O.C. Tax Burden By City?

C

CTNative

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I've looked for this several times and can never seem to find a simple, concise list.

I've seen studies done at the national level that show the total tax burden on individuals in each state. It gives a rough idea which states are going to suck the most money out of your wallet for government and so you might want to consider not living there.

What I haven't found is the same type of study but done on Orange County cities that shows the total tax burden for living in each city. I think this would be very useful in determining where to buy a house. Has anyone seen such a breakdown? At the minimum, a simplified list of the property tax rates by city in O.C.

I am looking for a city where I get to keep the most of what I earn. Is there any such place left?

I know cities can have low property tax rates and just make up for it by whacking you with all sorts of "fees" and hidden taxes, but at least a property tax list would be a start.
 
arent property tax rates set by the county and not cities? i think the baseline county rate is 1%. When irvine new homes advertise 1.8% property tax rates it is misleading as the mello roos is not a tax and thererfore  tax deductible. With other miscellaneous fees, the typical Orange county tax rate seems to be 1.05%.
 
CTNative said:
I've looked for this several times and can never seem to find a simple, concise list.

I've seen studies done at the national level that show the total tax burden on individuals in each state. It gives a rough idea which states are going to suck the most money out of your wallet for government and so you might want to consider not living there.

What I haven't found is the same type of study but done on Orange County cities that shows the total tax burden for living in each city. I think this would be very useful in determining where to buy a house. Has anyone seen such a breakdown? At the minimum, a simplified list of the property tax rates by city in O.C.

I am looking for a city where I get to keep the most of what I earn. Is there any such place left?

I know cities can have low property tax rates and just make up for it by whacking you with all sorts of "fees" and hidden taxes, but at least a property tax list would be a start.
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Yorba Linda and Laguna Niguel have the lowest property taxes that I've seen (no Mello Roos or other type of bonds).  Some cities in the sewer fee in the property tax bill while others bill it on the water bill. 
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
CTNative said:
I've looked for this several times and can never seem to find a simple, concise list.

I've seen studies done at the national level that show the total tax burden on individuals in each state. It gives a rough idea which states are going to suck the most money out of your wallet for government and so you might want to consider not living there.

What I haven't found is the same type of study but done on Orange County cities that shows the total tax burden for living in each city. I think this would be very useful in determining where to buy a house. Has anyone seen such a breakdown? At the minimum, a simplified list of the property tax rates by city in O.C.

I am looking for a city where I get to keep the most of what I earn. Is there any such place left?

I know cities can have low property tax rates and just make up for it by whacking you with all sorts of "fees" and hidden taxes, but at least a property tax list would be a start.
Click to expand...
Yorba Linda and Laguna Niguel have the lowest property taxes that I've seen (no Mello Roos or other type of bonds).  Some cities in the sewer fee in the property tax bill while others bill it on the water bill. 
Click to expand...

It is amazing how much Mello Roos ups your yearly tax burden.  The house I was looking at in Aliso Viejo was $90K less than the house I bought in Laguna Niguel but the taxes (with Mello Roos) for the house in Aliso would be $2,000 more than my current (more expensive) home in Laguna.

When I lived in Irvine, my Mello Roos was only $600 a year so that was not too bad.  The newer construction with $6,000 Mello Roos  for 40-50 estimated years is crazy.  That comes out to over a $250,000 over the life of the Mello Roos for each home.  I remember asking one of the workers at the new home sales office how long the Mello Roos is and he said "50 or more years, so it will be longer than anyone buying now would own the home".  Wow!
 
Mish did a good post on what he calls the "perpetual liability" - aka the property tax.

Imagine the perpetual loan, a loan that no matter what you do, you can never pay off. To help conceptualize the idea, think of it as a perpetual interest-only loan in which you are forbidden to completely pay off principal.

As preposterous as that deal may sound, it is highly likely you are in one.

If you own a house, you are in exactly that deal, except it conveniently not called interest. Instead it's called a property tax.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-14T11%3A30%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=3
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Well... whether you rent or own, if you earn money... you have perpetual liability... it's called "income tax".
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I definitely agree with that. The game is rigged. All you can do is limit how many perpetual liabilities one is willing to pay...and not having a house is too high a price to pay to not play the game.

I really miss that concept. It was such a great one. Buy a house, and some land...and OWN it. If you can feed yourself and pull water out of the ground, you don't need for nothin'. The good 'ol days.
 
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