Texas Property Taxes (Austin, Alpine, Muleshoe: rental, insurance, school district)

[chrystal055]

Property Tax would be much Lower,if Schools would Consolidate the Administrations !!!They have too many Secret Meetings,to Raise Taxes,and Bonuses!!!!Computers do much of the Work,yet they Expand the Administration!!!Too Much Waste,and getting WORST!!!!

[texasdreamin]

One thing to think about is though the taxes are high, you will get to deduct them from your Federal taxes for a return of about 1/3rd. So, even though they are high, you will get back one third of what you paid out.

[texasdreamin]

Originally Posted by chrystal055

Property Tax would be much Lower,if Schools would Consolidate the Administrations !!!They have too many Secret Meetings,to Raise Taxes,and Bonuses!!!!Computers do much of the Work,yet they Expand the Administration!!!Too Much Waste,and getting WORST!!!!

The majority of the taxes I pay on my land goes to the schools. My taxes are a little over $1,000. $700+ goes to the schools. That is ridiculous. The schools should start charging "book rental" fees like we had to pay when I was a kid. Each child paid a fee and that helped to fund the schools. I don't have small children. Why am I paying so much for schools, when I do not have any children attending school. They need to stop building palaces and having the taxpayer pay for it. The teachers should be getting better salaries, instead. Teachers structure the child not luxury classrooms and stadiums.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin

One thing to think about is though the taxes are high, you will get to deduct them from your Federal taxes for a return of about 1/3rd. So, even though they are high, you will get back one third of what you paid out.

This is true only if you can itemize your deductions. I pay taxes on three homes and my itemized deductions still do not surpass the standard deduction which everyone gets.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin

The majority of the taxes I pay on my land goes to the schools. My taxes are a little over $1,000. $700+ goes to the schools. That is ridiculous. The schools should start charging "book rental" fees like we had to pay when I was a kid. Each child paid a fee and that helped to fund the schools. I don't have small children. Why am I paying so much for schools, when I do not have any children attending school. They need to stop building palaces and having the taxpayer pay for it. The teachers should be getting better salaries, instead. Teachers structure the child not luxury classrooms and stadiums.

Oh please. Another rant from a taxpayer who doesn't have children. Where do you live now, Texasdreamin? Are they building palaces and football stadiums where you live? If so - you have a vote and you need to exercise it.

School buildings are nicer today than they were when I was in school. But I don't see many palaces in Texas. A school building needs to last 30-50 years. It needs to be solid, safe, and durable. Schools don't build stadiums very often. And since construction is paid for with bonds, they are always voted on. Even the $60M stadium in Allen Texas was supported strongly by its overwhelmingly upper income taxpayers. I wouldn't have voted for it - but their residents did.

My last child in public school will soon be graduating. But I won't suddenly turn into an anti-school person now that I won't have kids in school. I am generally satisfied with what is happening in my local school district.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin

The majority of the taxes I pay on my land goes to the schools. My taxes are a little over $1,000. $700+ goes to the schools. That is ridiculous. The schools should start charging "book rental" fees like we had to pay when I was a kid. Each child paid a fee and that helped to fund the schools. I don't have small children. Why am I paying so much for schools, when I do not have any children attending school. They need to stop building palaces and having the taxpayer pay for it. The teachers should be getting better salaries, instead. Teachers structure the child not luxury classrooms and stadiums.

You pay school taxes (as do I, and my youngest is 28 AND both of my children spent a considerable amount of time in private schools while I was still paying school taxes) so that you will have an educated populace with which to interact, to provide you with services, to do all of the things that make your life more livable because the people doing them for and with you have an education.

Now, we could discuss the quality of the education that's being provided, but that's another thread. As far as paying taxes for schools, that serves ALL of us, not just those with small (or even teenaged) children. Just like roads do, even if you don't have a car or don't drive - the items you purchase are transported to your local store on roads and if the roads weren't there you'd be in a pretty pickle.

[CptnRn]

A Google search for "map Texas property taxes" will lead to a map where you can click on each county and see what the tax rate is for that county. Unfortunatly that does not include school and local city property taxes which can add significantly to that rate.

https://www.google.com/search?q=map+...ient=firefox-a

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by texasdreamin
One thing to think about is though the taxes are high, you will get to deduct them from your Federal taxes for a return of about 1/3rd. So, even though they are high, you will get back one third of what you paid out.

Originally Posted by High_Plains_Retired

This is true only if you can itemize your deductions. I pay taxes on three homes and my itemized deductions still do not surpass the standard deduction which everyone gets.

That is a problem for retired people, who strive if possible to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire. Without mortgage interest payments one rarely has enough itemized deductions to qualify for more then the standard deduction. I own two properties in TX, after a lifetime of work and payments I paid of the mortgages, yet even with those property taxes and my wife's considerable medical bills. We have not been able to qualify for itemized deductions the last 3 years. Even this year 2011 when the county delayed my bill for property taxes on one property, so we had an extra year to deduct, we still fell short of the limit.

The property taxes are big disadvantage for retired people living in Texas.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

That is a problem for retired people, who strive if possible to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire. Without mortgage interest payments one rarely has enough itemized deductions to qualify for more then the standard deduction. I own two properties in TX, after a lifetime of work and payments I paid of the mortgages, yet even with those property taxes and my wife's considerable medical bills. We have not been able to qualify for itemized deductions the last 3 years. Even this year 2011 when the county delayed my bill for property taxes on one property, so we had an extra year to deduct, we still fell short of the limit.

The property taxes are big disadvantage for retired people living in Texas.

Another disadvantage for retirees is property taxes dont go down when you make less money such as 2008 when investment income was down. In a state income tax state, at least the income tax goes down when you have less to pay taxes with due to less income. Yet despite this Texas gets any retirees, not like Fla and not enoough to change the population demographics as in some retirement mecca's

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

That is a problem for retired people, who strive if possible to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire. Without mortgage interest payments one rarely has enough itemized deductions to qualify for more then the standard deduction. I own two properties in TX, after a lifetime of work and payments I paid of the mortgages, yet even with those property taxes and my wife's considerable medical bills. We have not been able to qualify for itemized deductions the last 3 years. Even this year 2011 when the county delayed my bill for property taxes on one property, so we had an extra year to deduct, we still fell short of the limit.

The property taxes are big disadvantage for retired people living in Texas.

The same here. I haven't been able to itemize in at least three years. What is so disappointing in Texas is that one is at the mercy of these county appraisers who seem to operate in their own little worlds. Our Bailey County, Texas property appraisals kept going up even when real estate values around the rest of the country were declining. I know County values are not increasing because, during the same period, it took me five years with a national realtor to sell a prime piece of commercial property in that same county for less than it was purchased for over 20 years ago.

My wife and I still have homes in New Mexico and in Texas so we're wrestling with whether or not to give up on our native state for retirement and just stay in New Mexico. I believe we could sell our two Texas south plains properties rather quickly what with everyone coming to Texas. It's a tough decision.