Any word on Hartselle, AL??? (Birmingham, Huntsville: property taxes, house, income)

[Shawn Miller]

I just recently found my family's dream home located in Hartselle, AL. I was wondering if anyone could give me any feed back on Hartselle and the general Decatur area? We had considered moving to the Tri Cities area in TN but have found home prices up there quite a bit more expensive up there. I was wondering as to sales tax, property tax, homeowners ins, auto ins, utilities, and most importantly schools. We are looking to move from FL so anything will be an improvement from down here. Thanks for any help Ya'll can offer it will be much appreciated..............

[Twostep]

http://www.hartselle.org/

http://www.hartsellechamber.com/

You should be able to ge to the Tax Assessor's Officie by way of city hall. He can answer all your tax questions.

[steveklein]

i think if you like the tri-cities area you will like hartselle and north alabama. other than the mountains, the tennessee valley has a lot in common with the tri-cities area of tennessee. decatur, huntsville, madison, athens, and hartselle make up one of the nicer areas of the state in my opinion.

i'll let someone a bit more local to that part of the state fill you in on taxes and cost of living and whatnot though.

best of luck...

[Decaturbabe]

Hartselle, Alabama
Pros: Excellent school system. Low crime. Lots of house for the money. Small town known for picturesque downtown, antique stores.
Cons: Not much for young folks to do. Small town can be less than friendly to newcomers. Drive to Decatur for movies, alcoholic beverages, any shopping but Wal-Mart and Kroger; drive to Huntsville or Birmingham for big-city amenities.
Actually, the tax assessor is in the Morgan County Courthouse. An in-person visit is recommended.

[nalabama]

Hartselle's sales tax is 8%, their millage for homeowner property taxes is 39.4mills. Morgan County outside of the municpalities of Hartselle, Decatur, Falkville, and Trinity is 37.4 mills. The state homestead exemption is $40,000 of appraised valuation. The county homestead exemption is $20,000 of appraised valuation, but I don't know exactly how to apply it...it won't amount to much. Decatur's millage is 45.3 mills. Property taxes on a $200,000 residence in the city of Hartselle should run about $470 annually.

I don't know about home/car insurance in Hartselle. Recommend you go to one of the insurance sites that advertise their free online rate comparisons on TV.

[Keeper]

Alabama's home prices are much less than in FL and the property taxes are a LOT less as is homeowner's insurance. Mine went from 1,800 in Tampa to less than 200.00 here for property tax. Homeowner's went from over $1,800 to 400.00 a year and you won't have any problems finding a company to insure you. Sales tax in Marshall county is 8 cents and there is a tax of food and there is a state income tax. Electric is less but can still be expensive during the cold months. I would strongly suggest you look into having at least a gas fireplace to help with heating. You will use A/C during the summer months but summer doesn't last 8 months either. We do have a wonderful spring and beautiful fall weather where you won't need A/C or heat. Hope this helps.
Also check out this website for Morgan county and you can get a general idea of the property tax on the home price you are looking at. http://www.co.morgan.al.us/revenue_w..._comm_home.htm

[Shawn Miller]

Thanks for the help I definately appreciate it, how about the state income tax, how does that work out? I lived in SC when I was in the service and their state income tax wasn't to bad, but I've heard NC's is pretty hefty. Haven't heard to much about Alabama. No state income tax was one of the reasons I chose TN. I've seen online that Hartselle has some very good schools but was wondering how Alabama stacks up to the rest of the country.

[Keeper]

Here is the info on the state income tax for AL. You might want to check TN property tax to see how it compares to AL since in FL we had no income tax but the property taxes more than made up for not having an income tax. Lets face it.. they get their money one way or another.

Alabama collects income taxes from its residents at the following rates.

For single persons, heads of families and married persons filing separate returns:
-- 2% on the first $500 of taxable income
-- 4% on taxable income between $501 and $3,000
-- 5% on all taxable income over $3,000.

For married persons filing joint returns:
-- 2% on the first $1,000 of taxable income
-- 4% on taxable income between $1,001 and $6,000
-- 5% on all taxable income over $6,000.