Why is TN property tax so high? (Memphis, Sevierville: employment, schools)

[Leonard64]

Originally Posted by Johnny B.

Property taxes in Tn. are not as high as many places, but are rising rapidly. A major cause is school funding. Most areas have bought into the idea that the level of School funding is the sole determinant of the quality of education and that the relationship is infinite. There is no meaningful accountability for funding provided and most locales fund the schools with no accountability for expenditure of the funds.The upward trend will continue unabated.

Moved from CA in 2009. Bought home in Sevier County. No city tax. Home in CA was taxed at the same price my home here in TN was bought for.

OK my property tax dropped $3000.00.

Oh, I have a 1/2 acre lot in a beautiful area compared to a 6000 sq ft lot in a nice neighborhood where houses were 12" apart, in CA.

Most expenses dropped about 40%

Gas is @$0.40 cheaper here, Car registration this year was soooooo low I registered 6 cars for less than 1 in CA.

I searched for 3 years, visiting 6 States (I have also lived in 6 other States) checking all the good and bad features, including crime, cost of living, weather, traffic, medical ...... and found no better place than here.

[foxywench]

after lving in CT for the past 10 years...TN is dirt cheap overall! the sales tax still throws me off, but thats just because ive only been here 6 months, and to be quite honest im still not used to sales tax in general (in the uk its included in the pirce so theres no "extra" when you get to the register, you still pay VAT (ect) its just alreayd built in...) othewise...im quite happy wiht my property taxes thanks lol

[Capt. Dan]

My yard is 1.5 acres. I own 18 acres of virgin forest.Behind that forest is a 182 acre lake full of bass,catfish,crappie,bluegill and bream. I have a pool. I am surrouned by all my cousins and thier Tennessee Walking Horse farms. I live in Gods Country. My property taxes? $129.00!!!!!!!!!!! And being the small,rural, VERY SOUTHERN county that we are, no one tells me what I can and cant do on my property!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Capt. Dan

My yard is 1.5 acres. I own 18 acres of virgin forest.Behind that forest is a 182 acre lake full of bass,catfish,crappie,bluegill and bream. I have a pool. I am surrouned by all my cousins and thier Tennessee Walking Horse farms. I live in Gods Country. My property taxes? $129.00!!!!!!!!!!! And being the small,rural, VERY SOUTHERN county that we are, no one tells me what I can and cant do on my property!

You're out in west Tennessee, though. The temperatures get way too hot there. If I were to move to Tennessee it would have to be up at around 1800ft elevation on the Cumberland Plateau. Property taxes there are a bit more ($300-600 a year).

[NY Annie]

Yeah, imagine taxes of under $1,000 per year. Tell that to the folks on the east coast (not including Maine, NH, VT) and they will insist you meant to say per MONTH.

My sister lives in western NJ in a very depressed area near a railroad track (freight) with a yard that is just big enough to fit a car across the front lawn, her house is mess, and during heavy rains/flooding, hers and the home next door become an island in the middle of the overflowing Delaware and its feeders. She pays over $1,000 a month in taxes and she has no cell phone reception at all. YAY for TN taxes.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by NY Annie

Yeah, imagine taxes of under $1,000 per year. Tell that to the folks on the east coast (not including Maine, NH, VT) and they will insist you meant to say per MONTH.

My sister lives in western NJ in a very depressed area near a railroad track (freight) with a yard that is just big enough to fit a car across the front lawn, her house is mess, and during heavy rains/flooding, hers and the home next door become an island in the middle of the overflowing Delaware and its feeders. She pays over $1,000 a month in taxes and she has no cell phone reception at all. YAY for TN taxes.

I would say the scenery of the Cumberland Plateau region is comparable to that of the Delaware Valley with lots of woods, rivers, and nice changes in topography. The caveat is that Cumberland county has received a flood of retirees.

New Hampshire property taxes vary widely depending on what town you are end compared to most of New Jersey.

2011 Property Tax Rates & Related Data | Municipal Services Division | NH Department of Revenue Administration (http://www.revenue.nh.gov/munc_prop/2011PropertyTaxRatesRelatedData.htm - broken link)
It varies from $7 to $31 per $1,000 assessed value for all populated cities and towns.

[foxywench]

lol again comming from ct even 700 a year would be OMG cheap lol.
my dad pays almost that a month on a 2000sqft house with 1/8th an acre lol.

[SmokyMtnPeace]

I live in WV, and find that TN taxes are cheaper than here for the most part. My husbands family was from NY before moving to WV, and they went on and on how much cheaper we were. How in the world does most in the NE pay for that kind of tax? I fully understand that most of the South are paid less than the NE, but you would have to make on average a lot more than a typical person in the South to even live up there. It just blows my mind.

[Inkpoe]

I know the OP posted the post in 2006... but did he ever say which part of WA he's coming from? I live in King County (where Seattle is) and definitely the property taxes here are *more* than in TN.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I would say the scenery of the Cumberland Plateau region is comparable to that of the Delaware Valley with lots of woods, rivers, and nice changes in topography. The caveat is that Cumberland county has received a flood of retirees.

You are also describing much of East Tennessee but without the retirees. Bear in mind that I am from New England. I live in Knoxville and it resembles a much, much prettier Worcester, Mass. with much of the area looking like Western Mass. and New Hampshire. I lived in Florida for ten years. I know what a flood of retirees looks like and it's one of the reasons why I'd never move to the Crossville area, especially Fairfield Glade. Never again.

But yes, the taxes are far more affordable here than in the northeast. Yes, they make better salaries in most cases but they still don't come out ahead like we do.

As I said a long time ago on this thread, we are 47th in tax burden in the country. Now, in some parts of Tenn., you get what you pay for. The schools are not that great, services few. But if you live in a place like Knoxville you get very good schools - in many cases the schools are as good if not better than Mass. - great parks - far better than anything in Central Mass. - and professional police and fire.