Property taxes in Ohio are high compared to other states (Cleveland: sales, 2013)

[Muffy1]

Why are property taxes in Ohio so high? States like North Carolina tax vehicles but there property taxes are much lower than Ohio? Even if one adds the tax on vehicles the tax overall is much lower.

[Cleveland_Collector]

It's all relative. Overall, the cost of living is 5-10% higher in NC on average. You cherry pick property taxes. I'll cherry pick NC's highway use tax, 2% sales tax on groceries and 8.5% tax on prepared food (OH has none of these taxes). NC nickels and dimes you to death.

[bjimmy24]

I'm no fan of taxes at all period. But I do think the worse taxes are the ones that you don't notice. Just because it's not as obvious as an income tax doesn't mean it's not taking a whole bunch of your money.

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

It's all relative. Overall, the cost of living is 5-10% higher in NC on average. You cherry pick property taxes. I'll cherry pick NC's highway use tax, 2% sales tax on groceries and 8.5% tax on prepared food (OH has none of these taxes). NC nickels and dimes you to death.

Overall cost of living is not higher in NC, I lived in both. I agree there are some nickel/dime taxes in NC. My house in CLE suburb (Chagrin) would be $15k/yr, my comparable house here is almost $5k. My energy bills are significantly cheaper here with slightly more square footage. Grocery tax, if you spent $200 per week on groceries it comes out to a whopping $200/yr. Yes there are vehicle taxes, I have a luxury car and my current bill is $350, kids have 2 yr old Hondas and pay $185 per car. No snow plow bills. I do pay more for grass cutting which can be 10+ months a year and irrigation. Gas seems to consistently be 20-30c cheaper in NC as well. Still cost of living is thousands of $s cheaper annually here.

[JR_C]

Sharing individual anecdotes is pointless in a conversation like this. There are too many variables for any one person's perspective to be useful. Where the above poster paid a whopping $15k/yr. in property taxes in Ohio, I only pay about $250/yr. So, from my perspective, their $5k/yr. in NC still seems outrageous.

Here is an interesting map showing: property taxes, property tax rates, and average home values, and breaks it down by county:
Map: Property Taxes in Your County | Brookings Institution

Interestingly, when you switch to the property tax rate map, it's easy to see how they are affected by the states' different taxing policies. But, the other two maps don't show such a clear delineation between states. Instead, they seem to show that taxes--and home values--tend to be higher in the more urbanized areas.

[notnamed]

I've saved a ton of money by moving to WA from OH. Property tax is half the rate I was paying there. Cost of housing is roughly similar. There is no state or local income tax. Sales tax is slightly higher...but I can shop across the river in OR with no sales tax. Southern WA is a real tax haven. Yet schools and gov't services are better.

Ohio doesn't have the highest rates for any individual type of tax. But it has high levels of each type of tax leading to a high cumulative total. Definitely a reason why Ohio is one of the top states people are moving out of.

[Cleveland_Collector]

^^ On taxation, OH is right in the middle.

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

Overall cost of living is not higher in NC, I lived in both. I agree there are some nickel/dime taxes in NC. My house in CLE suburb (Chagrin) would be $15k/yr, my comparable house here is almost $5k. My energy bills are significantly cheaper here with slightly more square footage. Grocery tax, if you spent $200 per week on groceries it comes out to a whopping $200/yr. Yes there are vehicle taxes, I have a luxury car and my current bill is $350, kids have 2 yr old Hondas and pay $185 per car. No snow plow bills. I do pay more for grass cutting which can be 10+ months a year and irrigation. Gas seems to consistently be 20-30c cheaper in NC as well. Still cost of living is thousands of $s cheaper annually here.

On average, it isn't. Anecdotally, it can be cheaper to live in California than in Alabama, but that doesn't mean that the average supports the anecdote. Also, the price of gas varies widely even within a city. Right now, gas in OH averages $2.186/gal. In NC, it's $2.160/gal -- congratulations on your $10/annual savings. If I amortize my snow blower over the 15 years I've owned it, I pay $70 annually on snow removal.

Ok, so your household (and many like yours) pays $920 more annually in tax/fees which I am sure is not deductible. The average Ohioan pays $1836/yr in property tax while the average NC family pays $1209 which is completely deductible. It doesn't take a mathematician to see that your rent-a-center taxation approach probably winds up costing the average NC household more in the long run.

[ZnGuy]

^
Here's reality. Ok, guess my gas savings is $360/ yr, no huge deal. $10k property tax savings and energy bill savings far out weigh the nickel and dime personal property taxes which are less than $1k in my household. I'm living it so figure my numbers are more credible. Lived many years in Ohio.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by notnamed

I've saved a ton of money by moving to WA from OH. Property tax is half the rate I was paying there. Cost of housing is roughly similar.

You obviously do not live in Seattle.

[notnamed]

Originally Posted by ram2

You obviously do not live in Seattle.

Well no, that would not be right across the bridge from Oregon nor is Seattle in southern WA... Pretty big state, near double that of Ohio but with 4 million less people.