NEED YOUR HELP deciding the area of Pittsburgh to settle longterm (real estate, how much)

[BrianTH]

I know many parents in the City who have been happy with the public schools they used, either through feeder schools or pursuing magnet and charter schools, and the options keep getting better. So I personally wouldn't move out until you knew for sure you wanted to go another way.

The 3% thing--it is an issue, but I think people tend to overrate it in comparison to transportation costs, particularly if you account for the value of your own time. Again, though, if you really want to avoid it, you can look at inner suburbs that are still close to the East End and on the main public transportation grid.

[Benzman66]

"I would like nice roads"

Bring a four wheeler or pickup truck for your commutes. LOL!. The roads in the winter in and around Allegheny County are like the moon surface. CRATERS!

[ML North]

Originally Posted by judy4all

Just thinking about everything I do at the East-side... Will be quite painful to move out... May just have to settle in the city and find schools when the time comes.... the 3% income tax sucks though...

Let's say most people earn between $35,000 and $100,000 per year. I think that's a fair assumption. At 3%, the total local tax obligations would be $1,050 and $3,000 at either end of the range.

Let's assume you're in the middle of this range earning $67,500 per year. You're annual tax obligation in the city would be $2,025. If living in the suburbs, in a 1% area, you're annual tax obligation would be $675. The marginal difference would be $2,025 - $675 = $1,350.

Ok, next lets assume that the total cost of operating (fuel, maintenance, and depreciation) a vehicle is $0.505/mile (This is the reimbursement rate that is determined by the government). Using the tax savings realized by living in a 1% area, you could travel 2,673 miles in your car per year. This would be 222 miles per month. Assuming 22 work days per month on average, this would amount to 10 miles per day. That's the break-even point.

What this means -- There are obviously many many variables that are not being considered here, but as a ballpark number -- you'll only realize a net financial benefit by living in a 1% area if your daily roundtrip commute to the city is 10 miles or less. Just an example...

[greg42]

Very good point with the math there ML. Obviously we can torture that a little more if the income is higher, but generally I think worrying about that tax is overrated. Some people are quite allergic to anything that says tax, but for practical purposes we should look at total expense whether or not it's a tax.

Interesting note that means more in some places than others: in the city the taxes still cover your trash pickup at no additional cost. I'm not sure I agree with that approach, but whatever, for now it's still how it works, and it has survived a couple of proposals to institute a separate fee for this. Now where I live the trash collection is cheap: $42/quarter. In some places it seems to be that much or more per month! That would be another few hundred bucks a year to subtract from the 3% tax bill for comparison purposes.

In short, I think there are perfectly valid reasons for the OP to consider living outside the city, but I don't think the wage tax should be a big consideration.

[ML North]

I charted it using the assumptions described in my post above.

The black line represents the maximum distance you could commute to and from the city on a daily basis to realize a net financial benefit from living in a 1% tax area, rather than in the City, where local tax is 3%. Merry Christmas.

[judy4all]

I really appreciate all your inputs... Looking @ the Math.. It can get quite tricky... Of course, there is an overall cost to be considered here... Prices of houses, property taxes, etc...But I get the point.. The 3% tax may not be so bad after all...

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The 3% thing--it is an issue, but I think people tend to overrate it in comparison to transportation costs, particularly if you account for the value of your own time. Again, though, if you really want to avoid it, you can look at inner suburbs that are still close to the East End and on the main public transportation grid.

So true BrianTH. I pay 1.5% but I just mailed off my yearly fee for garbage p/u service in the amount of $155 to my borough today.

[Sideblinded]

The school issue is a HUGE expense, and so much is changing so fast. We felt forced to switch to a private school. In our opinion the cirriculum got robotic & behavior problems in the school were just too much for our kid. I have said this before, I am very pro-public education and never planned on this.

We pay 10K tuition for middle school, (I was shocked how far behind he was) and are considering moving to Mt. Leb for High School years to save money. It is our experience and certainly not everyone's. (We live in a favorable feeder pattern.)

I don't have a crystal ball but if you plan on having kids and choose to buy in the city, budget for the very real possibility of tuition.

[bruxauk]

Following

[judy4all]

Originally Posted by Sideblinded

The school issue is a HUGE expense, and so much is changing so fast. We felt forced to switch to a private school. In our opinion the cirriculum got robotic & behavior problems in the school were just too much for our kid. I have said this before, I am very pro-public education and never planned on this.

We pay 10K tuition for middle school, (I was shocked how far behind he was) and are considering moving to Mt. Leb for High School years to save money. It is our experience and certainly not everyone's. (We live in a favorable feeder pattern.)

I don't have a crystal ball but if you plan on having kids and choose to buy in the city, budget for the very real possibility of tuition.

Wow... Good to have input from someone that has some experience with all this... Perhaps the right strategy will be living in the city until my oldest (God-willing) is ready to go to elementary school... Then I should consider moving out of the city... arrgh... Why can't the good schools be everywhere?