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Completely agree. Add to this the tiny (wealthy) municipalities built into existing communities that create favorable tax scenarios for themselves while living

Completely agree. Add to this the tiny (wealthy) municipalities built into existing communities that create favorable tax scenarios for themselves while living close to and using public infrastructure that they effectively aren't paying for. The Westlake and Rollingwood municipalities in the Austin area come to mind. 2019 taxes paid on a $1M home in Rollingwood: $2,053 [0] 2019 taxes paid on a $1M home in Austin: $20-30k 0: https://www.statesman.com/news/local/rollingwood-taxes-set-increase-for-upcoming-year/YSjuSTmdIrg3NaH6wHD4SN/ https://www.statesman.com/news/local/rollingwood-taxes-set-i...

vinay427 7y ago
Aren't there county property taxes in addition to city taxes that should create a more balanced situation? If I recall correctly, the places I've lived in (where those weren't the same entity) had both.
- save_ferris 7y ago
  County funds don’t pay for city infrastructure. They’re two separate entities with different financial responsibilities. They don’t just share tax revenue with each other.
  - vinay427 7y ago
    I realize that, but there's no universal definition of "city infrastructure." It really doesn't mean anything consistent. Many municipal projects that are accessible to non-residents of a city (e.g. roads but not typically schools) are partially funded by counties, states, and the federal government.
hexis 7y ago
When I put your values into this calculator (https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/properties/property-tax-basics https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/properties/property-ta...), I found that the house in Rollingwood would have about 2K in City of Rollingwood taxes (just as you said), but the house in Austin would only have about 4K in City of Austin taxes, not 20-30K. All other property taxes were the same between the two properties. The overall property tax burden in Austin (adding county, school, etc taxes) for a million dollar house would be 20,298, while in Rollingwood (with the same additional tax categories), it would be 18,388. Certainly the taxes in Rollingwood are lower, but with hardly as big of a gap as you wrote. How did you get your numbers?

vinay427 7y ago

Aren't there county property taxes in addition to city taxes that should create a more balanced situation? If I recall correctly, the places I've lived in (where those weren't the same entity) had both.

save_ferris 7y ago
County funds don’t pay for city infrastructure. They’re two separate entities with different financial responsibilities. They don’t just share tax revenue with each other.
- vinay427 7y ago
  I realize that, but there's no universal definition of "city infrastructure." It really doesn't mean anything consistent. Many municipal projects that are accessible to non-residents of a city (e.g. roads but not typically schools) are partially funded by counties, states, and the federal government.

hexis 7y ago

When I put your values into this calculator (https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/properties/property-tax-basics https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/properties/property-ta...), I found that the house in Rollingwood would have about 2K in City of Rollingwood taxes (just as you said), but the house in Austin would only have about 4K in City of Austin taxes, not 20-30K. All other property taxes were the same between the two properties. The overall property tax burden in Austin (adding county, school, etc taxes) for a million dollar house would be 20,298, while in Rollingwood (with the same additional tax categories), it would be 18,388. Certainly the taxes in Rollingwood are lower, but with hardly as big of a gap as you wrote. How did you get your numbers?