Ohio or West Virginia??? (Columbus, Cleveland: real estate, homebuyer, schools)

[MoTom]

My wife and I would like to move within an hours drive of Parkersburg, Wv. Our daughter and grandchildren live near Parkersburg. I have been looking at different locations like Marietta and Athens. Would anybody know how the taxes compare between West Virginia and Ohio? Does anybody have an opinion on these two cities, Marietta or Athens?
Thanks,
Tom

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by MoTom

My wife and I would like to move within an hours drive of Parkersburg, Wv. Our daughter and grandchildren live near Parkersburg. I have been looking at different locations like Marietta and Athens. Would anybody know how the taxes compare between West Virginia and Ohio? Does anybody have an opinion on these two cities, Marietta or Athens?
Thanks,
Tom

Athens is a liberal college town - OU is known as the main 'party school' in the state.

I'd recommend Marietta, much closer to Parkersburg - like 15 minutes, smaller, and I think as older adults w/grandchildren you will enjoy Marietta more than Athens.

I think from a state income tax stand-point, there isn't a lot of difference between the 2 states, however, I'm pretty sure Ohio's property tax rates are going to be higher than West Virginia's. Also, keep in mind if you still work, that Ohio cities tax any wages you make, while WV (and pretty much every other state) does not.

You could also consider Charleston, WV which is roughly an hour from Parkersburg. You'd have access to a lot of bigger-city amenities since it's the capital, yet it's still a small city (about 50,000 - metro around 300k); and you'd be 3 - 4 hours from Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Richmond, Louisville or Cincinnati as 3 interstates serve the area.

[JR_C]

There are many states that have municipalities that charge an income tax. In fact, according to information at this link: The Tax Foundation - County and City Income Taxes Clustered in States with Poor Tax Climates Charleston has a small annual "fee." But, I've read that West Virginia has one of the lowest over-all tax rates in the U.S.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by JR_C

There are many states that have municipalities that charge an income tax. In fact, according to information at this link: The Tax Foundation - County and City Income Taxes Clustered in States with Poor Tax Climates Charleston has a small annual "fee." But, I've read that West Virginia has one of the lowest over-all tax rates in the U.S.

I wouldn't say 'many states' charge an income tax, an excerpt from the link you provided:

"Among the states with extensive local-level wage and income taxes are Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. With the exception of Indiana, each of these states were in the bottom half of the country in the Tax Foundation's 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index. Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania also are among the ten states with the most outbound moves according to United Van Lines's 2005 Migration Study."

That's 6 out of 50, and if you look at Table 1, notice how it states that 579 cities in Ohio impose taxes. That's why it's advantageous to live in townships in Ohio, the state is practically saying they are against cities growing due to this. Most of the other states if they have any cities levy an income tax are only a handful, for instance the only one in California is San Francisco; Alabama only has Birmingham; Delaware only has Wilmington, etc. - a far cry from nearly 600 cities within the state! I will say, I did not realize Philadelphia's was that high! Nearly 4%, no wonder they've been losing people the past few decades.

Even if you count all the states that have at least one city/county income tax, there are still 34 states that don't have this at all!

As for Charleston, a $104/city service fee seems pretty reasonable when you consider that if you make just $5000 in many cities in Ohio, you would pay that.

I know here in SC - Columbia specifically - living in the city, part of our property taxes goes to the city of Columbia. Yet, our total property tax bill is less than it was in Ohio on a bigger, newer house!! It just doesn't add up - I don't have a problem on most taxes as long as there is a correlating benefit derived from them - yet, while paying thousands in taxes to the local government (city income taxes go 100% to city services, not schools) I saw little if any progress ever.

[JR_C]

Whoa, let's just say that I misinterpreted "and pretty much every other state" to mean almost every other state, and you misinterpreted "many states" to mean a majority of them.

As far as Ohio's "anti-city" tax structure, we can discuss that in the http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...rawl-ohio.html thread.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by 4HomeBuyers740

Hi

My name is Niza Rodriguez, I am a full time Realtor working with Real Living The Right Choice (Realty) at 711 Walnut Street Coshocton, OH 43812
and It will be a honor to serve you in your real estate needs.

*please feel free to contact me at any time.
Contact information:

Niza Rodriguez
Real Living The Right Choice
711 Walnut St Coshocton, OH
mobile: 740-502-7560
E-mail: getitsold27@yahoo.com
Visit my web at: www.nizarodriguez-sells4u.com

for Ohio taxes click:
http://tax.ohio.gov/disions/state/indext.stm

for West Virginia taxes click here:
http://www.state.wv/taxrev/ptdwweb/index.html

FYI Niza...I don't think you are allowed to advertise like this on numerous threads as I've seen you on now. You probably should just private message the original poster if you want to solicit for business.