<p>Garland, I’ll be looking out for you and your welcome mat if things work out for us!</p>
<p>Agreed, Cape May proper is not in our price range. We actually rented in west cape may, very near the ferry landing. We enjoyed the ferry whistle, but then again, we enjoy train whistles as well. Very walkable area, with a required Redbox nearby! :)</p>
<p>Oops, sorry for going off topic…</p>
<p>We paid almost 23K in property taxes last year. The amount keeps going up, and it seems impossible for most people to be able to retire in their homes like this. Our neighbors are of retirement age, but I think he keeps working a bit just to pay for his property tax. Whether the value of the homes go up or down, the amount of the property tax continues to move upward. But I should’ve thought of that issue a long time ago.</p>
<p>busdriver what is the value of your home?</p>
<p>Wow. I had no idea property taxes are that high.</p>
<p>My tax rate is about 0.5% of my house value. We are 1.5mi outside city limits but still send kids to schools in the city, have school bus service. Within the city, I think it runs about 1% with average house price somewhere in the 200K+ range. People complain loudly about high property taxes. I’m going to go feel lucky now.</p>
<p>No sales tax (really stupid for a state that annually has 10x as many tourists as residents) and state income tax tops out at 6%. Despite that, the state is in the black and services, while not fantabulous, are not noticeably lacking.</p>
<p>Tom, I don’t want to say, kind of pricey, but unfortunately probably the same value as when we bought it for eight years ago, dang it. At least the mortgage is very low interest, but it was dumb to not have carefully considered property taxes, and not have the foresight to know that of course they’d be increasing.</p>
<p>Musicmom–that’s North Cape May (or as we call it–home.) :)</p>
<p>We just moved mostly because of taxes. 2.5% of what we sold our house for. Totally worth it if you want top of the line schools, recreation, police, snow plowing, around the back garbage pick up, etc. Not at all worth it if you don’t have kids at home anymore.
You can get away with it if you are within close commuting distance to nyc. Taxes are MUCH cheaper than private school tuition.</p>
<p>Ouch, busdriver. </p>
<p>We have been looking at differences in regions and property taxes, particularly in WA vs. OR areas, sales taxes and income taxes. What you might save in one place, you might end up paying substantially more with another tax. No income taxes in WA, no sales taxes in OR…but the thing to look at is property taxes because that could be a dealbreaker! </p>
<p>It is definitely something to consider.</p>
<p>Don’t let our taxes turn you off, Samurai, it depends on area and price. How much the town gets from business, etc. We have little revenue, lots of schools. Washington is much better than Oregon as far as income tax, they are really high. Plus, we sent all our wackos down there. Sorry, Oregon!</p>
<p>My taxes are 2.5% of house value and our schools are not nationally ranked (school tax is 2/3 of my bill). Pension obligations have caused our school tax bill to be quite high. Unfortunately, we do not have the services flyaround has. Since my children are in college there is no reason for us to remain in this area. We have started to clean out the house with the anticipation of selling within the next few years.</p>
<p>Musicmom, dont worry about diversions. I, for one, like reading about other places. That includes Cape May, a place I have never visited.</p>
<p>Property taxes in the state of Washington are pretty low if I remember correctly. No income tax. No cap gains tax. I have never heard that the state of Washington is a high tax state.</p>
<p>If taxes are an issue, if you have a decent income, Washington is a better deal than Oregon. If your income is low, And you dont own much, I guess Oregon is the better deal. </p>
<p>Somebody can correct me but I think Oregon has high property taxes, high income taxes and high cap gains taxes. Sales taxes are zero, but who buys that much stuff?</p>
<p>Does Washington have some kind of tax that makes it a high tax state?
I could live in both Washington and Oregon. Both states have beautiful areas.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.retirementliving.com/taxes-by-state[/url]”>https://www.retirementliving.com/taxes-by-state</a></p>
<p>Sales tax is almost 10 percent in WA, but no tax on food. And yeah, who buys much stuff anyways. If your income is low, it is considered a regressive tax state… if that’s the right term.</p>
<p>Do you buy a lot of stuff busdriver11?</p>
<p>I would rather pay a 10 sales tax than a 10 percent income tax. (I am just talking about myself).</p>
<p>If a person retires and her taxable income is low, She may prefer a higher income tax.</p>
<p>Home prices look like they are crushed in Sunriver Ore. I like that area. I wish I lived closer.</p>
<p>If opt for Portland area, would likely live in Washington to save on income taxes. Most people don’t buy enough in terms of sales taxes to have huge savings, there. </p>
<p>We have 9% sales taxes in Los Angeles, but as others have pointed out, prop taxes are tied to sales prices. Still, with Prop 13 as dstark says, it helps older folks stay in homes who might not otherwise be able to afford it.</p>
<p>simplystated what was your towns budget for schools and how much of that was allocated for pensions? Also of what was paid for pensions was some of that making up for years they missed making the required contribution?</p>
<p>Pension payments are usually a small part of an overall school budget. They are not the driver of property taxes.</p>
<p>Well, at least apparently our sales tax in NJ isn’t the worst. 6% and none on food or clothes.</p>
<p>Garland, so sorry, I must still have turkey on the old brain, yes, North Cape May.
Who knows? We might actually be neighbors someday!
It’s a lovely, peaceful area, at least in mid Sept. Not sure how it is peak Jersey shore season.</p>
<p>I’m impressed, you were able to find SOME way that NJ compared favorably, taxwise.
Not a small accomplishment!</p>
<p>garland our sales tax is 7%. zero on food.</p>
<p>Here is some data on NY states teachers pensions,</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.warwickvalleyschools.com/wwkEnews/DEC2012/Pensions_fs.pdf[/url]”>http://www.warwickvalleyschools.com/wwkEnews/DEC2012/Pensions_fs.pdf</a></p>
<p>Whoops…</p>
<p>nevermind (said in my best Emily Litella voice.)</p>