How does Texas survive with no income tax? (Houston, Dallas: sales, houses)

[sometimes lurkin]

I've half way searched through this forum and still can't understand it. You have no income tax, no tax on personal assets, and property, sales, and sin taxes that are equal to my broke state.

It just seems to good to be true. Not to mention that the price of housing is way lower than on either coast. Hopefully I will be transferring down to the Dallas area in the next year. So, if somebody has the bad news of some hidden cost please share. The weather and lakes alone are a reason to move, this cost of living just seems to good to be true.

[getmeoutofhere]

Property taxes are about the highest in the nation, the highest in some places.

Nothing's free, the money has to come from somewhere.

I pay 2.6% or so in property tax a year on my house.

[southern living]

dont forget sales tax at what? 8.75?

[sometimes lurkin]

2.6% is very close to what I pay in property taxes in central Illinois, not sure what its like in the counties surrounding Chicago (probably higher). That 2.6 % includes everything though, I read somewhere that in Dallas there is a separate tax on the DART and a community college if it is in your zone(there must be others as well).

Still our income tax is 3% and most likely will be raised in the near future to either 4 or 4.5, which is till lower than most states, the cost of heating is really high, and things like fuel and groceries look to be the same if not lower in Dallas. Despite this our state is near bankrupt. Maybe there is no catch, this would clearly explain the growth your experiencing. If you only had basements there, whats a guy supposed to do without a man cave?

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by sometimes lurkin

2.6% is very close to what I pay in property taxes in central Illinois, not sure what its like in the counties surrounding Chicago (probably higher). That 2.6 % includes everything though, I read somewhere that in Dallas there is a separate tax on the DART and a community college if it is in your zone(there must be others as well).

Still our income tax is 3% and most likely will be raised in the near future to either 4 or 4.5, which is till lower than most states, the cost of heating is really high, and things like fuel and groceries look to be the same if not lower in Dallas. Despite this our state is near bankrupt. Maybe there is no catch, this would clearly explain the growth your experiencing. If you only had basements there, whats a guy supposed to do without a man cave?

The 2.6% covers just local taxes, it varies by county.

Sales tax is moderately high.

While your cost of heating may be high, consider the cost of air conditioning down here.

Texas is a cheap state to live in, though. Always has been. It's why people come here.

[steve1282]

Is Dallas property tax high

[hsw]

US' most efficient state/local government w/anti-tax, anti-union, pro-business ethos

Compare no. of gvt employees per capita (and per capita gvt worker pay/pensions...esp pensions) in TX vs CA or NY/NJ or IL....all big states with social "issues" but TX manages problems with far less BigGovernment and corruption (and hence low taxes) vs CA/NYC/IL

Newer tract houses in West Plano aren't much cheaper than comparables in Naperville, w/similar quality public schools...but much quicker drives to offices in Plano or Irving or Uptown vs a commute from Naperville to Loop

But prop and sales taxes are deductible vs fed taxes in TX....so Dallas' (or Houston's) overall tax burden tends to be far lower than that of any major city in US....much of why so many major companies look to TX to move HQs (and high-income, tax-sensitive executives)

[Carla125]

Lots of companies reside an Headquarter in TX. DFW houses the most headquarter in the US after NY, so lots of state revenue comes from companies. IMO, tax rates and property taxes are aligned with other states, but if property prices are low, it is a lower maintenance cost to maintain government offices. Salaries are usually lower also, in some fields, in others not.

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by southern living

dont forget sales tax at what? 8.75?

Is that the sales tax in Illinois now? In Texas it's 8.25

Average property tax rate is 2.4 but depending on county, city, school district it could be between 1.95 to 3%. Schools here overlap cities so you could be living in the city of Dallas yet be in the school district of Plano. You see why it's difficult to give the exact amount.

The city of Dallas itself is 2.62 and here is the breakdown:

Dallas county 0.233310
City of Dallas 0.747900
Dallas ISD (Schood District) 1.271340
Parkland Hospital 0.274000
Community College 0.094900

We also have like Illinois the homestead exemption as well as other exemptions that make a difference of a few hundred dollars.

Naima

[Ilovethewindycity]

The biggest difference between Illinois (specifically Chicago) and Texas is the way they assess the homes, so while 2.6% doesn't sound like a lot, when you own a home that is $250K your property tax is $6500. In Illinois it's different, I lived in Chicago and owned property, the last one I sold was $600K but the property tax was only $4000, see the difference. The properties there are assessed very different; the market value has nothing to do with the property tax assessment. Here the market value has everything to do with what your home is assessed at, so if you find a great deal for say $250K, in a neighborhood where home market value is $500k, your tax will be based on $500K. So while there is no income tax, you end up paying it somewhere.