Georgetown Property Tax Rate vs Austin and other surround areas (Spring: spring, color)

[Trainwreck20]

Here is my tax analysis for my house (I guess it is public info anyway ).

I have 11 years to go until I hit 65 and am currently paying $8,420/yr. On the assumptions below (4% appreciation, constant tax rates, and constant exemptions), I will owe ~$13,110 the year I turn 65. With the 65+ exemption(s), that will drop to $11,757. Over the next 20 years (random point, I plan to make it further!), the taxes will increase to $18,781. That represents an annual increase of ~2.6%.


Sure, it looks like a lot of money, but I ran a couple of other states (I have Colorado around here somewhere), and the TX property taxes start looking really pretty reasonable!

It the house appreciates more and taxes go up more, well....I have more equity to use to pay those taxes if I want. The actual tax rates have decreased almost continuously over the past 10 years, but this assumes they do not change at all. Based on projections based on percent change in rates, it would come out to couple thousand less per year at 85 and a 2.2% effect increase in taxes.

Current 'normal' exemptions are $25k/10%/20%/20%/1% for AISD/CoA/Travis/Health/ACC.

At 65, you get an ADDITIONAL $35k/$88k/$86k/$86k/$160k (for ACC you lose the huge 1% ).

Anyway, my effective property tax is 1.94% right now. At age 85, it will be around 1.28%. Sure, not great, but not terrible either when you look at the no income tax and two earners under one roof (vs two earners paying income tax).

[happly retired]

i would rather pay a few hundred bucks more each year on my property tax than the 10's of thousands on my 401k - with mandatory withdrawals coming in a couple years i am way ahead

plus you can bet they wont lower much the property tax and then when there is a income tax it wont be a flat tax - they will bracket it with the excuse you dont pay your fair share - and it will go up and up and up - just look west to see what the politicians do

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by VAF84

I've been considering getting out of the Travis County/Austin area for a while, and have narrowed it down to Georgetown because we have friends and family on the north side; otherwise Lakeway would be nice. I thought taxes were high in Austin @ about 2.39; but am I reading the rates correctly in Georgetown, 2.87?? It's considerably higher than Austin, Lakeway, and Round Rock after spot checking a few houses on WCAD/TCAD. If that's the case, I'll go ahead and rule Georgetown out.

Can anyone verify or comment on that?

Parts of Georgetown are lower, outside the city limits. See attched screenshot from MLS search for tax rate < 2%.

Generally, if you own a property in a County area outside municipal jurisdiction (cities), then you will find the lowest property tax rates. These rates generally are comprised of mostly School Tax for whatever ISD serves the address, plus County taxes.

There are some exceptions. Sunset Valley is an incorporated city within Austin with no property tax because it makes plenty on sales tax for the retail stores along Brodie Lane. It's property tax rate is currently 1.78.

I am closing on a personal home tomorrow in Wimberley TX which is within Wimberley City limits but has a tax rate of 1.85% because Wimberley has no City property tax.

If you have a Realtor helping you search, he or she can set up a search to only deliver listings to you with a tax rate below 2%, such as my example. Most of the tax rates auto-populate into MLS listings and should generally be accurate.

Beyond that initial culling, you'd want to make sure that the lower tax rate isn't offset by other costs of ownership. For example, high water or electricity bills. Commuting cost would be something else to calculate if your household includes commuters. In a 2-commuter family, driving in/out more than 15 or 20 miles each way, that can really add up and wash out the lower purchase or ownership costs.

Also, you have to see where the property is in relation to future growth, and whether it is within the ETJ of a municipality that may eventually annex it.

But your thinking is on the right track. Lower the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). We are listing and selling another property in Austin because its return on equity, largely due to property taxes, no longer make it a viable rental property to keep. We'll be re-investing in cheaper outskirt areas like Wimberley with lower tax rates that are also free from Austin City Council's onerous desires to socialize private rental property ownership through untenable and misguided identity politics policies.

Below are listings that come up in GTown with tax rates below 2%.

[VAF84]

@Trainwreck20 and @austin-steve - Really useful information, I appreciate you all sharing it. I had forgotten about the property tax savings that kick in during retirement. I think 85 is a solid year to plan to, but I'm doing a worst case scenario of 100 because it seems we keep living longer. I also picked up on Wimberley's lower tax rates, but ease of access to the Austin area is lacking. Interesting that the map shows areas around Lake Georgetown to have lower tax rates.



Steve, funny you should mention our city council. It has become increasingly clear to me that I don't seem to share the priorities and values of the majority of Austinites who vote for our city council and mayor; and it's one of my big incentives to move out of Travis County/Austin. It's not an necessarily an affordability issue; I'm voting with my wallet. I grew up in this area, but the attachment is pretty much gone. Anyway, I digress.



Thanks again for sharing, you all helped me get a little more oriented.

[Trainwreck20]

I have in-laws in Woodcreek (just north of Wimberley) and have no idea what their tax rate is, but there are other substantial costs - water is very high due to a high hook-up fee, so you can't really save very much be reducing water use. And the wastewater costs exactly the same as the water, or so it seems. My ILs have a septic, so do not pay wastewater, but they will not be allowed to 'repair' it once it ages out, and it would currently cost them $15-$20k to tie into city sewer and THEN start paying the wastewater fees.

As for 100 instead of 85 - change a number and it shows you have a 2.6MM house paying $29k in taxes per year (1.1% effective) in 2066. Projecting out 45+ years, though, gets a little dicey, I suppose .

As for ease of access to Austin - my ILs come in every couple of weeks to visit the grand kids and come 'the back way' (1826 and Elder Hill) and it is just about 30 minutes. They come in every month or two for something else - Costco or Target or whatever - and the rest of the time they go to San Marcos. Eating out opportunities are definitely lacking in the Wimberley area currently, though.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

But your thinking is on the right track. Lower the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). We are listing and selling another property in Austin because its return on equity, largely due to property taxes, no longer make it a viable rental property to keep. We'll be re-investing in cheaper outskirt areas like Wimberley with lower tax rates that are also free from Austin City Council's onerous desires to socialize private rental property ownership through untenable and misguided identity politics policies.

Below are listings that come up in GTown with tax rates below 2%.

Dang steve. I can't decide if you are a land baron, real estate mogul or just a business typhoon!!!

[Trainwreck20]

*sigh* This got me looking at my 'childhood' home in G'town. It used to be 5 acres just outside the city limits in a rural area, now it is five acres just outside the city limits in a completely developed area. We built it in the mid-70s for ~$100k I think, it is now appraised at $490k, with $230k of that being in the land. My folks sold it to some family friends when they retired in the early 90s. 25+ years later, those people still live there!

Tax rate appears to be 1.89%, although the effective tax rate is much lower - effective tax rate appears to be just below 0.8% due to a school tax ceiling (long ago) and other exemptions.

Have not been in the house in 20 years or so, so maybe it is updated quite a bit and not nearly so '70s show'. I would move back there in a heartbeat and go back to septic, well, horse stable/pasture, and the huge garden .

Depending on how much that house cost to build, which I am not quite sure about, the annual appreciation is somewhere between 3.3 and 3.9%. It was somewhat of an 'expensive' house because my dad sat down with the builder (Chris Cordi) and they drew up the plans from scratch.

Edit: It looks like they are still in business, but doing cabinets and other woodwork only (they always did their cabinets for their builds):
http://www.cordiwoodworks.com/index.html

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by VAF84

...
I also picked up on Wimberley's lower tax rates, but ease of access to the Austin area is lacking. Interesting that the map shows areas around Lake Georgetown to have lower tax rates.
...

Ease of access is not really that bad from Wimberley, as long as you stay south of the river. 45-60 minutes to get to Bee Cave/Mopac area. Less in summer, more during school year on a weekend. It's about 32 miles to my office. The first 25 from Wimberley to Davis/Mopac take about the same amount of time or less than the final 7 from Mopac/Davis to Spyglass.


Since I am semi-retired and don't have to make that drive during morning rush hour and only once a week to check mail, it's not a big deal.



I close tomorrow and can't wait to send City Council my "Adios Mofos" letter. I try not to be resentful, but I am a little.

[orngkat]

I retired and moved to Colorado when my Austin taxes reached $11,000 annually several years ago. My prop taxes here are $1200 per year on a much larger, nicer house. Income tax here is just over 4 1/2% after all the various deductions. As a retiree, my income is less and only a portion is taxed. Utes and water are lower. If I move back to TX, it will definitely be more expensive to live there.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by orngkat

I retired and moved to Colorado when my Austin taxes reached $11,000 annually several years ago. My prop taxes here are $1200 per year on a much larger, nicer house. Income tax here is just over 4 1/2% after all the various deductions. As a retiree, my income is less and only a portion is taxed. Utes and water are lower. If I move back to TX, it will definitely be more expensive to live there.

What area of CO?