usbound to plymouth, MI (Detroit, Farmington Hills: property taxes, income, jobs)

[usbound]

can someone give me a handle on income tax levels in Michigan
Is is a global tax with set % banding based on earning levels.
Am I correct in thinking, local taxes pay for schools and are based solely on property values, therefore does it follow "best schools"="better funded" and are therefore in high property areas?
Are there any schools near to Plymouth that offer International Baccalaureate
?

thanks

[magellan]

Originally Posted by usbound

can someone give me a handle on income tax levels in Michigan
Is is a global tax with set % banding based on earning levels.
Am I correct in thinking, local taxes pay for schools and are based solely on property values, therefore does it follow "best schools"="better funded" and are therefore in high property areas?
Are there any schools near to Plymouth that offer International Baccalaureate
?

thanks

Michigan has an across-the-board income tax of 3.9%. There are standard
deductions for dependants and other household expenses that lower your tax liability.

Federal taxes are progressively "bracketed", 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, depending on income, (you can google "federal tax brackets 2007 for info) and there are plenty of deductions and tax credits for mortgage interest, dependants, charitable giving, healthcare, etc.. A married family of 4, with a $200,000 mortgage, and $75 - $90,000 income will have very little tax liability at tax time (netting out around 3-5% of income).

Sales tax is 6% on purchases, 0% on food and prescription drugs.

Local property taxes do pay for schools, as well as state funds from the lottery and other sources (I think some of the gas tax maybe). However, the amount you pay in property taxes does not equate to how a school ranks. It's very complicated, but since property taxes pay for other municipal services, a city will generally have a higher tax bill than a township because of full-time services like fire, police, etc.. But since the outer township areas are experiencing the most growth, they have new facilities and tend to rank higher on test scores, despite having lower taxes.

Can't help you on the International Baccalaureate.

[usbound]

Originally Posted by magellan

.

Can't help you on the International Baccalaureate.

Many thanks, a lot to take in.
Your IRS web site looks a lot like our IR one. Many pages of filing, but most non relivant

anyone else know of schools within 50 miles of Plymouth that offer International Baccalaureate ?

regards

[kellycolorado]

You may have already found this out, but the International Academy http://www.iatoday.org/ib.html in Bloomfield Hills has an IB curriculum.

It's one of the best schools in the country.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by kellycolorado

You may have already found this out, but the International Academy http://www.iatoday.org/ib.html in Bloomfield Hills has an IB curriculum.

It's one of the best schools in the country.

It's also too far from the western burbs. You'd be crazy to send your kids halfway across metro Detroit for school !

I graduated from a public high school and a public university, and I'm in a doctoral program now.
I haven't killed anyone or inhaled, either.

My former German teacher at Rochester Adams HS commuted every day to/from Canton (where my aunt and uncle live).
That's insanity.

[kellycolorado]

Well, I was thinking in that case that the family would live near the school and he'd do the daily commuting if it was that important.

[sundancer]

Im not sure of the age of your children but the Huron Valley school system is offering the International Academy just for high school kids. They had so much interest in there school and wanted to expand. It is only available for 9-12 grade at this time, it is free to school district families through a lottery system. And the drive from this area to the plymouth area would be about 30 mins. The Huron Valley district covers the folliowing cities and townships, Commerce Twp, Highland Twp, White Lake Twp, Milford and Milford Twp.

[usbound]

Originally Posted by kellycolorado

You may have already found this out, but the International Academy http://www.iatoday.org/ib.html in Bloomfield Hills has an IB curriculum.

It's one of the best schools in the country.

Many thanks - i'll be checking that out Bloomfield looks close enough to Plymouth.
Do USA schools bus children to their schools ? or must they make their own way in (14,11yrs)
cheers

[usbound]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

It's also too far from the western burbs. You'd be crazy to send your kids halfway across metro Detroit for school !

I graduated from a public high school and a public university, and I'm in a doctoral program now.
I haven't killed anyone or inhaled, either.

My former German teacher at Rochester Adams HS commuted every day to/from Canton (where my aunt and uncle live).
That's insanity.

Its is more to do with what IB schools have to offer if we had to return to the UK. IB is accepted at most universities in Europe, whereas the US school system qualification might limit where you could apply in Europe. Or so I am told from other sources, but am willing to stand corrected if someone knows otherwise.
thanks

[usbound]

Originally Posted by kellycolorado

Well, I was thinking in that case that the family would live near the school and he'd do the daily commuting if it was that important.

You would be correct - i would be happy with a 30 minute drive, and we like the idea of living more "out of town" with what the outdoors has to offer.
We currently live in a small rural part of UK