What makes Montgomery County worth the ridiculous taxes? (Silver Spring, Bethesda: 2013, income)

[slclady]

We were *this close* to moving to Downtown Silver Spring from Northern Virginia. (We want to live in a walkable area and be closer to the city.) Then a friend pointed out the income tax difference. Holy cow! It's an extra 3.2% compared to all of Virginia, which at our income level amounts to hundreds of dollars per paycheck. It has left me wondering why on earth people choose the Maryland side of the river over Virginia.

And yet, millions do choose it, which means something is making it worth hundreds more every month. Please share what those things are, because I was really excited about this move. I'm not a person who is mad about paying taxes in general. I believe in it. But are there more government services in MoCo or something? What the heck is all that money paying for that we Virginians are apparently missing out on by keeping our 3.2%?

[Baghead]

According to Google, Alexandria where I'd like to live is at 5.75% compared to PG's 3.2%.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by slclady

What makes Montgomery County worth the (marginally higher increment in) taxes?
Holy cow! It's an extra 3.2% compared to all of Virginia...

1) don't compare to "all of VA" ...just the DC suburbs
2) the "worth" (beyond location convenience to specific job locations and such)...
is that the costs/prices tend to filter out those who need to worry about marginal increments.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by slclady

We were *this close* to moving to Downtown Silver Spring from Northern Virginia. (We want to live in a walkable area and be closer to the city.) Then a friend pointed out the income tax difference. Holy cow! It's an extra 3.2% compared to all of Virginia, which at our income level amounts to hundreds of dollars per paycheck. It has left me wondering why on earth people choose the Maryland side of the river over Virginia.

And yet, millions do choose it, which means something is making it worth hundreds more every month. Please share what those things are, because I was really excited about this move. I'm not a person who is mad about paying taxes in general. I believe in it. But are there more government services in MoCo or something? What the heck is all that money paying for that we Virginians are apparently missing out on by keeping our 3.2%?

First of all, you're comparing income taxes as an average in the entire state of VA to one county in MD? How about comparing apples to apples; county by county? Second, Montgomery County's taxes (14.7)%) are lower than Fairfax, VA (15.1%) as a share of income and only .6% more than Loudoun County (14.1%).


https://www.brookings.edu/interactiv...n-your-county/


If you want to compare states, MD taxes as a whole are only .37% higher than VA. So, I'm not really understanding your post. You'd think people MD were paying the highest taxes in the country.

https://taxfoundation.org/state-and-...ax-rates-2016/

[papichulo2]

Originally Posted by slclady

We were *this close* to moving to Downtown Silver Spring from Northern Virginia. (We want to live in a walkable area and be closer to the city.) Then a friend pointed out the income tax difference. Holy cow! It's an extra 3.2% compared to all of Virginia, which at our income level amounts to hundreds of dollars per paycheck. It has left me wondering why on earth people choose the Maryland side of the river over Virginia.

And yet, millions do choose it, which means something is making it worth hundreds more every month. Please share what those things are, because I was really excited about this move. I'm not a person who is mad about paying taxes in general. I believe in it. But are there more government services in MoCo or something? What the heck is all that money paying for that we Virginians are apparently missing out on by keeping our 3.2%?

I mean they got a bag tax to

[slclady]

Originally Posted by MrRational

1) don't compare to "all of VA" ...just the DC suburbs
2) the "worth" (beyond location convenience to specific job locations and such)...
is that the costs/prices tend to filter out those who need to worry about marginal increments.

1) Income tax doesn't vary by county in Virginia, because they only have a state income tax. Maryland has a state income tax AND a county tax that varies by county. That's why I can compare MoCo's total income tax to any place in Virginia.

2) First of all, NoVa is just as convenient to DC (where my husband works). They just don't tax us an extra 3.2% to live here. But also, I just said that at our income level, the difference is hundreds of dollars PER PAYCHECK. Who exactly are you filtering out? Everyone who makes less than $500k?

3) Snobbiness isn't "worth". It's a turnoff.

[slclady]

Originally Posted by Baghead

According to Google, Alexandria where I'd like to live is at 5.75% compared to PG's 3.2%.

That's because if you live in Alexandria, you're only paying VA state income tax of 5.75%. If you live in PG, you're paying Maryland's state income tax of 5.75% AND PG county's income tax of 3.2%. Virginia counties don't take income tax, only the state does.

[slclady]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

First of all, you're comparing income taxes as an average in the entire state of VA to one county in MD? How about comparing apples to apples; county by county? Second, Montgomery County's taxes (14.7)%) are lower than Fairfax, VA (15.1%) as a share of income and only .6% more than Loudoun County (14.1%).


https://www.brookings.edu/interactiv...n-your-county/


If you want to compare states, MD taxes as a whole are only .37% higher than VA. So, I'm not really understanding your post. You'd think people MD were paying the highest taxes in the country.

https://taxfoundation.org/state-and-...ax-rates-2016/

Again, Virginia counties don't take an additional income tax. We only pay federal and state here. In Maryland you're paying federal, state, AND county income tax (which the state collects as a courtesy to the counties, from what I've read).

I'm not sure how Brookings got those numbers. Gonna look at that map more closely, because whatever else is involved in those numbers, they ARE encouraging for my goals. I just know that our income tax doesn't vary by county over here.

[slclady]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

First of all, you're comparing income taxes as an average in the entire state of VA to one county in MD? How about comparing apples to apples; county by county? Second, Montgomery County's taxes (14.7)%) are lower than Fairfax, VA (15.1%) as a share of income and only .6% more than Loudoun County (14.1%).


https://www.brookings.edu/interactiv...n-your-county/


If you want to compare states, MD taxes as a whole are only .37% higher than VA. So, I'm not really understanding your post. You'd think people MD were paying the highest taxes in the country.

https://taxfoundation.org/state-and-...ax-rates-2016/

Looks like that map is only comparing FEDERAL income tax burdens. It's not accounting for state or county income taxes.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-fr...nty-by-county/

[slclady]

I did find this, though. It looks like the overall tax burden sort of evens out between Montgomery and Fairfax, mainly because of Virginia's personal property tax on vehicles.

Report Finds Tax Burden in Montgomery County Ranks in Middle of Local Jurisdictions - Bethesda Beat - Bethesda, MD