Property tax question (Rapid City: sale, insurance, condos)

[Jammie]

Ashnat, I'm glad you mentioned that license plates were increasing. I didn't realize that, but I have heard that driver's licenses are going up in price, too. Actually though, we were ridiculously cheap compared to many states so I can't really complain.

[AJTucson]

Great information on the property taxes. Nice to see the added info on license renewals. You really have our state beat . I am wondering how car insurance rates compare. We pay about $800 every six months for two cars (total coverage) that are around ten years old. It has been said that we pay that much because we have 49% of our population without any coverage whatsoever (sadly true info - this was info obtained by a reputable source). Anyway, our agent says that when we move to SD we should see a drop in price by about 50%. That would be fantastic ! I am wondering if this seems correct. Also, we have had no accidents, no parking tickets and no speeding tickets - so our coverage rate is one of the best rates as we are considered excellent drivers. We also have our home insurance with them - so there is a discount as well.

[DannyBanany]

AJ, my insurance is high because I'm a 20 year old male with a less than squeaky clean record and I live in a city where, like you, 50% of drivers are supposedly uninsured. Just liability for me runs about $100 per month however it has been going down recently.

My mom however, only pays $75 per month for full coverage on two cars and that includes a life insurance policy she also has through the company.

I thought I paid a high fee until I looked at how much it's going to cost me to insure a car in the Twin Cities and it almost TRIPLED!!!

[AJTucson]

Danny - thanks a lot for the information. Sounds like our agent was right as we should be somewhat close (I presume) to your mom's rates.

Just a question. I believe you are in Rapid City, so when you say 50% are uninsured, that means RC (see how quick I am ?). Anyway, I know why we have the drivers (and thus, uninsured issue) we do in AZ, but I don't get why it seems similar with SD, particularly RC? Any ideas?

[Jammie]

AJ, I'm not sure that your insurance will drop in half. We are very similar to you and we pay between 500 and 600 per year for two vehicles. I can't remember the exact amount right now, but I know it's over 500.

[AJTucson]

Hi Jammie. Just to make sure I am reading you correctly. You said you pay between $500-600 per year for two vehicles (so that is your price altogether? annually?)!!! OMG - I would love that. We are paying $800 per six months or $1600 per year here (total for two vehicles). If I have this right - then we would drop our insurance rates in more than half. That is so very exciting!! Thanks to you for the info!

[DannyBanany]

AJ, that's what my insurance agent told me. Apparently rates are higher in Rapid City than they are in the surrounding area because about half of the drivers are uninsured. I don't know if Sioux Falls is the same way or not. Of course, insurance in a city is always higher than if your lived in a rural area because your chance for an accident is higher too.

[Jammie]

AJ, that is correct. I think I"m the one who misunderstood you. I thought you meant yours were about 800 per year and not every six months. That's a LOT!!!

And yes, you understood what I was saying. Yours could be a bit more since you will be living in a larger city then I do. We also have other things with ours so we get a sort of combo discount. But I believe that your original info was correct and you probably will be paying about half of what you are paying currently.

[fatman66]

The houses we were looking at this last weekend were 1.5 times the assessed value as our house in Rochester NY and our taxes here were double what we'd pay on most of the places we looked at and we live is a highly commercialized area that keeps taxes relatively low by taxing all the retail businesses. As far as I'm concerned South Dakota is a tax free wonderland (FYI total sales tax between county and state where I live is over 8%... and don't even get me started on New York state income tax, when the feds give you money back but you owe the state, something is seriously wrong...). Sorry rant off, not going to miss the taxes in Screw York!

[MJ1986]

Originally Posted by fatman66

The houses we were looking at this last weekend were 1.5 times the assessed value as our house in Rochester NY and our taxes here were double what we'd pay on most of the places we looked at and we live is a highly commercialized area that keeps taxes relatively low by taxing all the retail businesses. As far as I'm concerned South Dakota is a tax free wonderland (FYI total sales tax between county and state where I live is over 8%... and don't even get me started on New York state income tax, when the feds give you money back but you owe the state, something is seriously wrong...). Sorry rant off, not going to miss the taxes in Screw York!

We love the rant offs!