A national look at costs by county.
No one looks forward to the day their annual property tax bill arrives. But those in affluent Westchester County, a suburban swath of New York that includes areas like Rye and Armonk, most likely dread it more than most. That's because homeowners fork over a median $8,404 per year to live there. That's seven times more than the $1,180 national average, and on a dollar basis, the highest in the nation.
Across the country, Marin County, Calif., holds a similar distinction. While not as lofty as Westchester's, the region's $5,233 median annual property taxes are the highest in the West. Residents of Loudon County, Va., a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C., pay most in the South, or $4,844 annually. And in the Midwest, those in Lake County, Ill., lay out $6,050 a year to own a home.
Behind the Numbers
email
print
reprint
newsletter
del.icio.us
Digg It!
yahoo
Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
rssIn ranking each county, we used the 2008 U.S. Census' American Community Survey, which is conducted every year with a smaller sample of Americans than the decennial census (one home in every 40 receives the ACS, as opposed to the one in six that receives the 10-year census). The survey asked property owners how much they spent per month in property taxes. Researchers then used the median number per county over three years: 2006 through 2008. We separated the data into the four Census-defined regions: West, Midwest, Northeast and South, and ranked counties by their percentage above the national average property tax. (Click here for a full list.)
Photos: Priciest Property Tax Counties By Region
Video: America's Highest Property Taxes
Three of country's top five highest-taxed counties--Westchester, Nassau and Rockland--are in New York state. Homes in these areas are pricey--in Westchester the median home value is $581,900, three times the national average, according to Census numbers--which naturally helps drive up those bills. But there is another factor at play here: Counties in the Census-defined Northeast region tend to be carved into an array of towns, villages and municipalities that don't derive their property taxes from state-wide levies This results in a greater dependence on property taxes for local revenue. Because the region also has highly concentrated pockets of wealth, it takes 19 out of the top 20 spots for highest-taxed counties.
"The more emphasis you put on local autonomy, the more you're going to have local taxes picking up some of what, in other areas of the country, would tend to be state-level responsibilities," says Joan Youngman, senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a Cambridge, Mass.-based think tank that researches land taxation issues. "When there's an emphasis on local government, it often means there's an emphasis on property tax."
But even in spite of big-government measures meant to ease one's property tax burden, hefty bills can result if home values are high. Proposition 13, a piece of tax legislation introduced in 1978 that strictly limits property tax burdens, calls for Californians to pay only 1% of their home values in real estate tax.
Complete Coverage: Real Estate
What Wall Street Bonuses Mean For U.S. Housing
The return of exorbitant banker payouts might help stimulate the economy--but the proof won't be found in the real estate market.
Cities Where Homes Are Losing Most Value
A region-by-region look at the metros with the highest peak-to-present price drops.
America's Most Expensive Zip Codes
Prices slide, even in the glitziest neighborhoods.
Forbes Luxury Housing Index
Each week, we track sale prices in the 500 most expensive neighborhoods by ZIP code.
In Marin County, a mountainous Bay Area suburb packed with sleek, expensive homes, the median household income is $88,101, and homes are valued at a median $912,100, with a median annual property tax of $5,233, more than four times the national average. It's the same story in Santa Clara County, Calif., where taxes are $4,437, and San Mateo County, Calif., where the annual bill is $4,208. What Wall Street Bonuses Mean For U.S. Housing
The return of exorbitant banker payouts might help stimulate the economy--but the proof won't be found in the real estate market.
Cities Where Homes Are Losing Most Value
A region-by-region look at the metros with the highest peak-to-present price drops.
America's Most Expensive Zip Codes
Prices slide, even in the glitziest neighborhoods.
Forbes Luxury Housing Index
Each week, we track sale prices in the 500 most expensive neighborhoods by ZIP code.
"Even in a situation where we're dealing with the classic original, trendsetting tax limitation measure, when you have property values as high as you do in Marin, you're going to have high property taxes," says Youngman.
Dugg on Forbes.com
Clayton Christensen: How Pursuit of Profits Kills Innovation and the U.S. Economy - ForbesNBA Reaches Deal That Will Make Team Owners Much Wealthier - Forbes
New Documentary Says Gulf Oil Spill Crisis Isn't Over - Forbes
The Tea Party Never Got Pepper Sprayed - Forbes
How To Figure Out If Your Computer Helped Out A $14-Million Criminal Enterprise
'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' Multi-Player Review (PC) - Forbes
South Korean Prison To Feature Robot Guards
Why Rich Kids Are Cheating On Their College Entrance Exams
Perry's Flat Tax: Some Missing Homework, But A Solid B+ - Forbes
Why Most Women Will Never Become CEO - Forbes
The Charity of Steve Jobs - Forbes
Can Liberals and Libertarians Find Common Ground? - Forbes
Alleged WikiLeaks Source Bradley Manning Has A Court Date: 569 Days After His Arrest
The Death Of Global Warming Skepticism Or The Birth Of Straw Men?
A New Metric For Measuring The Competitive Cost Of Solar - Forbes
High property taxes, in addition to providing extra local services, often compensate for low sales or income taxes, which, says Youngman, works fine during boom times but disproportionately affects struggling homeowners in recessions. But swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction isn't necessarily the answer, either. An even balance of revenue sources can avoid unduly burdening one segment of the population.
"A mixed-revenue system avoids putting the pressure on one single tax," she says, adding that no solution is likely to appease the whole populace. "No tax is popular. Any place you look, people are going to be upset about certain aspects of it."
No comments:
Post a Comment