TN taxation (Knoxville: best city, sales, schools)

[fatbench]

unlike most of the southern states, TN imposes almost no state income tax (except interest and dividend), then how can TN maintain daily operation and still has better roads and on par facilities as neighboring states?

[septimus]

Originally Posted by fatbench

unlike most of the southern states, TN imposes almost no state income tax (except interest and dividend), then how can TN maintain daily operation and still has better roads and on par facilities as neighboring states?

Our sales tax is high. We pay 9.25% in sales tax. Some counties are as high as 9.75%. We pay 7% on food. There are no exceptions to the sales tax. It hits everything

[jchometeam]

And....we dont waste money on things that other states do

[124c41]

Originally Posted by septimus

Our sales tax is high. We pay 9.25% in sales tax. Some counties are as high as 9.75%. We pay 7% on food. There are no exceptions to the sales tax. It hits everything

That, and probably tourism dollars, as well.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by septimus

Our sales tax is high. We pay 9.25% in sales tax. Some counties are as high as 9.75%. We pay 7% on food. There are no exceptions to the sales tax. It hits everything

Last year, the grocery tax was 5.5 percent but was reduced to 5.25. As of July 1 it will be down to 5 percent.

Originally Posted by jchometeam

And....we dont waste money on things that other states do

That's the bottom line. I get a lot of services with a very reduced tax burden. Great schools, great parks, excellent police and fire protection, yet I live in a state with the lowest tax burden in the country. Meanwhile, in some states in the union they are paying through the nose and getting very little return.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Last year, the grocery tax was 5.5 percent but was reduced to 5.25. As of July 1 it will be down to 5 percent.



That's the bottom line. I get a lot of services with a very reduced tax burden. Great schools, great parks, excellent police and fire protection, yet I live in a state with the lowest tax burden in the country. Meanwhile, in some states in the union they are paying through the nose and getting very little return.

If your county has a tax sales tax you will pay 7% on food. Most counties have a sales tax in addition to the state sales tax.

Also I think it is debatable that we don't waste money on things other states do. There is a reason TN ranks low in almost every national ranking of quality of life issues like health, education, child welfare, etc.

[fatbench]

we pay 5% on food in shelby county start Jul 1st. but everything else is 9.25% or 9.75% (suburban cities).

as far as I know, AL, MS and GA sales tax are not much lower either

[Brian]

Here in Georgia we pay 3-4% on groceries and 6-7% on everything else.

Sometime next year, the State income tax could disappear and the sales tax would be somewhere like 9%.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Last year, the grocery tax was 5.5 percent but was reduced to 5.25. As of July 1 it will be down to 5 percent.



That's the bottom line. I get a lot of services with a very reduced tax burden. Great schools, great parks, excellent police and fire protection, yet I live in a state with the lowest tax burden in the country. Meanwhile, in some states in the union they are paying through the nose and getting very little return.

I see the point of the greatly reduced tax burden - I pay very little to Nashville and in return receive little back, as I'd expect. However, since you're living in an affluent area of probably the second best city in the state, your perspectives on the quality of public services are likely a little skewed. The only point I'd agree with you on are the great parks.

Schools, police, and fire protection may be great in West Knoxville, but they are not so good in less affluent parts of the state. Most of the schools in the northeast part of the state are performing average to below average in a state that is itself below national averages. Crime, especially property crime, is way above national averages east of Knoxville and we've had a recent case here in Sullivan County of the sheriff suing the county mayor due to a lack of adequate funding. I don't know much about fire protection, but I would guess it's like many of the other public services and not adequately taken care of.

We will likely just to have agree to disagree, but I think TN's services are in line with what you'd expect from such a low tax area - you get what you pay for

[BirdieBelle]

Tennessee also receives a disproportionate amount of revenue from the federal gov't compared to other states.