CFD fees? (Mesa, Buckeye, Queen Creek: HOA fees, buying a home, neighborhood)

[themudpuppy]

Ran across something in a listing today that I hadn't seen before. It mentioned CFD fees. This was for the city of Buckeye. I found the fees, and for a $100,000 house it would be over $600 per year in additiion to over $1300 property taxes.

Is this just a Buckeye thing or is this something that I need to watch out for in other towns as well?

Buying in Arizona is unlike anywhere I've ever been before. I'm running into all kinds of things I never even knew existed so wouldn't have thought to check before buying a home. I wonder what other unusual fees there are to beware of in Arizona.

[maverick974]

I'm not sure what CFD is but I'm assuming it's the Fire Dept. I got a place in Mesa. It's in a county island so the city fire dept. doesn't get paid thru taxes to service this area so I can opt to pay the fire and rescue a yearly fee on top of the property taxes.
It kind of sucks but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Small price to pay to live in the sunshine 300 days a year. lol.

[CheyDee]

I never heard of CFD fees and I lived in Mesa and Queen Creek. Looking at the Town of Buckeye's website, it appears to be a bond payback.

It's still not a bad deal IMO, since $1300/year property taxes is a steal. Even adding $600 to it, it's still cheaper than many other areas of the country.

[bantam88]

Look up Mello-Roos i.e. Community Facilities District

[themudpuppy]

Thanks for the info. Is there somewhere that lists all the towns in Arizona that have this fee? I googled but haven't found a list of towns, just states.

It's still not a bad deal IMO, since $1300/year property taxes is a steal. Even adding $600 to it, it's still cheaper than many other areas of the country.

I'm used to paying $400 in property taxes for my house on 1.5 acres where I live now, plus $60 fire tax, so I'm having sticker shock right now. I was prepared for the property taxes and HOA fees, but not CFD fees since I've never heard of such a thing.

Between high (compared to here) property taxes, CFD fees, HOA fees (which we don't have here), all the taxes and fees alone amount to about half of my current mortgage. So if I can find a list of the cities with CFD fees, I can remove them from my list of possibilities. That'll leave me more money available per month for the actual mortgage.

Any other fees I should be aware of that aren't found in other parts of the country?

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by tnp

Thanks for the info. Is there somewhere that lists all the towns in Arizona that have this fee? I googled but haven't found a list of towns, just states.



I'm used to paying $400 in property taxes for my house on 1.5 acres where I live now, plus $60 fire tax, so I'm having sticker shock right now. I was prepared for the property taxes and HOA fees, but not CFD fees since I've never heard of such a thing.

Between high (compared to here) property taxes, CFD fees, HOA fees (which we don't have here), all the taxes and fees alone amount to about half of my current mortgage. So if I can find a list of the cities with CFD fees, I can remove them from my list of possibilities. That'll leave me more money available per month for the actual mortgage.

Any other fees I should be aware of that aren't found in other parts of the country?

As I mentioned, if you find a house that is in a "county island", there will be an optional fee for the fire dept, EMT and ambulance. A county island is where the city for some reason has not yet annexed that small area but the city itself surrounds that area and the area is serviced by the city. In my case, it's Mesa. I get my water, trash and all the other services from the city of Mesa yet I don't actually live within the city but my development is surrounded on all 4 sides by the city of Mesa. Since I don't pay some of the city taxes, fire and rescue isn't included in my services so the bill me separately.
If you find a house in one of those "islands", check out the taxes and what is and is not included.
Just a heads up.

[ReadyFreddy]

If you think those taxes/fees are high look at California. They have property taxes and Mello-Roos fees like ten times higher than here.

Where do you live now with $400/year taxes? Little House on the Prairie? Is there a school with a teacher?

[CheyDee]

That's what I want to know: Where do you live now with such low property tax?

I have friends and family on Long Island (NY). The property taxes there are in the vicinity of $7k/year for a crappy neighborhood and slightly upwards of $20k/year for better areas.

[themudpuppy]

Thanks, everyone.

Originally Posted by ReadyFreddy

Where do you live now with $400/year taxes? Little House on the Prairie? Is there a school with a teacher?

I live in TN. Yep, we have schools and teachers. I'm outside of city limits, so I pay less than city limits, but theirs includes fire and trash, and my fire is separate, so there's not a huge difference. Cost of living is pretty cheap here. Low property taxes, no state income tax. If it weren't for the rotten weather, ticks, and being eaten alive by mosquitoes unless you cover yourself with insect repellent every time you step outside, it wouldn't be too bad a place to live.

I prepared myself for much higher property taxes in Arizona, but I think I'll be looking at places that don't have the CFD fees and I'll try to avoid a "county island" too.

[ReadyFreddy]

The CFD should be easy to avoid. HOA, too, if you don't mind a little older neighborhood. Really, compared to most major metro areas, the property taxes here are low. The cost of a county island might be about the same as in-county, once you compare the separate fees to the in-county taxes.