Richmond County has highest property tax burden in metro area (crime rate, home)

[AUGnative]

Interesting article by the Augusta Chronicle.
Augusta metro area property taxes below U.S. average, but Richmond County is right on the line | The Augusta Chronicle.

Overall metro Augusta has a property tax burden lower than the national average. But when you break it down by county.. Richmond County is right on par with the national average. Columbia county is below the national average and Aiken county is way below the national average. This depsite Richmond county having a stagnant realestate market with little appreciation in home values.. where as assessments in hotter realestate markets are set much lower than the market rate.
But regardless where you live in the metro, YOu are probably paying much less in property taxes than most people in the country. I wonder how Aiken county manages to keep property taxes so low?

[Worren]

This is so true but nevertheless our Administrator and Commission still spend most of their paid time figuring new ways to spend more and tax lots more.
Kinda like a hole in a bucket. Nothing coming in but a steady amount leaking out. What happens when it's gone? Hmmmmm?
Right! More fees and taxes for us to pay.

[AUGnative]

funding the school system accounts for the largest portion of property taxes. IN Richmond County, those over 65, no matter their income are exempt from paying school taxes.. what this does then is shift that tax burden to everyone else. I was not a proponent of this change when I had a home in Richmond County.. it really discourages young people from moving into the county. I was quite amazed to see my property taxes drop when I moved into Columbia County. I was expecting the opposite.

[amlovingit]

I wish Richmond County do something like the city of Charlotte do when you from a state but RC need to do it from county to county is to increase your tax when you buy gas and etc. If you work in RC from a different county you should pay tax RC

[Pu239]

Originally Posted by amlovingit

I wish Richmond County do something like the city of Charlotte do when you from a state but RC need to do it from county to county is to increase your tax when you buy gas and etc. If you work in RC from a different county you should pay tax RC

I wish SC would do something like that to keep all of those RC folks out of the gas stations and Walmarts in North Augusta...

[keatkeat_]

Originally Posted by amlovingit

I wish Richmond County do something like the city of Charlotte do when you from a state but RC need to do it from county to county is to increase your tax when you buy gas and etc. If you work in RC from a different county you should pay tax RC

If I'm understanding your post correctly, then I completely disagree. That's not fair. Augusta-Richmond county needs to learn what a budget is and follow it and they need to do an overhaul of the county's education system. Take responsibility!

Competition reduces cost on the consumer (the consumer in this case being county residents). If you increase taxes for all those who do business in RC then you will do one of two things:

1) Reduce the amount of business/work/growth being done in RC itself
2) Reduce the amount of business/work/growth being done in the entire surrounding area (including RC)

The ONE good thing the Augusta area has going for it is the low cost of living! Raise taxes and you raise the cost of living. Our growth is not stable enough nor robust enough to support higher costs of living. Charlotte can afford to charge more in taxes because there is a greater (much greater) demand to live/work in and around Charlotte.

It's simple supply and demand and right now there is not enough demand to justify what you are proposing.

Competition is good and RC needs to learn how to compete if they want to start winning.

[Worren]

Originally Posted by AUGnative

funding the school system accounts for the largest portion of property taxes. IN Richmond County, those over 65, no matter their income are exempt from paying school taxes.. what this does then is shift that tax burden to everyone else. I was not a proponent of this change when I had a home in Richmond County.. it really discourages young people from moving into the county.

I would support a change where only those with school age children living in the household who are 65 or older would pay school taxes, along with everybody else. Those who have no children (grandchildren, etc.) who have hit the mythical retirement age of 65 have paid their dues and imho should continue to be exempt from school taxes.

[AUGnative]

what about people who dont own cars? Should they pay taxes for roads? I think quality schools benefit everyone regardless if they have children or not. For one thing quality schools are good for your property values. Columbia County is an example of this. Just because I may not use a particular park, I still see the benefit of a community having quality parks. What about people who dont have children in schools.. why shouldnt they be exempt from school taxes as part of property taxes?

[expatriado]

The thing is that Richmond County doesn't really have anything over the rest of Metro Augusta as far as living conditions are concerned, especially if you have grade school kids and you don't have connections to get them into one of the magnet, fine arts or VoTech schools. Add to that the higher crime rate for RC relative to the area, and you really don't have an incentive to actually live in the county if you can help it, although you might work there. As far as taxing folks who work in RC more for purchases than locals, I think that would be a dumb idea, seeing that the areas around RC like Columbia County and North Augusta are planning and stimulating development and business in their areas to compete effectively with RC and keep spending local. RC officials need to give themselves a reality check before they price the county out of the running.