Personal Property Taxes - A small vent

  I own a pretty small (in $$) older motorhome and live in the state of Missouri.  My county happens to be one of the fastest growing in the state - read lots of young people, new schools, demands for county services.  Two things that surprised me when me moved here was that the sales tax applies to the full price of a vehicle and in my county that is nearly 9 percent.  Also the personal property tax is a real killer in that it is due the same month that Santa Claus arrives and seems also to be ridiculous in size.  The 15 year old motorhome valued at $25K is about $400 per year plus the two cars (2012 and 2013) add a few hundred more to the Christmas Greetings from the county.  Like many other places, most of the taxes go to the schools.  I realize that us old folks still have to pay for schools because old folks paid for our kids to go to schools but the per capita expense nowadays seems to be a lot higher.  Just saw a news article today where 20,000 laptops will be given to Springfield, Mo students this year - the key word is 'given' meaning free.
    Okay, that about finishes my vent.  Were we a few years younger we would move back to a more tax friendly environment - South Dakota was our first choice since we lived in North and South Dakota for over 35 years.  Anybody else want to share my vent, I will be happy to commiserate............lol

Bill

Here in PA we don't have the property taxes on vehicles, but all real estate is rented from the school teachers union.

I pay over 400 per year for registration (it is a property tax) on my motor home and a bit more on my car. Beats the $$$$ out of the 3 to 4 GRAND I paid every year on my house.. Due on my birthday of course (Registration)

Good heavens! And folks think NY taxes are high... No personal property tax, our motorhome registration costs $70/year, the maximum weight based fee, and vehicle purchase sales tax is charged on the actual selling price less any trade-ins. Our small cottage on two acres in upstate NY costs us about $1500/year for property and school taxes combined. I think we'll keep our domicile there a while longer...

I am very happy to pay my taxes. It provides me with a lot more than my schooling, it provides me with roads, police, the military, libraries and a lot more. Plus I get to live in the greatest country I have ever seen. ;D

SeilerBird said:

I am very happy to pay my taxes. It provides me with a lot more than my schooling, it provides me with roads, police, the military, libraries and a lot more. Plus I get to live in the greatest country I have ever seen. ;D

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) ) )

You beat me to it. The same people that complain about paying taxes are usually the first ones to complain about bad roads, lack of law enforcement, lack of fire protection, etc.

since my travel trailer hit 20 years old  it has zeroed out    and I pay 5$    the minum personal property tax

Oldgator73 said:

) ) )

You beat me to it. The same people that complain about paying taxes are usually the first ones to complain about bad roads, lack of law enforcement, lack of fire protection, etc.

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) ) )

I am shocked I have to pay $50 a year on my 23 year old motorhome.

Of course the little old lady trying to hang on to her home doesn't count.  I have my things and she can sleep under a bridge.  It's amazing how we forget about how the extreme taxes affects others of lesser means. 

lynnmor said:

Of course the little old lady trying to hang on to her home doesn't count.  I have my things and she can sleep under a bridge.  It's amazing how we forget about how the extreme taxes affects others of lesser means. 

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I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying little old ladies should not have to pay taxes? You are taxed on what you own. If you own more than you can afford you should downsize. My Mother lived on SS. She got about $1500 a month. She owned her home and car. She managed to pay her taxes until her death at age 92. We have to pay taxes for obvious reasons.

I am really glad our government has not caught on to property taxes on vehicles. Yet being the operative word. I pay provincial and federal sales tax at the time of registration, other than insurance which is exorbitant due to the government run scam I am home free. Well except for fuel but that is a rant for another day.

Oldgator73 said:

I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying little old ladies should not have to pay taxes? You are taxed on what you own. If you own more than you can afford you should downsize.

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Yes, I guess you are right, she should downsize (give up her home) so others can live the good life.  Do you really think that people had any idea that they would need to give up a very large percentage of their meager retirement income just to stay in the home they built fifty years ago?  Do you think that they should have foreseen the 2000 and 2008 crashes and the housing bubble?  Do you think it is right that government pensions are propped up by the folks that took a big hit?  Maybe we could try walking in the little old lady's slippers and get a more sensible point of view.

I live in MO. Probably in same the same county as Bill N. lived there more than 55 years.DW & I worked hard to retire with no debt. We have a home and toys that we dearly love. We thought we owned them.  Yet We have to set aside a little more than $600 a month to pay pp and re taxes. Sure we could leave the home we worked for years for and get rid of our toys, but that's not what we worked for so we'll just continue.to pay the ever increasing tax bills. End of rant.

I have a real rant !
Our county which is a small county in the mountains of NC has three EMT vehicles. Last year the county commissioners decided that since the three were constantly on the go we should have a fourth, and the extra EMT's to go with it so they put it to the voters to vote for an adder to the county sales tax to pay for it.
Since we are all trying to keep taxes down, the proposal was overwhelmingly voted down.
Now this year the county commissioners have raised our property taxes and the soul reason is to pay for the above.
Two of the commissioners admitted that they were against the purchase, but voted in favor of it so they wouldn't be in a minority.
The damage is done, but needless to say I'll not be voting for any of them when they next come up for election, but unfortunately the majority of the voters will forget all about who voted for it.

Jack L

SeilerBird said:

I am very happy to pay my taxes. It provides me with a lot more than my schooling, it provides me with roads, police, the military, libraries and a lot more. Plus I get to live in the greatest country I have ever seen. ;D

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Good. Then you wouldn't mind paying mine too..

I don't mind paying property taxes.  I understand the need.  But when my little half acre piece of land with nothing on it but scrub, a lot of dead trees, a few live ones, and a mandatory city drainage ditch along the side of it goes from a valuation of $4500 to $45000 overnight, something is wrong.  I tried to protest it, but it got screwed up during the process, and now the deadline has passed.  Convenient for the county.  Sucks to be me.  I can't wait to get that tax bill.

BruceinFL said:

Good. Then you wouldn't mind paying mine too..

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No, I don't mind paying my fair share, but I am retired and living on a fixed income and I am not rich.

lynnmor said:

Yes, I guess you are right, she should downsize (give up her home) so others can live the good life.  Do you really think that people had any idea that they would need to give up a very large percentage of their meager retirement income just to stay in the home they built fifty years ago?  Do you think that they should have foreseen the 2000 and 2008 crashes and the housing bubble?  Do you think it is right that government pensions are propped up by the folks that took a big hit?  Maybe we could try walking in the little old lady's slippers and get a more sensible point of view.

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How do you propose tax rates should be applied. Based on income? Seems a lot of folks on this forum wouldn't be too happy with that. Based on age? Maybe if I lose my job I should not have to pay taxes. Maybe if I'm just not good with money and don't have any I shouldn't have to pay taxes. You attack those of us that have "government pensions". I don't know if you were in the military or not but I can tell you from 24 years experience, we didn't get rich. And my military retirement isn't making me rich either-neither is my $650 Federal Civil Service retirement. Maybe you would like to take away my disability due to injuries received while on active duty or my son's combat service related disability due to his deployment to Iraq. So all you people out there whining about paying taxes-think about what it would be like without the services you receive because you do pay taxes. I would even be willing to pay more taxes if we could have free health care. Send me the little old ladies name and address and I'll send her something to help with her taxes-I'm not being facetious either. You can message me if you want.

I'm still trying to figure out when it became the duty of the gvt to supplement incomes, provide cell phones, pay people's rent, buy them food etc. Rant just starting, but I'll quit now.