Allegheny County Property Taxes (Homestead: homes, purchase, taxi)

[Goinback2011]

I'm resurrecting this thread to ask if the property tax calculator on the Allegheny county property tax website is accurate.

http://www.anytimeestimate.com/CALCU...calculator.htm

I used an example of a home assessed at $100K (land + buliding) to estimate taxes in various localities and found, for example, that this home would pay total property and school taxes of $2472 in the City of Pittsburgh, but would pay $3560 in Bellevue and $3761 in Avalon.

Is this right? Are property taxes that much lower in the city?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Is this right? Are property taxes that much lower in the city?

Yep--that is where a large chunk of the higher wage tax in the City is going (to keeping property tax rates somewhat lower).

[Goinback2011]

Wow.

[BigBob77]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Almost 10 years ago I toyed with the idea of buying a farm in West Deer. At the time, the asking price was less than 100,000 and there were about 60 acres. That farm now is probably worth 4 or 5 times that amount.

I doubt it is worth that much. Deer Lakes has high taxes which leads to lower values and very little appreciation. That might change at some point considering Rt. 28 will be a very good commute in a couple of years. Hard to say though. Moving far away from the city doesn't seem to be the "in" thing to do these days.

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

I'm resurrecting this thread to ask if the property tax calculator on the Allegheny county property tax website is accurate.

http://www.anytimeestimate.com/CALCU...calculator.htm

I used an example of a home assessed at $100K (land + buliding) to estimate taxes in various localities and found, for example, that this home would pay total property and school taxes of $2472 in the City of Pittsburgh, but would pay $3560 in Bellevue and $3761 in Avalon.

Is this right? Are property taxes that much lower in the city?

This is very interesting information to me, because I've often looked at houses in Avalon and Bellevue: small towns with low crime, that still have that urban-ish, non-sprawly feel.

The houses seemed affordable but comfortably middle class in appearance. Maybe the reason the houses are affordable is that the property taxes are so high. You save on the purchase price, but lose it all back on a yearly basis to the taxing authority.

Of course in California we have Proposition 13 which limits our taxes to 1% of purchase price plus 2% for inflation. The end result is that over time taxes will decline in real terms, but those benefits are negated for new home buyers as it drives up the cost of housing. There's a reason why a modest, 3 bedroom 2 bath home on a 5000 square foot lot costs $400 - $500k. And that's AFTER the Post-Bubble 30% price declines.

[Goinback2011]

Kettlepot, there's also a differential in the wage tax to consider: it's 3 percent in the city, but is 1.5 percent in Bellevue and 1 percent in Avalon. Certain income is excluded, like pension and interest income.

If you're retired and want to minimize your tax, it makes the most sense to live in the city. If you have wage income, where to buy is a math problem determined by the amount of money you want to spend on a home and how much your household income is.

[PreservationPioneer]

Remember, there is also the Homestead Exclusion, which lets you take up to $20k off the assessed value of your home, if it is your primary residence. Because my house is assessed at $13,000, I pay $0 in taxes.

[Goinback2011]

Is the Homestead Exclusion factored into the calculator on the Allegheny County property tax website?

http://www.anytimeestimate.com/CALCU...calculator.htm

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Is the Homestead Exclusion factored into the calculator on the Allegheny County property tax website?

http://www.anytimeestimate.com/CALCU...calculator.htm

No, it is not.

[PeterRabbit]

In places with good school systems you will pay 3-1/2% to 4%+ of assessed value. Taxes will rise in better areas and should decrease in places like Braddock.