Madison/Huntsville (Birmingham, Decatur, Valley: estate, property taxes, house hunting)

[Reactionary]

Charles, to what questionable comments about HHS do you refer? Currently HHS is at 100% capacity (in other words, just right) - when built it was overcrowded. IMO the only reason HHS is not mentioned more often is that Grissom and Bob Jones are nationally ranked (and easily cited).

BTW, there is very limited (basically none) school bus service. On the bright side that removes a negative for you - no 12 mile bus ride...

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Charles, to what questionable comments about HHS do you refer?

From the blog URL that I posted:

"From the KU alums (Scott is also a Jayhawk) we met in a Chatanooga, TN restaurant who had transplanted to Huntsville: "We LOVE Madison. We picked it because the schools are the BEST. We love everything about it, all the activities for the kids especially. Where are you looking to buy a house? Hampton Cove? Oh [awkward pause] what district is that? Well [encouraging pause] Hamtpon Cove IS a really good elementary school, but um, doesn't that feed into Huntsville High? [Pause - tone becomes a mix of condescending yet earnest & sincere] Well, you can always send her to private school." ........"

[Reactionary]

Charles, sorry - I typed that comment before I read your link. The link was interesting but she got some facts wrong (fortunately none that affect her decision to move to Hampton Cove). Yoga class?

HHS gets some students from housing projects and low income areas, as well as high income areas. Perhaps the KU / Madison people prefer homogeneity, consistently good schools, and great cheerleaders. I mentioned in another thread that there were disparities in test scores at HHS. You don't find that so much at GHS or BJHS...

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

HHS gets some students from housing projects and low income areas, as well as high income areas. Perhaps the KU / Madison people prefer homogeneity, consistently good schools, and great cheerleaders. I mentioned in another thread that there were disparities in test scores at HHS. You don't find that so much at GHS or BJHS...

I noticed that...I'm still analyzing data.

For what it is worth, BJHS didn't rank higher than HHS on any of the Great Schools metrics (math, science, social studies, reading).

It seems there are several good high schools and middle schools. There are so many other factors (driving, commuting, shopping locations, shopping variety, community layout, etc) that a person needs to factor in when looking for a home.

I just need to get out there.

[boilrmkr]

We are moving to Madison this summer. My husband is moving next week. We are doing lots of researching and have found some info about property taxes. I really hope this info is correct. This is what I found on an website:

Madison/Huntsville
Taxes are assessed at 10% of assessed value of the home
$100,000 home assessed at $10,000
Tax rate of $58.00/$1000 value
Which means a $100,000 house has taxes of $580.00/year

Madison
$100,000 home would be $575.00/year

Madison County
$100,000 home would be $365.00/year

I find this almost too good to be true but I hope it isn't!
Go to Tennessee Valley BRAC: Relocation information: Housing, Education, Quality of Life, Huntsville, BRAC, Redstone, Tennessee Valley, Madison County, Alabama, AMCOM, MDA, SMDC go to newcomers then Huntsville/Madison.
I'm sure the locals could tell us whether or not this is correct.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by boilrmkr

We are moving to Madison this summer. My husband is moving next week. We are doing lots of researching and have found some info about property taxes. I really hope this info is correct. This is what I found on an website:

Madison/Huntsville
Taxes are assessed at 10% of assessed value of the home
$100,000 home assessed at $10,000
Tax rate of $58.00/$1000 value
Which means a $100,000 house has taxes of $580.00/year

Madison
$100,000 home would be $575.00/year

Madison County
$100,000 home would be $365.00/year

I find this almost too good to be true but I hope it isn't!
Go to Tennessee Valley BRAC: Relocation information: Housing, Education, Quality of Life, Huntsville, BRAC, Redstone, Tennessee Valley, Madison County, Alabama, AMCOM, MDA, SMDC go to newcomers then Huntsville/Madison.
I'm sure the locals could tell us whether or not this is correct.

I found out about this too. Sounds cheap. How does that affect quality of life? Schools? Here near Colorado Springs it's about 0.77% of the assessed value. In LA it was almost 1.25% (and schools don't get much worse than in LA; but in all fairness there is a very large percentage of ESL students.)

I'd vote yes on bonds or taxes for schools. There is a strong correlation between school quality and property values.

[NicoleC]

Yes, that's about right. Overall the tax load is pretty low in Alabama. You will pay more for sales tax (~9%) and many items you may be used to being exempt from tax (like food) are taxed here.

The worst casually of low taxes here is in terms of public transportation and other public services. Much of Alabama has very poor schools but Huntsville's are a bit above.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Charles

I found out about this too. Sounds cheap. How does that affect quality of life? Schools? Here near Colorado Springs it's about 0.77% of the assessed value. In LA it was almost 1.25% (and schools don't get much worse than in LA; but in all fairness there is a very large percentage of ESL students.)

I'd vote yes on bonds or taxes for schools. There is a strong correlation between school quality and property values.

From Great Schools here are the school districts per pupil spending from where we came and are now compared to Huntsville (consider the tax rates above). So, even though HSV property taxes are much lower, its school spending per pupil is actually higher. Maybe additional money comes from sales or state income taxes. (I wish the CD editor allowed tabs....).

I'd still support more taxes or bonds for schools.

Huntsville City Schools
This District State Average
$8,112 $7,073

Lewis Palmer District 38 (Colorado)
This District State Average
$6,845 $7,826

Conejo Valley School District (Thousand Oaks, CA)
This District State Average
$6,612 $7,127

[Reactionary]

Originally Posted by Charles

...even though HSV property taxes are much lower, its school spending per pupil is actually higher... I'd still support more taxes or bonds for schools.

This makes absolutely no sense. School spending in HSV doesn't appear to be broken, why raise taxes? You're not making friends with statements like that; you certainly won't make friends here IRL with an attitude like that. You point to broken systems and say that's how we should be? No way.

I've mentioned to you in other threads that given an opportunity to vote on taxes, Alabama residents vote NO.

And Alabamians certainly don't want some outsider moving here telling us how to fix something that ain't broke.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

This makes absolutely no sense. School spending in HSV doesn't appear to be broken, why raise taxes? You're not making friends with statements like that; you certainly won't make friends here IRL with an attitude like that. You point to broken systems and say that's how we should be? No way.

I've mentioned to you in other threads that given an opportunity to vote on taxes, Alabama residents vote NO.

And Alabamians certainly don't want some outsider moving here telling us how to fix something that ain't broke.

Relax pal, it was a compliment. Sorry you misinterpreted my post. The point was, it is nice that more money is spent per pupil with lower property taxes.