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Old 07-25-2017, 08:52 AM
 
186 posts, read 174,454 times
Reputation: 277

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Made a mistake in my post It should be rothbear should get it
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Old 07-25-2017, 08:41 PM
 
Location: On the East Coast
2,361 posts, read 4,850,249 times
Reputation: 4103
Quote:
Originally Posted by skeddy View Post
Obviously you don't like it, I understand, so your solution to a retroactively "punish" those who already have qualified and are receiving the tax credit? That makes it fair for everyone you say? Sounds as though you want to expand upon a law you find unfair.
No, I just want the law to apply to everybody, not just a chosen few. It's simple...if you are 65 and have lived here 10 years, then you get it. If not, you don't. Nothing unfair about that. Black and white, no gray. Either you qualify or you don't. Apply the law equally or don't apply it at all. That's the problem here, the laws seem to be applied willy-nilly as to whom they apply instead of equal across the board. So yes the current law is unfair as it makes some people "chosen" and the others not. Like in high school, except this time it involves money.

I'm glad the money doesn't mean much to some people, but without going into finances, let me say that it DOES mean something to us, as I'm sure it means a lot to many others as well. As mentioned before, not everybody who moved here has high SS and pensions, or came from NJ/NY/CT where they sold their house for 3 times what they bought here. Off my soapbox now......I guess I will just have to resign myself to the fact that I will never see a time when we do get it as we all know it will get taken away so the money can go to the rich and powerful.
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Old 07-25-2017, 11:50 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
5,104 posts, read 4,790,218 times
Reputation: 3636
Quote:
Originally Posted by rothbear View Post
No, I just want the law to apply to everybody, not just a chosen few. It's simple...if you are 65 and have lived here 10 years, then you get it. If not, you don't. Nothing unfair about that. Black and white, no gray. Either you qualify or you don't. Apply the law equally or don't apply it at all. That's the problem here, the laws seem to be applied willy-nilly as to whom they apply instead of equal across the board. So yes the current law is unfair as it makes some people "chosen" and the others not. Like in high school, except this time it involves money.

I'm glad the money doesn't mean much to some people, but without going into finances, let me say that it DOES mean something to us, as I'm sure it means a lot to many others as well. As mentioned before, not everybody who moved here has high SS and pensions, or came from NJ/NY/CT where they sold their house for 3 times what they bought here. Off my soapbox now......I guess I will just have to resign myself to the fact that I will never see a time when we do get it as we all know it will get taken away so the money can go to the rich and powerful.

Is the tax credit worth $500 per year ? That seems like a low amount to be concerned about. That's only $41.66 per month and if your budget is that tight you have bigger issues to worry about.
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Old 07-26-2017, 05:24 AM
 
213 posts, read 215,082 times
Reputation: 250
I don't live in Delaware but have researched moving there when I retire. In NJ , property taxes commonly run over $10,000 yearly. That is the number one reason I would consider moving to Delaware where the taxes are in the $1000-2000 range.

Going from $1500.00 to $1000 is a huge jump in percentage discount.

In all fairness, the discount should be based on income.
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Old 07-26-2017, 05:52 AM
 
Location: Former LI'er Now Rehoboth Beach, DE
13,036 posts, read 17,946,799 times
Reputation: 13969
Quote:
Originally Posted by rothbear View Post
No, I just want the law to apply to everybody, not just a chosen few. It's simple...if you are 65 and have lived here 10 years, then you get it. If not, you don't. Nothing unfair about that. Black and white, no gray. Either you qualify or you don't. Apply the law equally or don't apply it at all. That's the problem here, the laws seem to be applied willy-nilly as to whom they apply instead of equal across the board. So yes the current law is unfair as it makes some people "chosen" and the others not. Like in high school, except this time it involves money.

I'm glad the money doesn't mean much to some people, but without going into finances, let me say that it DOES mean something to us, as I'm sure it means a lot to many others as well. As mentioned before, not everybody who moved here has high SS and pensions, or came from NJ/NY/CT where they sold their house for 3 times what they bought here. Off my soapbox now......I guess I will just have to resign myself to the fact that I will never see a time when we do get it as we all know it will get taken away so the money can go to the rich and powerful.
Please do not misunderstand me. I came from private industry as did my DH. We do not have the pensions, mostly government, that many, if not most, of my neighbors have. Our pensions pale in comparison to what they have and in this discussion I am not even touching the benefits area. We are not rich by a long shot but in researching our move, we knew that the law had changed the year we were going to buy (2012) to a 3 year requirement and actually anticipated it would change again. I worked in finance and we did a tolerance test for cost of living increases before we decided to move. The healthcare costs, because we are not medicare eligible yet, are increasing every year but, in our planning we took this into consideration and are not yet where we figured. We enjoy a good burger but are not big on fancy dinners, we enjoy our beaches and all the area has to offer us. Yes, we made money on our NY home because we better than doubled our money and that made it possible to buy outright here. Just our opinion, (and we are conservative) in terms of an overall financial picture, $500 - $1000 tolerance per year is not a margin we would have been comfortable with. Most things go up not down and so that is how we planned.
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Old 07-26-2017, 05:59 AM
 
Location: Former LI'er Now Rehoboth Beach, DE
13,036 posts, read 17,946,799 times
Reputation: 13969
Quote:
Originally Posted by arabus View Post
I don't live in Delaware but have researched moving there when I retire. In NJ , property taxes commonly run over $10,000 yearly. That is the number one reason I would consider moving to Delaware where the taxes are in the $1000-2000 range.

Going from $1500.00 to $1000 is a huge jump in percentage discount.

In all fairness, the discount should be based on income.
The law as it was till recently was that you paid the $1500 (your example) and after you were here for 3 years and attained 65 years of age, you received UP to a $500 discount on your school taxes. But, you were paying the $1500 for at least 3 prior years.

There are many things that means testing as opposed to a flat rate would be better. The problem is the administration of that testing would make it cost prohibitive.
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Old 07-26-2017, 06:35 AM
 
Location: Middletown, DE
136 posts, read 134,841 times
Reputation: 406
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrGompers View Post
Is the tax credit worth $500 per year ? That seems like a low amount to be concerned about. That's only $41.66 per month and if your budget is that tight you have bigger issues to worry about.
You're absolutely correct. But that's not the point. That $41.66 won't make or break our budget. Frankly, that senior tax credit never made the list when we decided Delaware was where we wanted to retire. Nor did the lack of a general sales tax. Those were just bonuses in our mind.

We're nowhere near wealthy. We have a mortgage and a car payment, but that's it. Our income is SS and a very modest defined benefit pension. They adjust slightly every year will not come close to keeping up with inflation. That property tax credit is our money, and we can use it for our own purposes better than the taxing authority which may waste it, or give it to someone who hasn't earned and doesn't deserve it.

If it changes, so be it. But it should change for everyone, not just the new guys.
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Old 07-26-2017, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Former LI'er Now Rehoboth Beach, DE
13,036 posts, read 17,946,799 times
Reputation: 13969
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDog811 View Post
You're absolutely correct. But that's not the point. That $41.66 won't make or break our budget. Frankly, that senior tax credit never made the list when we decided Delaware was where we wanted to retire. Nor did the lack of a general sales tax. Those were just bonuses in our mind.

We're nowhere near wealthy. We have a mortgage and a car payment, but that's it. Our income is SS and a very modest defined benefit pension. They adjust slightly every year will not come close to keeping up with inflation. That property tax credit is our money, and we can use it for our own purposes better than the taxing authority which may waste it, or give it to someone who hasn't earned and doesn't deserve it.

If it changes, so be it. But it should change for everyone, not just the new guys.
I respectfully have to disagree. I am also one of the most impacted because I closed on Jan 3, 2013 and I become eligible this coming year. I see no reason to take it away from others. They made the cut fair and square and were receiving it based upon the rules in place at that time in terms of eligibility. I guess that to be very, very fair, they could have rules that anyone who purchased a home from 1/1/13 - 12/31/17 would fall under the 3 year rule and going forward it would be 10 years. However, the cost of monitoring that eligibility would wind up absorbing a good amount of the "savings" for three years that will be gained by the new rules.

Sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield.
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Old 07-26-2017, 08:57 AM
 
Location: Long Neck , DE
4,903 posts, read 4,189,333 times
Reputation: 8095
If I were moving to the area finding my own personal physician would be a concern. I never had a problem here until my Doctor of I guess 20 years retired.
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Old 07-26-2017, 10:24 AM
 
Location: Delaware Native
9,690 posts, read 14,169,518 times
Reputation: 21415
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrGompers View Post
Is the tax credit worth $500 per year ? That seems like a low amount to be concerned about. That's only $41.66 per month and if your budget is that tight you have bigger issues to worry about.
Mr. Connecticut:
First Issue -
The tax credit reads: UP TO $500.00, not "$500.00"

Second Issue: Our house is valued in the low $200,000 range, and we're in Kent County, Delaware.
Our 2016 Tax Bill Per Year:
$521.28
-$190.15 School Tax Credit = $331.13 Tax Bill for 2016

Our 2017 Tax Bill Per Year:
$531.92
-$195.01 School Tax Credit = $336.91 Tax Bill for 2017

FYI, we don't have any "bigger issues" (such as being pompous)
Our house is paid for and we're living happily ever after, having arrived here in 1939 and 1940.
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