Just Moved To Wi From Co - What's Up With The High Property Taxes? (King: 2013, apartment)

[lrsenne07]

Originally Posted by salgal

This is too funny..We had a chance to go to CO and went there to take a look at homes with a realtor. Job would of been in Broomfield, CO...There is no way we could afford it there. The homes don't have any property at all. Yes, here in WI we pay higher taxes, but we have wonderful school systems by far. I have lived out East and down South and nothing comes close fo WI. We love it here. We only paid 1,100.00 in GA for a 2000 sq. ft home, but the school system there was the pitts. It's all relative. Good luck!

I have to disagree with the school systems in WI. I got a better education in Chicago Public Schools. I have found especially in the northern parts of the state that the schools are quite sub-par and lack skills in diversity and social issues. They do not work with parents whose children are struggling and are very quick to label. I have dealt with much prejudice and lack of understanding with schools and administrators. These are very small cliquish communities who do not like outsiders. The only people who seem to really like WI are those who were born here. I have known of others who have moved here from other areas and they all ended up leaving. Students here also do not strive very high for such a "good" educational system. Not many locally even go off to 4 year Universities. Most just end up at tech schools.

[lrsenne07]

Originally Posted by drobi1070

Just moved here from Colorado (Suburb southwest of Denver) and trying to get acclamated to Wisconsin. I have to say, now that I see property taxes are ridiculously high, we don't plan on buying property anytime soon. People continue to tell me taxes are high due to Madison having good schools. Our property taxes in Colorado were only $1900 annually and we lived in a nice area that offered an excellent school district. So why are the property taxes so flippin high, really? I'm not seeing any justification for Wisconsin to have the highest property taxes in the nation. Not getting it.

In addition, I can't believe people are asking mid $200,000's for a house that's not even 1500 sqft on a small lot. It's no wonder, houses are staying on the market here for close to a year. Because people are overpaying for the house to begin with. Very strange. It's pretty much a buyers market across the nation, but I find it hard to believe people are asking so much for a dinky little house.

Wisconsin is very overpriced for pretty much EVERYTHING. They run things very oddly in this state, and no it is NOT worth it. Prices are high here but quality on pretty much everything is exceptionally low. Do yourself a favor and move somewhere else. You will never get ahead here. People can be very rude and arrogant too. Most people from out of state do not get it either. Makes no sense.

[lrsenne07]

Originally Posted by ihatefonddulac

I agree with the original poster; taxes are very high in WI! We lived for a year in Fond du Lac and we were paying $4,000 a year for property taxes on our house. Glad to be back in MN! I can't say how expensive CO is as I've never been there, but WI is ridiculous. We lived in Fond du Lac and everything was ridiculous. City water was $230 every 3 months for water that has radon in it and you can't drink it. Cable TV is expensive. Groceries are expensive. I also agree with the last poster here that unless you are born in WI, you never really fit in. The year in WI was the worst year of my life.

I agree 100% with both of you!! Overpriced low quality state. Rude people. DO NOT stay here.

[MaseMan]

I get the complaints about property taxes and COL, but these claims that everyone in Wisconsin is "rude and arrogant" are just ridiculous and totally off base.

[notmuch69]

Based on the population, it seems like plenty of people think Wisconsin is great enough to pay the property taxes.

[northbound74]

Wisconsin is a nice place in it's own odd way. I'll start with that.
Wisconsin is not a high-growth state in most places, so real estate certainly seems to be on the high side compared to similar places. Perhaps it is those insane property taxes that keep so many people in Wisconsin in smaller, older homes whose prices are a head-scratcher to us outsiders. I like smaller older homes and think it's nice to see such a well-preserved place, so don't get me wrong.
To people from there, it's probably normal to pay 4k a year on a modest little house, but I never could wrap my head around it. Even if you're house is payed for, you're still effectively paying almost the equivalent of a mortgage payment for similar houses elsewhere in the country on Wisconsin property taxes alone.
Another beef with Wisconsin? Across the board it's overpriced, with mediocre wages. Pricier gas and being nickle and dimed for everything there is to do around there. Surprised there aren't ticket-takers at trail heads.
People from there seem to be used to it all, which might partly explain the disconnect between them and newcomers. I felt like I fit in well enough, but a lot of other outsiders seemed lost.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by northbound74

Wisconsin is a nice place in it's own odd way. I'll start with that.
Wisconsin is not a high-growth state in most places, so real estate certainly seems to be on the high side compared to similar places. Perhaps it is those insane property taxes that keep so many people in Wisconsin in smaller, older homes whose prices are a head-scratcher to us outsiders. I like smaller older homes and think it's nice to see such a well-preserved place, so don't get me wrong.
To people from there, it's probably normal to pay 4k a year on a modest little house, but I never could wrap my head around it. Even if you're house is payed for, you're still effectively paying almost the equivalent of a mortgage payment for similar houses elsewhere in the country on Wisconsin property taxes alone.
Another beef with Wisconsin? Across the board it's overpriced, with mediocre wages. Pricier gas and being nickle and dimed for everything there is to do around there. Surprised there aren't ticket-takers at trail heads.
People from there seem to be used to it all, which might partly explain the disconnect between them and newcomers. I felt like I fit in well enough, but a lot of other outsiders seemed lost.

Many states are not "high growth" these days so Wisconsin is not that different from many other states. In terms of property taxes, Dane county is much higher across the board. $4K sounds very low and would be a very small old house in a more outlying town. I would say the average is about $5-6K easily for your average 3/2 house in a somewhat newer neighborhood.
I do agree that wages tend to be lower than what they should be- particularly considering the HIGH QUALITY talent pool in certain job sectors in the Madison- Milwaukee corridor where a large chunk of the population resides. Even engineers and highly qualified professionals are finding it difficult to get a good paying job. Lots of competition across the board.
I think Wisconsin rates better than other states due to the highly involved local population and the fact the smaller cities and towns are far better than many other places. The rural counties lack the more extreme poverty you often find in the South and the lower Midwest where property taxes tend to be low and education spending is less- along with a less developed tax base.
Wisconsin also has far more outdoor recreation opportunities available to the enthusiast if you prefer anything lake related. People take this for granted around here and that is because many of them have never lived outside the state.

[Empidonax]

Maybe someone already posted this, but this study from around 10 years ago says that 70% of the differential between Wisconsin's (high) taxes and the U.S. norm lies in three main spending areas: K-12 education; Higher Education; and Highways.

http://wistax.org/docs/facts/why-high-taxes.pdf

The main driver in the Higher Ed spending differential was low tuition rates, resulting in higher levels of supplemental government spending per student, particularly for tech colleges. The main driver in Highways was the very high proportion of highway miles (esp. paved highway miles) per resident.

The remaining 30% of the differential between Wisconsin's (high) taxes and the U.S. norm lies in the relatively low share of federal revenues coming to the state.

I don't know if the findings are entirely true (no idea if the study, underwritten by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, is partisan or has other contributing biases), but it's possible that the differentials signaled still hold true, 10 years later.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrsenne07

Wisconsin is very overpriced for pretty much EVERYTHING. They run things very oddly in this state, and no it is NOT worth it. Prices are high here but quality on pretty much everything is exceptionally low. Do yourself a favor and move somewhere else. You will never get ahead here. People can be very rude and arrogant too. Most people from out of state do not get it either. Makes no sense.

I don't get this. I moved to Wisconsin at 23. I found the people almost unnervingly friendly and outgoing. And COL? Incredibly cheap. I would love to move back. I don't know where you people are coming to WI from, but most place I've lived you'd have to drop $400k and do an hour commute for a 3bed/1.5 starter home. My mother's 3 bed 1.5 bath's property (in a nice community) has property taxes of about $9000/year (not Wisconsin). Wisconsin is damn cheap and the quality of life and people can't be paralleled.

[jasmom87]

I'm confused too. I moved from IL over the border. I pay roughly the same in property tax, but left a 1000 sq ft home on a standard city lot to a 2100 sq ft home on 1+ acres. The taxes are within $100 of each other. The house values are better than IL, as the same house I bought would have cost $75,000+ in IL.

The one that gets me is there is no tax on food, but they tax everything else.

Wages in IL are better, therefore many people commute to IL to work, and yes FIBS to contribute greatly to the WI economy. Relatives in northern WI own businesses and rely on IL people.