Retiring in Cincinnati. Worth considering? (Kent, Campbell: crime, how much, homes)

[SalamanderSmile]

Originally Posted by ram2

Where exactly do you live in the Cincinnati area where home property taxes are $16,000 per year? I know it is not Anderson Township.

I used to work with many Boston/New York/Connecticut transplants at GE-Evendale. Almost all of them preferred the Cincinnati area due to the lower cost of living. I used to hear the term "Taxachusetts" often.

A 600k valuation in Anderson runs you $15k in property taxes a year. A $500k valuation in Columbia Township/Mariemont Schools runs you $18k a year in property taxes. A $600k valuation in Sycamore Township/Indian Hill Schools runs you $9k a year in property taxes while a $600k valuation in Sycamore Twp/Sycamore Schools runs you $13.5 a year in property taxes.

A $600k valuation in the City of Cincinnati suffers $15,500 in property tax annually.

I highlight these as I know that most transplants seek the townships to live in because they (sometimes/some parts) collect no income taxes.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

A 600k valuation in Anderson runs you $15k in property taxes a year. A $500k valuation in Columbia Township/Mariemont Schools runs you $18k a year in property taxes. A $600k valuation in Sycamore Township/Indian Hill Schools runs you $9k a year in property taxes while a $600k valuation in Sycamore Twp/Sycamore Schools runs you $13.5 a year in property taxes.

A $600k valuation in the City of Cincinnati suffers $15,500 in property tax annually.

I highlight these as I know that most transplants seek the townships to live in because they (sometimes/some parts) collect no income taxes.

A $350K house valuation in Anderson runs $6600 per year in property taxes.

[WRnative]

Every county in Ohio that I've ever checked readily displays online a table showing the current real estate tax rates by taxing district. I can't find such a tax table for Hamilton County (2019 tax rates by district for taxes due in 2020). Does anybody have a link?


Here's the link for Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), which took less than 15 seconds to find with a Google search: "Cuyahoga County OH real estate tax rates 2019"


https://treasurer.cuyahogacounty.us/...evyImpacts.pdf


Substituting Hamilton County in the key words for a search produces no results showing a table such as the one that pops up for Cuyahoga County and any other Ohio county that I have ever tried.


Here's Franklin County (Columbus), again less than 15 seconds. This is a great page as it archives the tax rates for many years.


https://www.franklincountyauditor.co...s-for-2019.pdf

[thunderstruck666]

Overall tax burden is far too high here. We are in the top 10 worst states for it.
https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/...019/index.html
Property tax rates here are very, very high as a percentage of assessed value. Cincinnati proper is outrageously high, at 2.5% the city is over twice the national average and higher than Chicago! Sad when your tax bill for the same house is lower in Chicago than in Cincinnati.
https://www.attomdata.com/news/marke...-tax-analysis/

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Here's Franklin County (Columbus), again less than 15 seconds. This is a great page as it archives the tax rates for many years.


https://www.franklincountyauditor.co...s-for-2019.pdf

I linked only the 2019 rates. Here's the main web page for Franklin County tax rates with the archive mentioned.


https://www.franklincountyauditor.co...erty-tax-rates


Every county should do this, as it would enable persons to research historical rates very easily.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by thunderstruck666

Overall tax burden is far too high here. We are in the top 10 worst states for it.
https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/...019/index.html
Property tax rates here are very, very high as a percentage of assessed value. Cincinnati proper is outrageously high, at 2.5% the city is over twice the national average and higher than Chicago! Sad when your tax bill for the same house is lower in Chicago than in Cincinnati.
https://www.attomdata.com/news/marke...-tax-analysis/

What matters is monthly cost of ownership for comparable homes, as well as the cost of other taxes and the quality of services. Just focusing on the percentage of real estate taxes is mindless because if housing prices are significantly lower, percentage tax rates must be higher to support the same service levels.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by thunderstruck666

Overall tax burden is far too high here. We are in the top 10 worst states for it.
https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/...019/index.html
Property tax rates here are very, very high as a percentage of assessed value. Cincinnati proper is outrageously high, at 2.5% the city is over twice the national average and higher than Chicago! Sad when your tax bill for the same house is lower in Chicago than in Cincinnati.
https://www.attomdata.com/news/marke...-tax-analysis/

All of this is meaningless and very biased against Ohio. E.g., the only fair way to compare property taxes is calculate the percentage tax on comparable homes, which is a difficult task.

Kiplinger says that California is a "tax-friendly" state compared to Ohio, largely because of the lower property taxes per $100,000 valuation. Consider that the median home price (likely for smaller homes on smaller lots on average) in CA is $556,815 compared to $150,835 in Ohio, according to Zillow. To support needed services, states with lower property valuations must have higher property tax rates to provide desired services.

https://www.zillow.com/ca/home-values/

So, a fair way to compare CA and OH property tax rates would be to adjust the taxes per $100,000 valuation for the difference in median home prices. Multiplying the $841/$100,000 valuation that Kiplinger reports for CA by the 3.69 valuation differential (556,815/150,835) results in an adjusted $3,105/$100,000 valuation for CA. This is 89 percent higher than the $1,641/$100,000 valuation that Kiplinger reports for Ohio.

https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/taxes...-map/index.php

Nobody familiar with both California and Ohio would ever argue that total housing costs for comparable properties in CA aren't much higher than in Ohio, and this includes a much higher property tax burden on comparable properties.

Another likely flaw in Kiplinger's tax calculations for Ohio is that it doesn't comprehend Ohio's massive tax breaks on pass-through income instituted by Ohio's Republicans in recent years. This large tax break greatly benefits more wealthy Ohioans but is not reflected in simple comparisons of state income tax burdens.


https://www.tax.ohio.gov/Individual/...Deduction.aspx


Calculating relative tax burdens is a difficult process, and Kiplinger, as explained, has done a very poor job IMO of producing any meaningful comparisons. Try living in CA and then argue that it is a more tax friendly state than Ohio. I have friends that moved from Ohio to CA and they laughed at the Kiplinger article.

Additionally, some states (such as notoriously Illinois) for decades built up unfunded liabilities (such as for pensions) rather than raise needed taxes. Increases in annual debt and unfunded liabilities/capita should be considered in any comparisons as they increases are FUTURE tax liabilities. The federal government in recent decades is extremely guilty of raising future tax burdens while allegedly cutting current taxes.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Kiplinger says that California is a "tax-friendly" state compared to Ohio, largely because of the lower property taxes per $100,000 valuation. Consider that the median home price (likely for smaller homes on smaller lots on average) in CA is $556,815 compared to $150,835 in Ohio, according to Zillow. To support needed services, states with lower property valuations must have higher property tax rates to provide desired services.

The price of a small, starter home in Half Moon Bay, Ca is $850K minimum (for 1200 sq ft house). And Half Moon Bay is one of the more "reasonably priced" areas of the Bay Area.

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by donjulio2018

Hello all,

Here is my dilemma. My wife and I live in a town north of Boston, and recently retired. As you know MA is one of the states where COL is insane (taxes, property values and/or renting out of control). Then, there is the snow and cold weather which is getting to me as I get older. My wife is originally from Cincinnati and still has relatives there. We know COL in Ohio is definitely lower than MA (granted, property taxes in Cincy are also very high), but housing in general is much more affordable. We have no debt and we own our home free and clear. Both collecting SS and "healthy" IRAs. Our home, if we decide to sell it can easily go for $700K. I know weather-wise Cincy is not much better than Boston (yes, less snow, blah, blah, but still can get very cold). For years, I've tried to convince the wife to retire somewhere in the south because I personally like the warm weather and low property taxes. The answer has always been no, no!. Too hot, too humid, etc, etc. She would only "compromise" with going back to her roots in Cincinnati. So, what do you folks think? is it worth it? would you do it if you were in the same situation? Should we just stay put?. I welcome your opinion/input. Cheers!

Seeing how you're elderly, you might need some support.

Where, exactly, are you going to get that down south?

At least in Cincinnati, you'll have some support from family, and traveling from Cincinnati to Boston is much easier than from down south to Boston.

[donjulio2018]

Originally Posted by Mircea

Seeing how you're elderly, you might need some support.

Where, exactly, are you going to get that down south?

At least in Cincinnati, you'll have some support from family, and traveling from Cincinnati to Boston is much easier than from down south to Boston.

Mircea, your point is very valid. The South is not even in our list of options anymore. So, basically we will just stay where we are. No place is perfect and I better deal with what I know.

Another Poster mentioned something that I did not want to admit. That at the end of the day property taxes
in Hamilton County are higher than any taxes in the Greater Boston area.

Cheers!