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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (283009)	4/7/2006 12:50:34 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1572905

Do you have some more information or links to information about the various rates? No. However, I do know that no other state has approved a prop. 13 like tax system besides Mass and CA. What I don't understand is how your county's rate is so low. After doing some research, I see where part of the problem is. Virginia has a significant personal property tax. Taxes on a 30K car in Fairfax Country would run around $1400. When I left California, plate taxes on a $30k would have cost roughly $300-400. fairfaxcounty.gov Having said that, Californians have an income tax whereas Virginia doesn't. However, I now remember where Prop. 13 makes a big difference...........its in the future assessments of the property. In CA, under Prop. 13, the assessment on a house can be raised only by 2% per year whereas in VA, assessments can be raised based on current market value. So then, if you bought a house for $200k in Fairfax County in 2000, two years later the house could be re-assessed to $320k in a real hot housing market. Five years out, the same house could be re-assessed again to $500k. Meanwhile in CA the same house bought for $200k in 2000 can only be reassessed 2% each year no matter how vibrant the housing market. That means two years after the house was bought, the assessment would be only $208k, and in year 5, $220k. "The "Current Market Value" property tax system in place in California prior to 1978 was causing annual property value increases to soar into the 50% to 100% range. It is precisely what incited the California Taxpayer Revolt of 1978 that resulted in the now famous Proposition 13. The resulting "Acquisition-Value Based" system imposed an annual limit of 2% increase in a property's value assessment until the property sold, after which the property's sale price became the new value basis which was then subject to the 2% annual limit on property value assessment increases. It also placed a statewide 1% cap on property tax rates with a requirement for a California legislative "super-majority" to increase the cap." votors.org So in 5 years time, the VA resident would have paid roughly $12k in taxes whereas the CA resident has paid roughly only $10k; in ten years, assuming VA's assessed valuation remained the same, the VA resident will have paid $34k whereas the CA resident will have paid $21k. That $14k shortfall doesn't look big on this level but when you multiply it against what are probably 10 million residences in CA.....the shortfall can be huge. Unfortunately, for VA, a Prop. 13-like measure is under consideration. You, of course, will be very happy.