around the same level as when we first moved here. You choose how much taxes you are willing to pay by the value of the home that you select.

[cityconvo]

Originally Posted by twojciac

Moving from Virginia where there was a reasonably low income tax rate as well as a reasonably low property tax rate (.9% where I lived), I find that we pay less tax here. Sure we could have sold our $600k home in VA and bought a $600k home here and wound up paying more in taxes... but instead we were able to buy a $300k home that was just as nice as the $600k home in VA.

Now when I got a raise at work, and when my wife moves into management, we weren't/won't be punished by the state of Texas for our achievements. We will be taxed at right around the same level as when we first moved here. You choose how much taxes you are willing to pay by the value of the home that you select.

Good point, but many people don't do that. They purchase at and above their income levels and end up paying similar taxes to where they moved from.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by cityconvo

No state income tax in Texas and I can't think of any city income taxes anywhere, but beware, the property tax rate is insane and offsets the no state income tax.

Yes, we pay city taxes here in Texas. The ONLY homeowners/landowners that DO NOT pay a "city tax" live in an unincorporated area. If you life IN the city limits of any city/town you WILL be paying city taxes. For Dallas County residents here is the rundown and you can check it out at Dallas Central Appraisal District

City Tax
County Tax
School District Tax
Public Hospital Tax
Dallas County Community College District Tax

These are ALL paid thru your property taxes. If you find a house for sale you like you can look up the taxes paid on it BEFORE you buy. It also pays to look at the history of it and see if they are going up, down, steady, etc. Since property tax rates did go down in the state a LITTLE BIT some appraisal districts RAISED the taxable values. One thing here is you CAN protest your property taxes on your Taxable Market Value by providing comps that are in line with your house.

[ulsterscot]

Originally Posted by scyogi

So you would be paying into the public schools which is bringing up your future doctors, police officers, city officals, bankers, etc.

Across the board, the government schools are mostly bringing up illiterates and Wal-Mart greeters. Private and home schooled students are our future.

Our property tax rate is 2.08% on 100% of house value, so the Dallas area won't be much different. I just won't have to file all the additional city income taxes. Sounds good.

Thanks for all the replies.

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by ulsterscot

Across the board, the government schools are mostly bringing up illiterates and Wal-Mart greeters. Private and home schooled students are our future.

I don't know what you are used to, but there are many many excellent public schools in the DFW area.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

I don't know what you are used to, but there are many many excellent public schools in the DFW area.

I AGREE!!!!! I know MANY public school graduates from around here that are doing VERY WELL in some of the more prestige universities and go onto great careers.

My daughters MIDDLE SCHOOL competes against high school robotics teams across the country and WINS! We have some VERY BRIGHT students around here that can thrive in the public schools.

There ARE private schools and home schoolers that have turned out kids that end up in prison, drop out of college, can't cope w/ real life and end up living w/ mom & dad as grown adults. They are not immune to failure.