Why are taxes so high in Columbus? (Westerville, Gahanna: short sales, real estate)

[Tenzo]

Why are taxes so high in Columbus?

I just don't get it.
Property taxes are twice what they are in Chicago and California.
2.5% city tax? what the heck for? Why does the city need tax revenue like that when almost all other cities don't have a city income tax?

I can see new york. Everything has to come in by truck and it's super dense. Or Philly with the highest rate of people on government asistance. But the middle of a corn field?

What gives?

[mattalli]

Voters that pass issues based upon fear. Didn't you see the menacing ads?

[Tenzo]

Fear of what?
This isn't exactly a high crime area. There is not a lot of poverty.
OK, so Westerville is the wife swapping king of the US. But that's just weird, not scary.

[NewToCA]

Well Tenzo, Ohio taxes are somewhat higher than many areas of the country, but California and Chicago don't appear to be great comparisons for making your point.

California has something called Mello Roos that results in substantial supplemental property taxes in many municipalities. As a result, it isn't uncommon to see a property tax rate of 1.3-2.0% of value. Sales tax out here is generally 9%, and applies to everything except basic groceries and perscription drugs. The state income tax is higher than your combined state and city taxes, once you get past about $40K in income.

Likewise, I have a couple of friends who live in the Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates areas in suburban Chicago. We discussed real estate pretty recently, especially due to all of the disruption in prices the past couple of years. They both pay in the neighborhood of 1.5-2.0% of current value in their property taxes. These areas are pretty comparable to Hilliard and Dublin, which I'm familiar with from my time in metro Columbus. I'd say the property taxes are somewhat less in suburban Chicago, but not by a significant margin. This is likely offset by the homes being somewhat higher, from housing indexes I have seen from sites like Zillow.

Anyhow, to get back to your basic observation, Ohio has high taxes for a few reasons. First off, relatively low property values result in higher tax rates, due to the basic issue of the lack of basic housing value. When you have an overall base of higher housing prices, the rate per home can be quite a bit lower to generate the same revenue.

Another issue is significant local school and police/fire control in Ohio. Out here, and in many places I have lived in the US, school districts are set at the county or regional level. In Ohio, every small area has their own school district, which provides for a significant setup of government to administer these small areas. Fewer school districts covering larger areas allows more efficient management of property assets, and fewer administrative types needed to manage and operate the process.

But, folks in Ohio like the local control. So, you "suffer" the higher cost associated with the signficant fragmentation.

[msgsing]

Previously lived in Columbus. Was always annoyed at how little in services were received in exchange for the city taxes especially in the winter. Residential streets almost never plowed after snowstorms. Streets in our subdivision hadn't been resurfaced in decades and full of potholes.

As far as California property taxes they are calculated at a lower rate than Ohio and home prices here have fallen significantly. Not all areas are Mello Roos. I bought my home here in a place where this tax was not applied.

[mattalli]

Originally Posted by Tenzo

Fear of what?
This isn't exactly a high crime area. There is not a lot of poverty.
OK, so Westerville is the wife swapping king of the US. But that's just weird, not scary.

Those scary ads when they were trying to pass the tax hike about how big cities go downhill blah blah blah comparing us to other cities. I even remember the ads showing horrible things and thought, yeah this will make people pass this. LOL on Westerville, I ha no idea!

[jastam12345]

Something in Ohio will have to change. People simply cannot afford to keep their homes with the cost of taxes increasing higher and higher in addition to the cost of homeowner association fees increasing. Look at the number of foreclosures and short sales all over the city and surrounding areas! It is quite ridiculous, in my opinion. I am looking to buy a home, however am looking at the property taxes in Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Gahanna, and also in some areas in Columbus and can only shake my head. And considering purchasing a condo includes homeowner association fees that can increase on a yearly basis with the increase of taxes, so home ownership can be quite challenging! It's sad. When I look online at the realty sites, I scroll down to look at the fees and taxes first!

[jbcmh81]

Ohio just passed legislation that will lower taxes. They'll be phased in over the next few years, but it's something like a 10% overall cut for residents.

And let's also not forget that taxes are but one measure of cost of living. Through the end of last year, Ohio was less expensive to live in than 37 other states. Honestly, that's really hard to complain about.

Foreclosures around the city are down. Home sales were up something like 17% last year. If there are problems finding good places, it's because the supply is the lowest in more than a decade.

[Zen_master]

Ohio is on the list of high-income tax states with the top marginal tax rate nearly six percent (well, prior to Kasich's tax reform). However, the sales taxes in Ohio are not that bad despite their being both a county component and state component to the tax, when compared to areas like Chicago where the sales tax is double digits. What irks me is the excessive level of property taxation in Central Ohio specifically. I outline in the post/thread below how a bigger home, with more acreage, with a higher assessed value and in one of the top communities in Ohio still has lower property taxes than lesser homes in Central Ohio.

//www.city-data.com/forum/32448588-post71.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/colum...olumbus-8.html

[Fletchman]

One of the less desirable facts of living in Ohio is the tax situation. You have several factors at play: Property tax, state income tax, municipal income tax (*and if you work in another city, you will generally be taxed there, too*).

Many school districts also impose an income tax, so beware. Also the sales tax has been bumped up in some counties.

But it is also true that Ohioans pay lower insurance rates, lower commuting costs and other cost of living factors.