Fri Dec 27, 2013 at 09:29 AM PST
The wild state-to-state variation in property taxes
The map (based on 2007-11 American Community Survey data) starts you
out with a look at average property tax bills; you can see all sorts of
correlations happening at the county level, as the size of the bills
ties in with house values, which in turn ties in with household income,
education, and so on. However, switch over to "Property tax as a share
of home value," and you have a totally different map, one which shows
how heavily reliant each state is on property taxes as part of its
three-legged tax stool (or two-legged, in those freak states without
income or sales taxes ... or one-legged, in New Hampshire's case, which
doesn't have either). Not only do you see how heavily New Hampshire
relies on property taxes, but also how much Texas relies on them
compared with its southern neighbors, or how little Indiana relies on
them compared with its Midwestern brethren.
Interestingly, the deep south and Appalachian states are still low even when you switch to the percentage model rather than the one based on house values. Since many of those states also have low income taxes, you have to wonder how they manage to keep the lights on—and lo and behold, those are also many of the same red states you'll recognize from the list of states that take in more money from the federal government than they put back in. (That goes for some of the blue states too; note how New Mexico and Virginia are net federal-dollar beneficiaries, and have much lower-than-average property tax rates too.)
Interestingly, the deep south and Appalachian states are still low even when you switch to the percentage model rather than the one based on house values. Since many of those states also have low income taxes, you have to wonder how they manage to keep the lights on—and lo and behold, those are also many of the same red states you'll recognize from the list of states that take in more money from the federal government than they put back in. (That goes for some of the blue states too; note how New Mexico and Virginia are net federal-dollar beneficiaries, and have much lower-than-average property tax rates too.)
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