[kevinkagy]

Yes! Our universities need better funding ASAP!

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

I keep hearing that Florida has high property taxes. You don't know what high property taxes are.

Want to see truly high property taxes? Come to New Jersey. We live in a 53-year-old 4-1/2-room one family with a driveway but no garage, on a 5000 sq. foot lot (and that lot is considered to be a double lot, so we're assessed proportionately higher) that is assessed at $135K (the last citywide assessment was 19 years ago). Last year, we paid nearly $8200 in real estate taxes (which will be increasing about $1K this year thanks to budget shortfalls) -- and this is in a state with a state income tax, as well as a 7% sales tax. But it gets better -- homes that were built in the last few years are paying about $14K -- and these aren't McMansions. A 6-over-6 (3 bedrooms, 2 baths in each, small kitchen) two family with a 2-car garage on a 30 x 100 lot pays $14K.

You have a homestead exemption -- NJ had a homestead rebate, but if you had two income-earners in a family, forget about it (in 17 years of owning this house, we never saw it -- and we're certainly not rich). Now you need to be poor or a senior to be eligible. We briefly had the NJ Saver rebate, which amounted to a few hundred dollars, depending on which county you lived in, but that's been eliminated, too.

We're looking to move to Florida -- homes that are for sale that we've been looking at have property taxes that are 1/8th what we pay now -- for a 2 or 3-year old 3 or 4 bedroom with 2 or 3 baths, a 2-car garage, 3 times the liveable square footage, and an acre of land.

High property taxes in Florida? You don't know how good you've got it.

It sounds as if your town is due for a reval. Although your taxes in Bayonne are high you can't make the statement that all of NJ is higher then all of Florida because its just not true. In your particular case I think comparing Bayonne to Ocala is like apples to grapes but again its your choice. I'll agree with you that the majority of NJ taxes are high however the laws that protect the citizens are much better then here in Florida. You never know when your assessment is going to change. The new law that was passed says that a homeowner can bring their tax bill from their old home with them to their new residence. So if they were only paying 2k a year on a home and moved into a home valued much higher they retain their 2k bill. I disagree with this. I feel my neighbor should be paying the same as I do. When this bill was voted in the voters did not take into consideration the lost revenue was going to have to come from someone or somewhere, and yep now schools are the ones suffering and services are being cut drastically and people are in an uproar. What did they expect.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

Sales taxes are regressive - they hit everyone, but proportionally affect the person with the lower income far higher than the person with the higher income. The poor have to eat to live just as the rich do - but a person with a $25K income will feel that sales tax increase far more severely than will the person with the $100K income.

If a person makes $30,000 a year and spends $12,000 on housing, $3,000 on utliites and $3000 on untaxed items this would leave $12,000 spendable.
They probably would not spend that full $12,000 on taxable items but if they did a 2.5 cent additional sales tax would work out to $300 total.

A person making $100,000 a year will have much more disposable income and will most probably be buying more big ticket items. They would pay just as much if not more as a percentage of their income than the person making $30,000 a year.

[rusty78]

A combination of a flat tax - without any deductions - and a sales tax would fix all the financial problems throughout the country...so why not in Florida...

The rich would pay more...probably more than they have ever paid before...the poor would have to pay...and the middle class - if they even exist anymore - might even pay less in taxes...as the system gets a chance to work...

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

It sounds as if your town is due for a reval.

That's the last thing the city fathers want at this point in time. It's a horrible thing to go through, for the city and the taxpayers. We had a man drop dead in the Assessor's Office during the last one. And, at this point, with only three employees (the Assessor, the Deputy Assessor, and a secretary), there's no way the office could handle the volume. They had six employees (Assessor and five assessment clerks) at the last reval, and the lines were out the door.

And the tax rate isn't what spurs a reval -- it's the ratio of assessed value to selling prices, plus the coefficient of valuation. The ratio here has been rising, due to lower selling prices. At one point, it was close to 30% -- now it's edging closer to manageable territory. At the time of the last reval (1990), the ratio was closer to 10%.

Although your taxes in Bayonne are high you can't make the statement that all of NJ is higher then all of Florida because its just not true.

I didn't say they were -- but in a good part of it, they are.

In your particular case I think comparing Bayonne to Ocala is like apples to grapes but again its your choice.

And it's one we're comfortable with. We can have so much more there than we have here -- with my retirement, and our health concerns, we'd be foolish to stay.

I'll agree with you that the majority of NJ taxes are high however the laws that protect the citizens are much better then here in Florida.

The laws that govern real property assessment are part of the NJ State Constitution. It will be a huge undertaking to change it, and various groups have called repeatedly for a Constitutional Convention, but nothing has happened.

You never know when your assessment is going to change. The new law that was passed says that a homeowner can bring their tax bill from their old home with them to their new residence. So if they were only paying 2k a year on a home and moved into a home valued much higher they retain their 2k bill.

This is idiocy. Was it done in an election year?

I disagree with this. I feel my neighbor should be paying the same as I do.

Unless your house is significantly different, this only makes sense.

When this bill was voted in the voters did not take into consideration the lost revenue was going to have to come from someone or somewhere, and yep now schools are the ones suffering and services are being cut drastically and people are in an uproar. What did they expect.

It sounds like Florida voters are no different than voters anywhere else.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by psouth

A state tax would never work in Florida. Salaries are way too low to begin with and many of the Hispanics and illegals work under the table so it doesn't look like they are earning any money. Florida is not a straight up working class state with strong industry.

Exactly. And it's not just illegals fueling the underground economy here.

I was offered a job in a bakery with a deli in there. She wanted to pay me cash for the four days "try out"...which she told me after I already did the four days.

I said OK but I didn't want to work OFF THE BOOKS when I started the job two days later.

She rescinded the job. Imagine. A dumb little part time bakery job and she has 3 employees working there ALL OFF THE BOOKS. Which is really stupid too, having a slicer in there since there's no workman's comp and if there's an injury you could end up bankrupting her. Then again, they probably have nothing including no equity to even go after.

Income tax is not the issue here. Other states have an off the books problem including WALMART having been sued for working people off the books and even I had that problem once working for a big grocery store chain in PA. But HERE in Florida it's too easy and too common IMO. And the wages ON the books are too low to actually make a big difference anyway.