Originally Posted by gollum

something is seriously f’ed up if the property taxes are so high that you have to put a lien on your house to pay them.

Originally Posted by nene

I understand the allure, but it does seem a bit inequitable. I used to have a house in a nice hood in San Diego...my property tax bill was $8500, my neighbor across the street who purchased 3yrs later, paid $11K annually, and my neighbor next door who bought the house 13yrs prior was locked in at $4K. All our houses were within 5% in current value at exactly the same size. We all used the same schools, fire department, police department, library, etc.
Now my neighbors that had been there for 15yrs didn't "use" the schools currently, but they had their kids graduate and were planning on seding their grandkids to the neighborhood school as it had a good reputation.

I understand the idea where the people were sick of the voters/inflation pricing them out of their homes due rising property taxes and the pressure it can put on a retiree's budget.

Oregon has high property taxes and allows seniors on a fixed income to just allow the state to lien the property for when they go up, so when the retiree dies/moves and sells the house the state gets the money in the end, just another way to tackle the problem.

Originally Posted by gollum

something is seriously f’ed up if the property taxes are so high that you have to put a lien on your house to pay them.

Originally Posted by tanker

Back in the Colonial days, and even the Middle Ages, property taxes were based on what revenue the property produced. Now it is based on what some government bureaucrat thinks that the property can be sold for. That means you can end up paying taxes on property that you can't even afford to buy and may not have the income to pay the taxes on. That is especially true for retirees. In a perfect world there would no longer be taxes based on a perceived resale value of land but only taxes on a persons CONSUMPTION.

Originally Posted by fcoolaiddrinker

Your neighbor with the 4k property tax more than likely has already paid over 100k in tax to the state of California before you started your 4500 difference. With that in mind it’s going to take you over 20 years to catch them (assuming you both make the same money). I’m not saying it’s right or wrong it’s just reality and that’s the thinking in the law.

Originally Posted by fcoolaiddrinker

exactly. The reason for that is when we start mixing retirement and work it starts to get tricky. Payroll tax is done but depending on where your drawing in retirement it effects the taxable income.

Originally Posted by fcoolaiddrinker

I’m sure that’s for people with zero savings a mortgage and small ss checks that might run into a 400k medical bill. It’s more common than you might think.

Originally Posted by Margaritaville

Nobody who is actually from California calls it Cali.

Originally Posted by OOfff

by this logic, I should get a break on my property taxes because I pay more income tax than my neighbor who makes less than me.