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I've recently read many threads about how awful some tax rates were. I think people forget the relative nature of such facts and figures. For anyone complaining about real estate tax anywhere in the country other than the northeast, please take a look at this wonderful little table.
Some parts of the Northeast have pretty low home price averages, while some of the lower tax rate areas have a higher average home price that makes the overall housing cost higher than certain Northeastern areas. This also doesn't include taxes on other forms of property like vehicles, which you will find in select states.
ck makes a good point, though. Although real estate taxes are really high here, there is no sales tax on clothing or food essentials, no property tax on cars/motorcycles/boats/mopeds, and the gas tax is among the lowest in the nation.
In Virginia, the real estate tax was low, but sales tax was higher (and charged on food/clothing), gas tax was higher, had to pay state AND county property tax on cars, vehicle registration fees are high, and you had to pay for a state vehicle inspection (though it's not very expensive, still that's free in NJ). Do those nickels and dimes make up for the difference in real estate tax? Not sure, but probably not.
They're gonna get it out of you one way or another.
Those are all good points, but I was orienting this towards real estate tax. The average home in northern NJ is pretty darn expensive and the tax on top of that makes it quite unaffordable for middle class people on one income (just as an example). Car insurance in NJ is one of the most expensive in the country because it is state regulated (a ton of companies don't even service NJ anymore because they can't be competitive and make money). I think all of the factors for cost of living in that metro area make it way more expensive than anywhere I've been on the west coast.
What you neglect to mention is what you actually GET in high tax areas. In NJ, for instance, overall you have great police protection--and enough of it--and one of the overall top eduation systems in the nation. One that is rivaled only by another high-tax state, Massachiusetts. (With its high taxes residents also get universal health care.)
By contrast, in many areras of the country (especially low-income ones, even in NJ) with low taxes you have the worst of both worlds: a low level of local services AND higher housing costs.
Yes, that won't hold true 100% of the time. But mostly it will. The problem isn't high property taxes. It's when you pay those taxes and get little or nothing of value in return.
wow, I kept hearing on here about the high property tax in Texas, and the Chart shows that we are actually average. There are no Texas counties in the top 50, and all Texas Counties pay less than 5%.
I kept hearing that Texas lack of a State Tax is countered by a high property tax, but this chart doesn't seem to support that theory.
The three biggest cities, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas are not even in the top 100 with the highest property tax. Of the next 3 biggest Cities, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso, only Austin is in the top 100.
They apparently forgot about Bailey County, Texas where the total property tax rate inside the town of Muleshoe is over 3.0% and has been for the past ten years at least. Add to that Bailey County's annual property tax on privately owned vehicles less than ten years old and one can say Forbes didn't do their homework.
wow, I kept hearing on here about the high property tax in Texas, and the Chart shows that we are actually average. There are no Texas counties in the top 50, and all Texas Counties pay less than 5%.
I kept hearing that Texas lack of a State Tax is countered by a high property tax, but this chart doesn't seem to support that theory.
The three biggest cities, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas are not even in the top 100 with the highest property tax. Of the next 3 biggest Cities, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso, only Austin is in the top 100.
Quite a few are in the 50-200 range though.
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