Members TampaYankee Posted June 27, 2011 Members Posted June 27, 2011 10 Tax-Unfriendly States for Retirees 2011 Due to copyright restrictions see this article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/112987/tax-unfriendly-states-retirees?mod=fidelity-livingretirement&cat=fidelity_2010_living_in_retirement Quote
Guest CharliePS Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 10 Tax-Unfriendly States for Retirees 2011 Due to copyright restrictions see this article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/112987/tax-unfriendly-states-retirees?mod=fidelity-livingretirement&cat=fidelity_2010_living_in_retirement California comes in at #5 on this list of the worst, while my former residence of Pennsylvania is #3 on the list of the best. Yet I seem to be better off financially here than I was there. Partly it is because of the property tax. When the real estate market tanked, Riverside County promptly reassessed residences at the new lower values, and my property tax was suddenly cut almost in half; I'll bet that didn't happen back in Philly. There is also a further reduction in the tax for homeowners over 65. Also, the absence of an inheritance tax here is very important for unmarried couples, a complication that Kiplinger's doesn't consider. Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted June 28, 2011 Author Members Posted June 28, 2011 California comes in at #5 on this list of the worst, while my former residence of Pennsylvania is #3 on the list of the best. Yet I seem to be better off financially here than I was there. Partly it is because of the property tax. When the real estate market tanked, Riverside County promptly reassessed residences at the new lower values, and my property tax was suddenly cut almost in half; I'll bet that didn't happen back in Philly. There is also a further reduction in the tax for homeowners over 65. Also, the absence of an inheritance tax here is very important for unmarried couples, a complication that Kiplinger's doesn't consider. It's been my experience in the places I have lived that property tax is assessed at the county or township level and pays for local services like police, fire and schools etc. These costs are roughly fixed more or less with some room for adjustment by a modest percentage. The county millage is set to cover costs. So if the property values are halved it only makes sense that the millage rate is doubled because the coounty obligations are more or less unchanged even though the property assessments are changed. How does PS escape this fact of economics? Quote
Guest CharliePS Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 It's been my experience in the places I have lived that property tax is assessed at the county or township level and pays for local services like police, fire and schools etc. These costs are roughly fixed more or less with some room for adjustment by a modest percentage. The county millage is set to cover costs. So if the property values are halved it only makes sense that the millage rate is doubled because the coounty obligations are more or less unchanged even though the property assessments are changed. How does PS escape this fact of economics? In California, the rate is set and capped by state law. The county, therefore, is having a lot of budget problems as a result of the drastic cut in property tax receipts, so services, including police and fire, are being cut. Education financing is a state rather than local responsibility in CA, but the state is also broke, so many teachers and other school employees are being laid off, summer school classes cancelled, etc., and now they are talking about reducing the school year by at least a week. Quote
