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Old 03-11-2013, 02:04 PM
 
185 posts, read 420,935 times
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We are FINALLY putting our house up for sale in May. I have been following the Charlotte board for a few years now and have looked at the area a number of times. After exploring around, the Waxhaw/Wesley Chapel area seemed the best fit. We were impressed by the area & proximity to Charlotte w/o being too far out in the country (I am a born & bred suburbanite, so I like and am used to the suburban lifestyle). However, a BIG draw for me was the concept that there is a big COL savings by living in Union vs. Meck, and I am not sure I see that when doing my research.

I work at Macy's here in NY (just a fun "mom" job for a little extra $$), and my husband is retired. I would probably work at Macy's in SP mall. My kids are entering High School. I like the Matthews area and based on school reviews and types of town/accessability/school reviews/established neighborhoods, I think I would really enjoy Meck Cty in the Ardrey Kell or Butler HS district. On the listings I looked at the taxes did not seem to be significantly more than those in Union.

Around here, some towns have lower taxes, but you pay for services, which adds up. Other areas pay an extra "city tax".

Can anyone who has experience with both counties let me know how they REALLY compare cost /tax wise? I am not buying that "Union Cty" is cheaper w/better schools as an overall statement. There are some great schools and not so great in Union and Meck. I happen to like established neighborhoods with a few trees and accessability to town/shopping/parks. I BTW, if it helps to know, we are looking to pay cash for an average home in a middle class area. Comments on overall COL Meck vs.Union anyone?

Thanks!
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Old 03-11-2013, 03:31 PM
 
3,183 posts, read 7,169,732 times
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Union county has some advantages over mecklenburg . In union county you can save money by raising your own chickens and hogs and you can burn your own trash too...
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Old 03-11-2013, 03:34 PM
 
Location: Charlotte
1,763 posts, read 3,276,340 times
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Don't forget to add back in gas money if you commute to work in Meck County.
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Old 03-11-2013, 04:59 PM
 
5,150 posts, read 7,726,852 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ex-burgher View Post
Don't forget to add back in gas money if you commute to work in Meck County.
Not just gas but other costs including depreciation. Consumer Reports had a good article on this lately when they compared total cost of ownership.

Might not matter if you are retired and are going to drive your car until it dies but if not then it's something to think about. My friend had a nice Mercedes SUV that was in fine shape but with lots of miles. He sold it for $800.

Figure the average car probably costs between .70 and $1 per mile to operate. That should be considered but not many people do especially those that sit in I77 traffic to go home to the lake in their SUV at rush hour.

In this case you're only talking about the difference from Matthews. That should be less than 15 miles in most cases. But even at 5 miles that's $10 per day or a couple hundred a month in many cases.

So I wouldn't trade $2000 more in car expenses for $1000 break in taxes but I honestly don't know the answer to the OP's question.
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Old 03-11-2013, 08:29 PM
 
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Matthews is a great middle of the road place. More established so it doesn't have the just developed feel like the places that feed into ardrey kell. There are some pretty big differences twn AK and Butler. Butler is a good, solid school, but not as intense as AK, which is pretty high pressure with lots of helicopter parents.
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Old 03-11-2013, 11:22 PM
 
175 posts, read 410,833 times
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You have to be very careful in Union County not to accidentally end up in a town with higher taxes and very little services to show for it. The Waxhaw city limits gets you $1 per $100 value in taxes, in other words you'd pay $3000 a year on a house valued at $300,000. Same house in Wesley Chapel town limits costs you .6765 per $100 or $2029 a year. Weddington would cost $2136, Marvin $2130. Now, if you find that rare gem that is outside any city limits (they do exist)...your taxes on the same $300,000 house would be $1980. For this if you land in the Weddington, Marvin Ridge, or Cuthbertson school districts you get one of the three best schools in...the entire state.

Now for Mecklenburg. You won't find anything that is not in a city limits first of all..so here are the taxes. For Charlotte that same $300,000 house will cost you $3687. Matthews $3284.10. Now they do have some pretty decent schools, Audrey Kell and Providence...but they do not compete with the aforementioned Union County Schools. Also in Mecklenburg you will get to pay stormwater fees...which vary depending on your property type but should not cost you more than $150 a year.

Also note...you will pay property taxes on all vehicles at the same rate as your house, that goes for both counties. For instance a $30,000 car would add a yearly cost of $203 in Wesley Chapel and $366 in Charlotte.

You are closer to some areas in Meck and would be closer to Macy's should you decide to work there so there are some savings in miles driven. And the costs for utilities are not greatly different.

I'd have to say, with kids you are going to be shocked at the differences in schools between the counties. There are people who move to Marvin just so they can put the kids in Marvin schools which many say is in line with living in Mecklenburg and paying for private school....if you are rich enough to pay Meck taxes and put the kids at Charlotte Latin then go for it, but for most of us we'd rather pay less taxes, drive a few miles farther a day and put our kids in one of the best public schools in the state. Kind of a no-brainer, unless you are a global warming tree hugger type that thinks that exhaust for your car is destroying the world.
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Old 03-12-2013, 04:50 AM
 
3,914 posts, read 4,939,753 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyd View Post
Now for Mecklenburg. You won't find anything that is not in a city limits first of all..so here are the taxes. For Charlotte that same $300,000 house will cost you $3687. Matthews $3284.10. Now they do have some pretty decent schools, Audrey Kell and Providence...but they do not compete with the aforementioned Union County Schools. Also in Mecklenburg you will get to pay stormwater fees...which vary depending on your property type but should not cost you more than $150 a year. .
There are still unincorporated areas in Mecklenburg. I'm surprised that property taxes are $1 in Waxhaw. That seems high for such a remote place with little access to urban services. In comparison to some other places in Mecklenburg for $300,000 house.
  • Un-incorporated Mecklenburg - $2957
  • Cornelius - $3096
  • Mint Hill - $3186
  • Huntersville - $3224
  • Matthews - $3284
  • Pineville - $3336
  • Davidson - $3426
  • Charlotte - $3687

So if one is deciding against Waxhaw vs Unincorporated Meck, then it's more expensive to live in Waxhaw. If someone chooses to live in Charlotte, it cost an extra $687/year in property taxes. Currently this difference purchases 183 gallons/gasoline. This works out to about 4 gallons/week. (assuming 50 weeks) Thus, the commuting costs from Waxhaw will far outweigh any property tax savings even if one chooses to live inside Charlotte. Even more if one decides to live in one of the towns.

In regards to the schools, the top high schools in CMS are nationally known and carry a prestige with them that isn't matched by any school in Union county. (it's not all about SAT scores)
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Old 03-12-2013, 04:59 AM
 
Location: NC
5,416 posts, read 5,911,846 times
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Keep in mind that UC is going to be re-evaluating in 2014 (effective 2015). Ever known a reval that made property taxes go down? UC has the highest bond debt in NC. Somewhere, somehow, that's got to be paid down.
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Old 03-12-2013, 05:56 AM
 
Location: Charlotte
1,763 posts, read 3,276,340 times
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I have have never heard that Union County schools are better than the best Mecklenburg county schools. Also Union can't match CMS in its variety of magnet schools: language immersion, Montessori, Arts, and programs for the gifted, etc.
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Old 03-12-2013, 10:08 AM
 
7,672 posts, read 12,736,239 times
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I have a child in union county schools. They are very different from CMS but I wouldn't necessarily say better. I am happy with both counties in the schools we have been in. Only gripe I have and this is prevalent in both counties, is that they cater to the lower performing students. But that seems to be a common problem across the board so it's a losing battle.
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