New Jersey's property tax **PIC**

[mugs]

I'm not really sure why you felt the need to explain what roads, schools, police, and fire departments are for. I can't imagine that I came across as being that stupid.

Why could there not be a local sales tax plus a local income tax that takes in the same amount of money as property taxes? It's not about not paying for these things, it's about shifting how it's paid.

I'd even be fine with removing the government's ability to sieze your house for failure to pay. That's my only sticking point with property taxes.

The government needs to have some way to force you to pay your taxes. Putting people in jail would be counter-productive. Wage garnishment would be a preferable first step, but if they can't take property as a last resort what do you suggest as an alternative?

FYI, if you don't pay your income taxes the IRS can seize your stuff as well.

 

[Capt Caveman]

NY has around the highest taxes in the country based on property value and that house would cost about $8k in property taxes here. I therefore think that the $18k is either very, very unusual or factually wrong. Any other link?

I'm going to say that unless another link shows a $275k house in NJ can actually run $18k in taxes that the numbers are incorrect.

http://www.lawnside.net/FAQ.html

What is the tax rate for the Borough of Lawnside?

The Borough's total tax rate is 4.484 per $100.00
The Borough of Lawnside portion of this rate is .939 per $100.00

The property tax is based on an assessed value of $400k+ for the home.

 

[StageLeft]

http://www.lawnside.net/FAQ.html



The property tax is based on an assessed value of $400k+ for the home.

So on this $275k it would e around $15k?

There's a reason why I say people in NY don't own homes, we rent them, but damn that's even worse. It's got its upsides. It in a way forces you to never move because you never build equity of any meaning, so as the country moves up and up over the years you barely budge because property taxes are tied to appraised value. I guess that's a big downside

An upside, though, is that you don't need a sh*tload of money to buy a home. If you're starting out and your income is ok but your net worth sucks you can get something decent--that's what we did in NY. So our property tax is 1/3rd of our mortgage but the mortgage itself isn't terribly high.

 

[alkemyst]

I still don't get NJ people thinking they live in the top murder place of the world other than trying to justify living there.

New Orleans holds that rank, but they keep it on the down low because so many want to actually go there.

 

[Capt Caveman]

So on this $275k it would e around $15k?

Not sure what you're getting at but the $18k property tax is based on that home being valued at $400k. It's a foreclosure thus, why it's being sold at less than assessed value.

 

[alkemyst]

Because you are.

The reason that shouldn't be done is because that would fuck over the poor hellishly. Sales taxes are regressive, not flat. Their percentage is flat when done at the counter, but the amount shelled out in percentages of income to each tax payer is regressive. They affect the poor more than they do the rich.

:facepalmsohard:

only because today's poor spends too much.

DUBS YA'LL!

 

[Chaotic42]

The government needs to have some way to force you to pay your taxes. Putting people in jail would be counter-productive. Wage garnishment would be a preferable first step, but if they can't take property as a last resort what do you suggest as an alternative?

FYI, if you don't pay your income taxes the IRS can seize your stuff as well.

I don't know. Like I said, I'm not an economist. I've obviously completely failed to comprehend the effects of alternative tax systems. All I know is that I don't like the idea of the government being able to sieze your house.

Apparently I'd just be digging myself into a hole by trying to come up with any other ideas. Hell, Trident even felt a small amount of self respect because of my post. If that's a mark of true failure on my part, I don't know what is.

 

[Svnla]

Wow, if the number in the op is correct, then it is a lot of money to be paid as property taxes.

IIRC, a friend in Austin, TX area has a house about 200K and he is paying around 4K in taxes. A relative in Louisiana has a house around 190K and is paying around 1.4K in taxes (homestead exception of 75K).

 

[alkemyst]

The house in question is about 6,000 sq ft. even at $100/sq ft that's a $600,000 home. 2% is a pretty standard tax rate so $12,000. New Jersey's property taxes are a little crazy compared to other places though. They are trying to limit them.

You are only getting that house for $275k because it's a foreclosure. There is no homestead exemption in NJ as well.

 

[rh71]

Wow, if the number in the op is correct, then it is a lot of money to be paid as property taxes.

IIRC, a friend in Austin, TX area has a house about 200K and he is paying around 4K in taxes. A relative in Louisiana has a house around 190K and is paying around 1.4K in taxes (homestead exception of 75K).

It's different depending on where you are - my brother in SD says his $3300/yr in taxes was calculated from his purchase price (< $400k foreclosure). I just looked it up and it says for SD county they don't re-assess every year - they do it upon ownership changes only. Meanwhile, our taxes go up about 1k every year.... assessed values may go down with the times but they always get you via tax rate... 643 per 100 for school, 272 per 100 for property right now, compared to 616/269 the year before.

For all the talk about CA properties being expensive, nobody mentions the tax differences which matter when it comes to your monthly mortgage. How does the rest of CA do it?

 

[Bignate603]

I'm not really sure why you felt the need to explain what roads, schools, police, and fire departments are for. I can't imagine that I came across as being that stupid.

Why could there not be a local sales tax plus a local income tax that takes in the same amount of money as property taxes? It's not about not paying for these things, it's about shifting how it's paid.

I'd even be fine with removing the government's ability to sieze your house for failure to pay. That's my only sticking point with property taxes.

You suggested that you do a tax on use. I posted to show you why you CAN'T do a tax on use for those services on an opt in basis like you do for your fire department.

Property tax is a pretty fair way of doing it, works in areas that are just bedroom communities without much business or in places that are business heavy, and are significantly easier to manage than each town trying to set up an income tax or sales tax.

 

[Gibson486]

Wow...and I thought 6K a year for a small Boston condo was insane.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Unemployment would be state/fed. Being that Lawnside(pop < 3000) is 94% black, illegal immigrants would not be an issue.

then it would be for law enforcement.

 

[PingSpike]

I'd take that bet.

First off, Buffet pays a lower percentage of his income than his secretary does.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/03/why-buffett-pays-less-than-his-secretary/1616/

And Buffet DOES pay less property tax than his secretary, if you choose an expensive home he has in California versus an average price home his secretary has in Omaha.
http://www.wealthandwant.com/docs/Buffett_Prop13.html

Prop 13 is pretty tits, especially so if you're rich. Vote for all the free shit you want and your property taxes barely go up.

 

[SandEagle]

Warren Buffett lives in a relatively modest house that he bought in the 50s.

i don't buy into this WB bullcrap story.his home looks modest on the outside.bet he has stairs that lead to his underground mansion built out of solid gold

 

[alkemyst]

His house was $31,500 in 1958, a median home in 1960 was still only $9,000 there. It's a 6,000 sq ft mansion for all intents.

 

[PingSpike]

Looks like a McHome.

Comes with a free yearly McAssRaping though.

 

[child of wonder]

Let's slash all this government spending and just use a consumption tax with variable rates for alcohol, cigarettes. Legalize drugs and prostitution and tax the shit out of them.

 

[Thump553]

I saw an article in the newspaper yesterday comparing property taxes across the USA. The low was either Louisiana or Mississippi, at about $170 per year median, the highest was NJ with the median over $6000. Quite a difference.

 

[mugs]

I saw an article in the newspaper yesterday comparing property taxes across the USA. The low was either Louisiana or Mississippi, at about $170 per year median, the highest was NJ with the median over $6000. Quite a difference.

I don't even know how $170 per year could be possible unless they're getting significant money from the state for schools, or they use local sales taxes or something like that. I'm assuming they're not leaving out some separate "school tax" which some places list separately. It's still a tax on the value of your property, so it's no different from property taxes. Where I live we just have a single property tax that includes the schools.

The average cost per student for public schools is, IIRC, somewhere in the vicinity of $7000 per year. It would take a lot of childless households to cover one child's expenses at $170 per house. There has to be another source of revenue. NJ's cost per student is higher than the national average, in the $8000-9000 range. Mississippi is known for its terrible schools, and NJ's schools are very good.

It's actually not our good schools that cost so much though, it's the bad schools. The poor, urban school districts are costing more like $12k per year per student with worse results. That's not surprising, you can't get good results from people who don't care about preparing themselves for success and whose parents are indifferent.

Every state gets its revenues from multiple sources. You have to look at the big picture - the total tax burden. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/335.html NJ is still at the top of the list, not surprisingly.

NJ's total state and local tax burden is 11.8% of per capita income of $56k, or $6610 per year.

Mississippi's total state and local tax burden is 8.9% of per capita income of $32k, or $2834 per year.

Don't be surprised if the mass exodus of New Jerseyans to Mississippi never materializes.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

What a douche. Having all that money and not spending it outrageously on a $100,000,000 mansion.

Buffet, I can haz disappoint?

happiness is not material goods. You could learn from him.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

What kind of job do you have that allows you to purchase a $1,000,000+ home?!

I really don't get how anyone buys homes for that much unless they're just gushing in the cash.

Before the crash, I'd see 1/4 acre lots with 40-50 year old houses... old 2 BR trashes you KNEW people were just gonna demolish. These houses went for $900k. You're not paying for the house because we know every new person moving here is some sort of Asian. The latest trend is that they're from Mainland China. They're going to buy it and tear it down and build a 5BR or 6BR monster. That's how things work.

Dude it's not sqft it's land there. You can give sqft by stacking at only $100-$150 sqft (on the high side). Land is the killer from what he says.

Yup. It's the land that's a killer. In Silicon Valley, you're paying for land and schools. No one cares about the house. Look down my neighborhood. Half the houses are remodeled, torn down and rebuilt or whatever.

How many kids do you have or will you have that requires 3000-3500 square feet?

Shrug. Nothing wrong with that? I am an only child and we live in a 4000 sq foot house. Why build small when you have the lot to contain it? I suppose this is an Asian thing though. We built this years ago thinking our grandparents would move to the US and live here also. But I guess that's not the case. And since I'm not getting married anytime soon and I don't know if I'm planning to have an assload of kids yet... seems kinda sad we're paying property taxes up the wazoo on this thing. Heh.

 

[TridenT]

His house was $31,500 in 1958, a median home in 1960 was still only $9,000 there. It's a 6,000 sq ft mansion for all intents.

Is 6,000 sqft really a mansion?

I'd say at least 12,000 is mansion.

 

[Bignate603]

Is 6,000 sqft really a mansion?

I'd say at least 12,000 is mansion.

What does it matter? As soon as you run out of ways to have other people pay for things you're pretty much going to be out on the street or living in the back room of your parents house anyways.

 

[TridenT]

What does it matter? As soon as you run out of ways to have other people pay for things you're pretty much going to be out on the street or living in the back room of your parents house anyways.

Uh-huh. Troll man fails.

Jealous much?