Holy friggen taxation!!! (Roanoke, Charlottesville, Fairfax: sales, real estate, HOA)

[anjin007]

So I just moved to Ashburn in Loudoun county. Every level of government has their hand out here, especially the county!

1. State MVD wants money for plates and you better be able to show you paid some form of sales tax in another state, if not they get you for 3%. (i.e. $20k car = $600)

2. Loudoun County wants to tax my personal property at $4.20 for every $100 dollars of valuation (i.e $20k car = $840)
EVERY YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the taxes I pay at the pump, tax on the purchase of a new car, property taxes which they raise because home values have dropped?

3. The towns want to tax your car as well anywhere from $15 to $25 a year as well.

Politicians here don't want to spend our money well, they just want to spend it period. I can't wait to leave this place where the municipal governments and the HOA's want to micro manage my life and behavior. You can have it, and don't bring this crap across state lines please when you have had it.

[saganista]

Yeah, everybody hates taxes. They like services, though. Funny how that works out. Think of or track down some other place that has the same level of services. Know what? They are paying for those services there, too! Maybe it's different taxes, or taxes and tolls, or taxes and fees and tolls, but no matter where you go, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[Older&Wiser]

"there is no such thing as a free lunch."

Agreed, but how much is the lunch worth and how much are you willing to pay?

[HEATHER72]

Originally Posted by anjin007

and the HOA's want to micro manage my life and behavior.

After living in NM in a neighborhood that had convenants that were not enforced by an HOA, I was willing to pay anything it took to have an HOA here in NOVA. If Joe Blow across the street decides one day he wants to put his car up on blocks in his yard and paint his house pink, all I have to do is call the HOA and problem solved. I agree that some covenants are very strict. It's not the HOA itself. You have to read the rules of the neighborhood, if you don't like the rules, then don't live there.

While reseaching homes, I came across I think it was Potamac Club's convenants on the internet and one of the rules was no yellow bug light bulbs. I just thought that was funny.

On the real topic of taxes, yes lots of taxes but look at what you get for your taxes, good roads and schools. In NM, the taxes are very little, but the schools are some of the worst in the country. You simply get what you pay for.

[seanpecor]

Loudoun County is probably one of the most expensive places to live in Virginia and is hardly representative of the rest of the state. The theory in Loudoun is that Joe Average's mucher higher "median income" is able to absorb the increased cost of living. But I suppose if you're lower to lower middle income then the tax burden will most likely seem unfair.

Down here in Franklin County, VA the personal property tax rate is $1.67/$100 and unlike most counties they don't tax antique cars. And the real estate tax in Franklin County is $0.53/$100 versus Loudoun's $0.96/$100. Of course, further compounding that higher tax rate are much higher median home values. In Loudoun County a small rambler can cost you $325,000. You wouldn't pay more than $199,000 for a similar house in the Roanoke area.

I don't doubt that for white collar folks it's much easier to find a job in Loudoun County or D.C. and hop from job to job without necessarily moving. But the cost of doing family business in this manner is not without it's caveats. One of them is higher taxes and a higher cost of living, that absorbs (I believe) most if not all of the higher salary one enjoys in the D.C. area. Where one chooses to live is a choice one makes based on the best information at hand, and I believe most people who live in NoVA like it. But if you were not expecting the higher cost of living, I suspect that you didn't do enough homework.

Sean

[Grblpwr]

It was a happy day for me when I was finally able to remove that friggin' city sticker from my car after I moved out of the state. Talk about a rip!

[anjin007]

Originally Posted by saganista

Yeah, everybody hates taxes. They like services, though. Funny how that works out. Think of or track down some other place that has the same level of services. Know what? They are paying for those services there, too! Maybe it's different taxes, or taxes and tolls, or taxes and fees and tolls, but no matter where you go, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The same "level of services"?? Everywhere I have lived has had emergency services, roads, police, trash pick-up (which I pay for here through the HOA), schools etc. If you are implying those services are better here than other places I can't distinguish the difference. Enlighten me please.

I don't mind paying for a $50 steak, I do mind paying $50 for a $10 steak.

[SmerkyGrl]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought on taxation, portrayed in the following scenario:

A man complains about high taxes at a bar one night. The guy next to him says "Well, we pay taxes so we have things like trash pickup and water treatment. These are things where everyone has to pitch in on so we have a better environment."

The woman next to him pipes in, "No, its the people who can't bother to pick up their litter and don't care about polluting the environment that makes us required to use tax money to clean up after them."


I happen to be of the second school of thought

[jmarkd]

Loudoun's 2007 budget debates went something like this:

PARENT A: "Fully fund the schools!"
PARENT B: "Whatever you do, make sure the school budget gets its 15% increase!"
PARENT C: "Make sure we fund the schools!"
DISSENTER: (there were no dissenters)

With schools about 75% of the county budget, the taxes in Loudoun are high so that we can keep up with Fairfax in saying we spend $12K per pupil. The schools budget is a sacred cow, and it's where most of your 97 cents per $100 goes.

I personally don't believe there's such a correlation between spending and good schools, so I am not sad that I'll be leaving Loudoun for the Charlottesville area. Most likely I will live in Fluvanna County where the tax rate just went from .40 to .43 per $100, on homes worth far less. This is going to mean about $200 a month less in taxes. I can spend that at Sylvan Learning Center if the county schools turn my kids into ignoramuses.

We all get to choose where we live. if you don't like Loudoun, make the trade-off for less pay and/or a worse commute and move elsewhere!

The line about "good roads" makes me laugh. The roads that our high taxes pay for are so good that most of us pay $3.20 or more each way to take the Dulles Greenway into our jobs in Fairfax.

And our elected officials think they're being our champions when they grandstand: "If the Greenway raises its rates, people will be forced to drive on the county/state roads, which are already horribly congested!"

Thanks, Mr. Elected Official, for sticking up for us little guys. Now, why are the county/state roads horribly congested? Who's fault is that?

[htlong]

you pay the car tax but not a city tax as in most states, one car one tax - 5 cars- 5 taxes.....good and bad to it all