Is Your State a Property Tax Hell?

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If you don’t live in the Northeast, it’s likely that it could be worse. According to a Tax Foundation analysis, the 6 states with the highest property tax collections per capita are in the northeast, with those ranked eighth and tenth joining them there. The region is property tax hell. Outside New Jersey (1st), New York (4th), and the New England states (NH 2nd, CT 3rd, VT 5th, RI 6th, MA 8th and ME 10th), only Wyoming (7th) and Illinois (9th) crack the top ten. Though the non-state of Washington D.C. has the highest rates of all at $3,535 collected per citizen.

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Property taxes are an annual charge on an asset you already own. They can be hard to deal with for a retiree living on a fixed income. And they often get worse, rising over time. If you are looking to avoid the burden of heavy property taxation, the five states with the lowest collections per capita are Alabama ($548), Oklahoma ($699), Arkansas ($712), New Mexico ($768), and Kentucky ($775). Be warned though, property taxes are variable from city to city, so even in a state with low per capita collections, you could land in a municipality that charges through the roof.

Katherine Loughead of the Tax Foundation writes:

Property taxes are an important source of revenue for local and state governments. In fiscal year (FY) 2016 (the most recent year of data available), property taxes generated 31.5 percent of total U.S. state and local tax collections and 72 percent of local tax collections. Local governments rely heavily on property taxes to fund schools, roads, police departments, fire and emergency medical services, as well as other services associated with residency or property ownership.

On average, state and local governments collected $1,556 per capita in property taxes nationwide in FY 2016, but collections vary widely from state to state. The highest state and local property tax collections per capita are found in the District of Columbia ($3,535), followed by New Jersey ($3,127), New Hampshire ($3,115), Connecticut ($2,927), New York ($2,782), and Vermont ($2,593).

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.