No property taxes law happened yet? (sales, mortgage, homes)

[TootsieWootsie]

I have read that South Carolina was considering, I think, abandoning the property taxes for the State. Has this happened yet? And does that mean that the County and City will not be charging property taxes also? In other words, does that mean no property taxes whatsoever?
If this has not happened yet, when is it to happen or when will it be up for discussion?
I would go thru all the posts, but there are getting to be so many it is prohibitive. So, please forgive me if this has been discussed before.

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

I have read that South Carolina was considering, I think, abandoning the property taxes for the State. Has this happened yet? And does that mean that the County and City will not be charging property taxes also? In other words, does that mean no property taxes whatsoever?
If this has not happened yet, when is it to happen or when will it be up for discussion?
I would go thru all the posts, but there are getting to be so many it is prohibitive. So, please forgive me if this has been discussed before.

Actually the amendment referendum passed last year limited property tax assessment increases to no more than 15 percent every 5 years, except if improvements are made to the property. Property taxes aren't going to be completely abolished anytime soon, if ever. See the exact language at http://www.vote-smart.org/election_ballot_measures_detail.php?ballot_id=M000 001570 (broken link) .

The main issue has been the rapid appreciation of some properties, particularly near the coast, causing assessments to skyrocket and putting a property tax burden on folks like fixed-income senior citizens and those who have lived on their property for generations.

So the end result of the effort has been not to eliminate (property) taxes completely, but a reasonably revenue-neutral cap on property tax ASSESSMENT INCREASES. Local school districts and other municipal/county services are still dependent on property tax revenues, although with the local option sales tax (i.e., increasing it from, say, 5 to 6 percent), some jurisdictions have used that to offset property taxes (this is the case in Richland County, for example).

[PharmD/MBA]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

I have read that South Carolina was considering, I think, abandoning the property taxes for the State. Has this happened yet? And does that mean that the County and City will not be charging property taxes also? In other words, does that mean no property taxes whatsoever?
If this has not happened yet, when is it to happen or when will it be up for discussion?
I would go thru all the posts, but there are getting to be so many it is prohibitive. So, please forgive me if this has been discussed before.

It was passed in July and ratified by vote in November to take effect 1/1/07. The legislature removed the provision to allow school taxes to be included in the property tax millage rate. This effectively removed 45 - 60 % of the millage rate depending on your locality. The reason we have not seen a difference in mortgage (escrow) payments is, the tax we are paying now in retrospectivley based on tax bill printed and mailed last October. When the new bills are processed this October you should see a difference.

There is a in detail explanation and example of the new law and its effects on overall tax payment on the NC side of the forum called ~50% reduction in SC property tax.

Hope this helps

[TootsieWootsie]

Are you saying that property taxes could be half of what they were in SC now? Plus, they have added the cap which comes to around 3% a year. Wow!

[PharmD/MBA]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

Are you saying that property taxes could be half of what they were in SC now? Plus, they have added the cap which comes to around 3% a year. Wow!

Yes. Also, don't forget the 50K homestead deduction of assesed value for persons older than 65 who live in SC. 200K = 150K for tax purposes if older than 65.

Not hard to see why when we decided to move the Charlotte area, we built on the SC side of the line.

[TootsieWootsie]

Is this $50K homestead deductin something new? I have researched before and somehow missed that. Again, Wow!
Now the only thing stopping me from moving to SC is the 5% personal income tax on stocks, bonds, investment income. Or am I wrong there? (Gosh, I hope so!)

[Allentown]

This info about SC property taxes is quite interesting when I consider that I pay alittle over $5,000 for a three bedroom ranch on a half acre of land in tax haven, New Jersey. The NJ average is $6,000. Our new governor campaigned for revision to the property tax and after six months of debate now will be offering a rebate of $1,100 to every tax payer. But, the kicker is that this will not be sustained from year to year , so next year the property tax war starts all over. No wonder many are interested in SC with those figures.

I'll watch this closely as I consider SC.