Alternative to Media, taxes are too high (Chester, Springfield: rentals, mortgage)

[lpranger467]

Currently in Media, love the town but $9700 tax is killing us. It seems as though only Delco areas with lower taxes arent all that nice.

Looking for small house prefer built 50's and beyond. Would consider Philly but wife works at airport so I dont feel as though anything in Chestnut/Roxborough etc would work.

Would prefer $300,000 and under

[briantroutman]

Originally Posted by lpranger467

Currently in Media, love the town but $9700 tax is killing us. It seems as though only Delco areas with lower taxes arent all that nice.

Looking for small house prefer built 50's and beyond. Would consider Philly but wife works at airport so I dont feel as though anything in Chestnut/Roxborough etc would work.

Would prefer $300,000 and under

If you haven’t yet found it, the complete list of property tax rates in Delaware County is here: http://www.delcopa.gov/treasurer/forms/TaxRate.pdf

Media has some of the lowest taxes in the county. Here’s Media’s breakdown:

Media - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 3.0000 | School: 25.6888 | Total: 34.1498

Compare that with...

Springfield Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 5.8100 | School: 32.9796 | Total: 44.2506
Ridley Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 9.2660 | School: 40.7300 | Total: 55.4570
Swarthmore - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 5.6730 | School: 45.7380 | Total: 56.8720
U. Darby Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 20.9500 | School: 37.1395 | Total: 63.5505

Contrary to what you suggest, I find that “less desirable” areas tend to have highest tax rates. Witness:

Marcus Hook - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 12.3500 | School: 39.8561 | Total: 57.6671
Darby Boro - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 18.4920 | School: 46.0000 | Total: 69.9530
Colwyn - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 25.2000 | School: 46.0000 | Total: 76.6610

Whereas, some “more desirable” areas (including Media) are clustered toward the lower end of the tax spectrum:

Newtown Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 3.0460 | School: 18.4885 | Total:26.9955
Middletown Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 1.5000 | School: 28.8971 | Total: 32.6498
Radnor Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 4.1582 | School: 24.1867 | Total: 33.8059

In short, there are some parts of Delco where property tax rates will make your eyes water, but I don’t think Media could really be considered one of them. And I don’t think you’ll do dramatically better in other nearby counties (except the city, of course, but you’ll have to consider the tradeoff in terms of the wage tax and other factors). Here are a few municipalities picked at random in Montgomery and Chester:

Upper Merion - County: 3.8490 | Municipal: 5.2690 | School: 19.8900 | Total: 25.8980
Westtown Twp. - County: 4.3690 | Municipal: 3.5000 | School: 21.2723 | Total: 29.1413
Tredyffrin Twp. - County: 4.3690 | Municipal: 2.4270 | School: 22.9810 | Total: 29.7770
Lower Merion - County: 3.8490 | Municipal: 4.1900 | School: 28.7477 | Total: 36.7867

The lowest rate I found (quickly) is about eight mills below Media‚ or about $2K tax savings on a home of equal value. Personally, I wouldn’t relocate away from a home and community I love to save eight mills.

But at least now you have the tax tables for all of the adjacent collar counties, so you can scan them for lower rates and see if any of the areas appeals to you. You should note, though, that Chester County’s tax table does not include the school district tax rates, so you’ll have to look that up separately and add it to the figures presented there.

I hope this helps!

[lpranger467]

Thanks very much Brian I really appreciate it ! I guess its the school district I'm in Swarthmore 9not rose tree) so maybe I should just look to move districts. Having over 800 a month go towards taxes alone when I have to pay for my own trash is just ridiculous.

Originally Posted by briantroutman

If you haven’t yet found it, the complete list of property tax rates in Delaware County is here: http://www.delcopa.gov/treasurer/forms/TaxRate.pdf

Media has some of the lowest taxes in the county. Here’s Media’s breakdown:

Media - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 3.0000 | School: 25.6888 | Total: 34.1498

Compare that with...

Springfield Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 5.8100 | School: 32.9796 | Total: 44.2506
Ridley Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 9.2660 | School: 40.7300 | Total: 55.4570
Swarthmore - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 5.6730 | School: 45.7380 | Total: 56.8720
U. Darby Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 20.9500 | School: 37.1395 | Total: 63.5505

Contrary to what you suggest, I find that “less desirable” areas tend to have highest tax rates. Witness:

Marcus Hook - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 12.3500 | School: 39.8561 | Total: 57.6671
Darby Boro - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 18.4920 | School: 46.0000 | Total: 69.9530
Colwyn - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 25.2000 | School: 46.0000 | Total: 76.6610

Whereas, some “more desirable” areas (including Media) are clustered toward the lower end of the tax spectrum:

Newtown Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 3.0460 | School: 18.4885 | Total:26.9955
Middletown Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 1.5000 | School: 28.8971 | Total: 32.6498
Radnor Twp. - County: 5.4610 | Municipal: 4.1582 | School: 24.1867 | Total: 33.8059

In short, there are some parts of Delco where property tax rates will make your eyes water, but I don’t think Media could really be considered one of them. And I don’t think you’ll do dramatically better in other nearby counties (except the city, of course, but you’ll have to consider the tradeoff in terms of the wage tax and other factors). Here are a few municipalities picked at random in Montgomery and Chester:

Upper Merion - County: 3.8490 | Municipal: 5.2690 | School: 19.8900 | Total: 25.8980
Westtown Twp. - County: 4.3690 | Municipal: 3.5000 | School: 21.2723 | Total: 29.1413
Tredyffrin Twp. - County: 4.3690 | Municipal: 2.4270 | School: 22.9810 | Total: 29.7770
Lower Merion - County: 3.8490 | Municipal: 4.1900 | School: 28.7477 | Total: 36.7867

The lowest rate I found (quickly) is about eight mills below Media‚ or about $2K tax savings on a home of equal value. Personally, I wouldn’t relocate away from a home and community I love to save eight mills.

But at least now you have the tax tables for all of the adjacent collar counties, so you can scan them for lower rates and see if any of the areas appeals to you. You should note, though, that Chester County’s tax table does not include the school district tax rates, so you’ll have to look that up separately and add it to the figures presented there.

I hope this helps!

[Pilot1]

Yes it is the School District that drives your property taxes. In Delco, (and many other areas) their knee jerk reaction is to never try to cut spending, nor be more efficient, just raise your property taxes because they know you will pay it. What else are you going to do? The flips side of the coin is property values. They of course will be higher in "good" school districts.

[Patmcpsu]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

Yes it is the School District that drives your property taxes. In Delco, (and many other areas) their knee jerk reaction is to never try to cut spending, nor be more efficient, just raise your property taxes because they know you will pay it. What else are you going to do? The flips side of the coin is property values. They of course will be higher in "good" school districts.

Property taxes and home prices effect each other. If an area offers low property taxes for what you get, its home prices will go up. In the opposite case, home prices will go down.

And because home prices swing based on the tax rates, looking at the tax rates by themselves isn't indicative of how many dollars you'll actually be spending. Then, there's also the murky world of tax assessment.

It's all a complicated iterative process, but not so complicated that the free market can't sort it out. Generally, every buyer needs to pick their poison: pay higher home prices, or pay higher taxes.

But long story short to OP's question: West Chester Area School District is probably the best value as far as taxes are concerned.

[JacksonPanther]

OP it's complaining about taxes, but not telling us what his house is worth. The old rule of thumb is that property tax should be no more than 2% of the homes value. And 2% is the high end. So a $600,000 house might pay $10,000 in tax, but certainly not more than $12000.

One way to cut your property tax is to buy a cheaper home!

[lpranger467]

Existing house is probably worth around $380-400,000 and is about 1800 sq feet. It seems like the taxes arent proportionate to the value of the house. I may need to consider Media proper (rose tree schools) but for this price range you get an older row

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

OP it's complaining about taxes, but not telling us what his house is worth. The old rule of thumb is that property tax should be no more than 2% of the homes value. And 2% is the high end. So a $600,000 house might pay $10,000 in tax, but certainly not more than $12000.

One way to cut your property tax is to buy a cheaper home!

[rainrock]

You could probably get a decent house $250K-$300k range in Aston/Brookhaven/Boothwyn/Ridley with taxes in the $4k-$5k range.


Taxes in Swarthmore /Nether Providence are exorbitant.

[zulujohn]

The property tax is the product of the assessment multiplied by the tax rate. Swarthmore for this year is 56.872 mills times 0.001 (mill = thousandth) times your assessment, or your assessment times 0.056872.

Rates are lower in better cities because the property values are so vastly higher. You need to consider the millage, the assessment, and the number on your settlement sheet. If 60% (or whatever the common level ratio is nowadays) of that number is more than the assessment then you can file an appeal to get the assessment lowered. If the number on the settlement sheet is $300,000 and the ratio is 60% then the assessment will be $180,000. Tax in Middletown would be about $5,900 and in Swarthmore about $10,000.

I suggest you look for a cheap house in a cheap township with a little square footage as possible - especially avoid finished basements and extra rooms. That's paying taxes on space you basically get for free.

If you can lower the upper bound from $300k to $200k you'll save about $1500 a year. If we call inflation 3% per year then 4% taxes (67 mills on the assessment being 4% or 40.2 mills on the actual value) is -7% growth when 2% taxes (33 mills on assessment being about 20 mills on actual value) is -5% growth. If we call housing gain 8% per year, and I wouldn't even count on that in Delco, then Swarthmore is earning 4% nominal and 1% actual growth while Middletown is earning 6% nominal and 4% actual growth. Of course this doesn't account for incorrect assessment, transfer tax, closing costs, and other thefts.

I suggest you rent. There is no future in Delaware County real property. Many of the mom and pop landlords are actually losing money on their rentals and don't even know it - their loss is your gain. The proof of this is that you are actually losing money on your property right now when even a CD is making more than that.

Jack

[lpranger467]

Thanks Jack, great reply I appreciate it. I have considered just renting but we have pets so were running into some hurdles. I looked at places like Norwood, Prospect Park, Ridley but their taxes are still ridiculous for what you get. When we first moved here from out of state 4 years ago we rented ($1200 per month) and now our mortgage on a 1800 sq foot old house is almost $2500 because of the taxes so there doesnt seem to be a happy medium.

We debated moving into Philly, it seems their property taxes are lower and even with the wage tax may still be better overall.

Originally Posted by zulujohn

The property tax is the product of the assessment multiplied by the tax rate. Swarthmore for this year is 56.872 mills times 0.001 (mill = thousandth) times your assessment, or your assessment times 0.056872.

Rates are lower in better cities because the property values are so vastly higher. You need to consider the millage, the assessment, and the number on your settlement sheet. If 60% (or whatever the common level ratio is nowadays) of that number is more than the assessment then you can file an appeal to get the assessment lowered. If the number on the settlement sheet is $300,000 and the ratio is 60% then the assessment will be $180,000. Tax in Middletown would be about $5,900 and in Swarthmore about $10,000.

I suggest you look for a cheap house in a cheap township with a little square footage as possible - especially avoid finished basements and extra rooms. That's paying taxes on space you basically get for free.

If you can lower the upper bound from $300k to $200k you'll save about $1500 a year. If we call inflation 3% per year then 4% taxes (67 mills on the assessment being 4% or 40.2 mills on the actual value) is -7% growth when 2% taxes (33 mills on assessment being about 20 mills on actual value) is -5% growth. If we call housing gain 8% per year, and I wouldn't even count on that in Delco, then Swarthmore is earning 4% nominal and 1% actual growth while Middletown is earning 6% nominal and 4% actual growth. Of course this doesn't account for incorrect assessment, transfer tax, closing costs, and other thefts.

I suggest you rent. There is no future in Delaware County real property. Many of the mom and pop landlords are actually losing money on their rentals and don't even know it - their loss is your gain. The proof of this is that you are actually losing money on your property right now when even a CD is making more than that.

Jack