Why are Texas Property rates extremely High, highest in nation (sale, assessors)

[Kibby]

I'm not sure I see the point of all this, but expect the original poster will eventually let us all in on it. Texas DOES have high property taxes - are they the "highest in the nation"? That depends on which chart you read.

The New York Times (we all KNOW what a great/honest/unbiased publication that is ) says Texas ranks #1. Others say differently.

Property Owner Advocacy Group and MSN Money

If taxes are ranked as a percentage of income - then New Jersey always comes in first -
Table: Who Pays America's Highest Property Taxes? , point is there are a lot of things that go into tax rates and a lot of ways to "figure" who pays more/less. As we have more people moving into Texas from the bankrupt states like New York , we will have more complaining about what makes Texas different from the place they came from .

"Redistribution of wealth" is not going to fly in Texas. We won't have an income tax here like we do nationally where 40% don't pay any taxes. A major problem for Texas when it comes to all these comparisons is our land mass - we have a lot of area without doctors and a variety of services due to the large expanse of land with no "city" or high population. This is one of the things that always drives the low rank Texas has in medical services and education. Some Texas counties have such a low population that they simply don't raise enough tax to fully fund their education - this has been a problem for years. The Texas Constitution does not allow for a "state" property or school tax so it's been addressed through several other measures including the "Robin Hood" tax, which still has not "fixed" this problem.

Here is a good example of how goofy this stuff can be.

Redford, TX has a population of 132 (2000 census) and has to bus their children to Marfa, TX which is 70 miles away instead of to Presidio, TX (much larger town) which is only 13 miles away. The population density for Presidio county is 2 people per square mile, but Marfa is the county seat and the local politicians make the decisions for how the money is spent in the county - the kids in Redford suffer for it.

I actually chose this area for an example because it's historic (oldest continuously cultivated area in the United States) beautiful (Big Bend area) and shows some of the unique issues that Texas has with population density/land mass. It's also a big tourist area so many may be interested. Redford is a CDP (census designated place) - there are 312 pages of CDP's listed in Wiki nationwide, 199 of those pages are Texas, which gives us another #1 in the nation.

Texas is unique in many ways.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I'm paying about $7,000 for my house near downtown Austin appraised at $348,000. That's with no homeowner's exemption, because it's a rental property, and comes out to a bit over 2%.

That appears steep, but you are getting rental income to offset that by far, so.....

Right?

[Trainwreck20]

Actually, 2% or a bit over is a darn good tax rate in TX . You can get close to 3% in many areas (or above, I am sure).

[tech2enable]

Yes, that is why texas has the highest property tax rates in America, that also causes homes to be a bit cheaper and there is a loss factor on the homes themselves.

[tech2enable]

Originally Posted by Kibby

I'm not sure I see the point of all this, but expect the original poster will eventually let us all in on it. Texas DOES have high property taxes - are they the "highest in the nation"? That depends on which chart you read.

The New York Times (we all KNOW what a great/honest/unbiased publication that is ) says Texas ranks #1. Others say differently.

Property Owner Advocacy Group and MSN Money

The tax foundation says Texas is #1, a more conservative group advocating for lower and flat taxes. Numerous studies point to Texas being #1.

If taxes are ranked as a percentage of income - then New Jersey always comes in first -

You can't always use median income in certain places, we are also talking about the tax rate of homes , NJ taxes are high almost high as Texas, granted the homes are more expensive but that's based on supply/demand. The property tax rate of a home is highest in Texas.The wealthy in NJ in certain towns pay a less rate and the wealthy cause the free market value of home prices to go up which are tax at a rate that is almost as high as texas.

Table: Who Pays America's Highest Property Taxes? , point is there are a lot of things that go into tax rates and a lot of ways to "figure" who pays more/less. As we have more people moving into Texas from the bankrupt states like New York , we will have more complaining about what makes Texas different from the place they came from .



New york is not bankrupt, although California is, and a lot of states are facing fiscal problems and deficits. Although texas is a non-disclosure rate most Texans will tell you the property taxes the wealth out of their homes, certain folks aren't moving there because of that , others put up with that, a few posters have even said that high property tax rates are great for texas.

"Redistribution of wealth" is not going to fly in Texas. We won't have an income tax here like we do nationally where 40% don't pay any taxes. A major problem for Texas when it comes to all these comparisons is our land mass - we have a lot of area without doctors and a variety of services due to the large expanse of land with no "city" or high population. This is one of the things that always drives the low rank Texas has in medical services and education. Some Texas counties have such a low population that they simply don't raise enough tax to fully fund their education - this has been a problem for years. The Texas Constitution does not allow for a "state" property or school tax so it's been addressed through several other measures including the "Robin Hood" tax, which still has not "fixed" this problem.

Texas does have a redistribution of wealth problem, its called and named after "Robin hood". Ever read the story about what he did.

Here is a good example of how goofy this stuff can be.

Redford, TX has a population of 132 (2000 census) and has to bus their children to Marfa, TX which is 70 miles away instead of to Presidio, TX (much larger town) which is only 13 miles away. The population density for Presidio county is 2 people per square mile, but Marfa is the county seat and the local politicians make the decisions for how the money is spent in the county - the kids in Redford suffer for it.

I actually chose this area for an example because it's historic (oldest continuously cultivated area in the United States) beautiful (Big Bend area) and shows some of the unique issues that Texas has with population density/land mass. It's also a big tourist area so many may be interested. Redford is a CDP (census designated place) - there are 312 pages of CDP's listed in Wiki nationwide, 199 of those pages are Texas, which gives us another #1 in the nation.

Texas is unique in many ways.

Agreed , so are other states, although Texas size and population and history does make it a bit more unique than others.

[frogandtoad]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

That doesn't make sense to me. Would you really choose to buy a tiny, too-small house in order to avoid property taxes? And would you say you'd rather pay sales tax because you can choose not to buy stuff, as opposed to being taxed on your income? State income taxes are deductible on your federal income tax. Wise up! And in Delaware, at least, the state income tax isn't much of a burden (nor was it in Colorado when I lived there).

100% I would rather pay property tax than income tax!! These are USE taxes. I am a big believer in use taxes. Although I would not live in a "too small" house (and I'd love to hear what most people in TX consider "too small" since houses there are huge!), I would certainly choose to live in a small but perfectly fine house. It is better for the environment (environmental footprint), it is easier to clean, etc.. I used to own a really big house and I would never do that again. I think it's wasteful. So I think it makes total sense to tax that way. If people want to pay the extra, more power to them, but an incentive or benefit to those who choose to live a more simple life? Absolutely. Same with sales tax. Americans buy way too much crap. Buy a lot of crap? Pay a lot of taxes. Don't buy a lot of crap? Don't pay a lot of taxes. I'd take these sorts of use taxes over income tax any day.

[tech2enable]

Originally Posted by frogandtoad

100% I would rather pay property tax than income tax!! These are USE taxes. I am a big believer in use taxes. Although I would not live in a "too small" house (and I'd love to hear what most people in TX consider "too small" since houses there are huge!), I would certainly choose to live in a small but perfectly fine house. It is better for the environment (environmental footprint), it is easier to clean, etc.. I used to own a really big house and I would never do that again. I think it's wasteful. So I think it makes total sense to tax that way. If people want to pay the extra, more power to them, but an incentive or benefit to those who choose to live a more simple life? Absolutely. Same with sales tax. Americans buy way too much crap. Buy a lot of crap? Pay a lot of taxes. Don't buy a lot of crap? Don't pay a lot of taxes. I'd take these sorts of use taxes over income tax any day.

If you get laid off, you still have to pay propety taxes, and sales tax hurt the poor more so than the wealthy, its true people may buy a lot of junk and that the rich may spend lavishly , but poor people tend to have less income and less savings, sales taxes effect them, for example, rich people can store up a lot of goods, buy things in bulk, find ways around sales taxes similar to other taxes, etc, sales taxes affect the poor and less mobile too.

Property taxes don't just affect the poor, the middle class too, get laid off , still have to pay tax , choose to buy a bigger home for you family or a more expensive home for schools, or even commercial real estate or business, have to pay tax , to the use tax argument, use taxes are different from property taxes, personal property taxes, its similar to sales taxes for businesses, property just has to be owned not used for the tax to occur.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by tech2enable

If you get laid off, you still have to pay propety taxes,

Not only do they go on if you are laid off but they go on even if you die. Not many taxes can make this claim but it's a safe bet for states who have property taxes as their primary source of revenue.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I don't understand this. I've paid property taxes in Austin and still pay property taxes on natural gas wells I own in Denton Co. I can tell you that property taxes in TX are a lot lower than they are in my neighboring state of New Jersey. OTOH, I do pay lower residential property tax in New Castle County, Delaware than I did in Travis County, TX.

I was about to say the same. Yes, they are very high in Texas because of no state income tax, but I don't think they are the highest in the country. I have talked to and have friends that are paying even more. Yes, it places like NJ, Il and a few other states.

Nita

[tech2enable]

Originally Posted by nmnita

I was about to say the same. Yes, they are very high in Texas because of no state income tax, but I don't think they are the highest in the country. I have talked to and have friends that are paying even more. Yes, it places like NJ, Il and a few other states.

Nita

They have the highest rate in the country, not everbody in NJ pays the same rate although NJ's rate is almost as high as texas, there is more to a home than square footage so one cannot use the oh you get more sf for the money, that is like saying well, you can get oceanfront property in dallas, not true so its not equal, texas home prices are higher in the long run due to property tax , do not forget insurance and electric bills, no state income tax is not the cause of texas property tax woes, its just that people are much less likely to question or complain about it.