Taxes in NWA (Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers: sales, real estate, renting)

[adenlee]

I currently live in New York State and am considering to move to NWA in the near future. I've heard that the real estate tax isn't high in NWA, but I visited a few real estate websites and it seems that people still pay at least about $1000 a year for a 1200 sqf house, and some even pay much higher. I wonder if the online data is accurate? Would you mind sharing how much real estate tax that you pay if you live near the Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville area? Other than real estate tax, do you also pay additional taxes such as school or village taxes? If so, how much?


As I said, the sales tax in my current New York State is high (8%). However, there is no tax for grocery shopping (unprocessed food). Is that true that people in NWA pay an even higher sales tax, and even for your groceries?


Thanks!!!

[Hollynla]

Originally Posted by adenlee

I currently live in New York State and am considering to move to NWA in the near future. I've heard that the real estate tax isn't high in NWA, but I visited a few real estate websites and it seems that people still pay at least about $1000 a year for a 1200 sqf house, and some even pay much higher. I wonder if the online data is accurate? Would you mind sharing how much real estate tax that you pay if you live near the Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville area? Other than real estate tax, do you also pay additional taxes such as school or village taxes? If so, how much?


As I said, the sales tax in my current New York State is high (8%). However, there is no tax for grocery shopping (unprocessed food). Is that true that people in NWA pay an even higher sales tax, and even for your groceries?


Thanks!!!

The property tax sounds right for NWA, which is low compared to many areas. Outside of the town limits, it's lower.

[Snaple4]

I find sales taxes high; I wouldn't mind as much but we have personal property taxes as well. Between the two, and the fact that we are essentially only renting our stuff from the state with personal property taxes, I think we pay an unfairly high tax. Then add on the state and federal income tax and you have a recipe for keeping the poor poor. Thankfully we have a very healthy economy in NWA so it is mitigated but the rest of the state doesn't do as well. We also have many Property Owners Associations that also assess a monthly/yearly fee as well.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Snaple4

I find sales taxes high; I wouldn't mind as much but we have personal property taxes as well. Between the two, and the fact that we are essentially only renting our stuff from the state with personal property taxes, I think we pay an unfairly high tax. Then add on the state and federal income tax and you have a recipe for keeping the poor poor. Thankfully we have a very healthy economy in NWA so it is mitigated but the rest of the state doesn't do as well. We also have many Property Owners Associations that also assess a monthly/yearly fee as well.

there is so much more to taxes that what appears on the surface. When posters mention personal property taxes for instance they are really not much at all and renewing your car registration every year is about 1/3 of what the cost is in many states. stats wise, and on paper are 2 different things. Taxes have absolutely nothing to do with keeping the poor remaining poor. BTW those who are part of a property owners association have many activities available to them at little of no costs and do not affect the poor for heavens sake. BTW what does the POA have to do with whether taxes are high or low. That is a totally different topic.

[Snaple4]

I wasnt meaning to say the the POA fees keep the poor poor. The OP asked if there are fees like that so I said yes. Some of the POAs do have very good amenities for the price, such as Bella Vista POA; I am not opposed to POAs in general. There are some, like one we lived in previously, that was more per year than Bella Vista but lacked all amenities except for a small park. All the dues went to maintaining the entrance, lights/signs that kept getting knocked over from bad placement, and so on. Loved the location but for us the fee outweighed the benefit of the POA.

What I do think keeps the poor poor in Arkansas is our high tax rate once you combine everything. We still tax groceries. Though this list doesn't take into account fees associated with tags, utility fees/taxes, and so on it does give a general idea. We are not #1 but one would think we would be further down the list. Even with the restrictions, I have known several retired/disabled individuals who couldn't afford the rising property taxes in the downtown areas.

[texas_nightowl]

That chart, and others like it, may be a guide of sorts, but it can also be quite wrong. For example, my mother is retired and after my father passed away, she was ready to sell the house and move elsewhere. We chose NWA. For her, her total taxes end up about the same in Arkansas than they were in Texas. Yet that chart has Arkansas as #17 and Texas as #33.



In terms of property tax, that is the big savings...for the comparably priced house, her prop. taxes in Texas would be about 6k. Here, they are about 3.3k. Huge difference. Sales tax in Texas was 8.25-8.75, so the 9+ here in Benton county isn't hugely different. Personal property tax on the cars...isn't that much. We called the county to "guestimate" before we moved. Income tax...this also doesn't hit my mother in a major way. AR doesn't tax SS and excludes another 6k (I think it was) of retirement income. So for my mom, it was a relatively minor hit. So her total tax burden will end up roughly the same here as it was in Texas. And again, that chart says AR is 16 spots worse?


I can also say, that taxes aside, her house insurance is MUCH less than it was in Texas. And auto insurance is MUCH less than it was. They may not be "taxes" but definitely make a difference.

[Hollynla]

Originally Posted by texas_nightowl

I can also say, that taxes aside, her house insurance is MUCH less than it was in Texas. And auto insurance is MUCH less than it was. They may not be "taxes" but definitely make a difference.

Coming from Louisiana, with several vehicles, one being commercial, and two teen drivers at the time, I saved $300/month on auto insurance. That's a HUGE savings.

[Loveswater_outdoors]

The sales tax is oppressively high in NWA and needs to be reformed. Sales tax is a tax on the poor, since they can't avoid it. All the other taxes seem to be either very low or lower than almost any other area. I've heard it can be 4-5 times cheaper than Texas for instance for property taxes.

[Digger 68]

It's not just the state, it's the zip code in your state. It can very quite a bit from zip code to zip code in any state.

All of you are paying more than in Baltimore County Maryland.

I have not looked at housing costs though. Arkansas is going to be cheaper. Probably by about 30%.
I don't know enough about the state for desirable areas.

You are not owning a home with very low taxes unless you are in the middle of nowhere and the taxes still could be high.
You are going to take some kind of financial hit one way or the other, as Blondie use to say. Maybe she still does....

[mgforshort]

I think in Arkansas if someone is over 65 years old their property taxes are frozen at that level and won't go up until the home is sold to somebody else.
Maybe Nita can clarify this. I hope it is true.

Here in California our property tax on an old, 2 bedroom house with 1,700 square feet was $ 2,800 last year. It goes up every year, and with the latest bond which was approved by the voters, this year we are looking at $ 3,000, give or take $ 40-60 either way.
Ten years from now it could be close to $ 5,000.

California voters passed the proposition 13 in the seventies, which should prevent excessive increases, but our government always finds ways to add to it - we don't have higher taxes because they call it a "fee."