<p>The article that is the topic of this thread is singling out parents in NYC. No one is saying people don’t go to the same efforts elsewhere. I was actually thinking about the cost of property taxes in suburban areas–they could easily run $20K a year or more for a good-sized house in a great district, even where I live (midwest). Over 20 years, that’s a lot of money.</p>
<p>How can people afford $20,000 in property taxes?
Median home cost in NYC is $466,900. About what our house is assessed at. Seattle is 43% more expensive than US average but our house taxes are $4,000 and we don’t have state income taxes.
Not a great school district either.</p>
<p>How can people afford $4 mill home? People in Short Hills NJ pay $50-75k in property taxes, and then turn around to pay $35K/child/yr for private school. Some of those people have 3-4 kids.</p>
<p>Because there are people in NYC who make a boat load of money. Megamillions a year. The cost of a private school education is chump change to these people. I have a friend who gets 60K a month in alimony! </p>
<p>When you talk about median home cost in NYC, are you talking about latest sales price, or is it the cost base for property tax? A lot of owners in my building have been here for over 30+ years. I wouldn’t be surprised if they bought their apartment for a fraction of my apartment. NYC is also a big place, with a lot of inexpensive housing at less desirable places (without good public transportation).</p>
<p>Property tax in NYC is actually quite low relative to surrounding suburbs, most maintenance go toward upkeep of building and utilities.</p>
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<p>My house in WI is assessed at $268K and I pay $6500 a year in property tax. AND we have state income tax. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>That is ridiculous.
How can they say col in Wisconsin is lower than national average?</p>
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<p>Is that a trick question? </p>
<p>They can afford it because they make a lot of money. </p>
<p>We have really high property taxes in Texas. We don’t have state income tax, so the funds must come from somewhere. For people who have a big salary, this works out better for them than an income tax. </p>
<p>A home in Dallas appraised at $434,230.00 pays $8,000. in property taxes.</p>
<p>It wasnt a trick question but I think of the midwest as being MUCH less expensive than the coasts.</p>
<p>"My house in WI is assessed at $268K and I pay $6500 a year in property tax. AND we have state income tax. It’s ridiculous. "</p>
<p>“A home in Dallas appraised at $434,230.00 pays $8,000. in property taxes.” </p>
<p>My house (in upstate NY) is assessed at $260K and I pay $9K in prop tax and we also pay state income tax. </p>
<p>EK, I think “Midwest” is big enough to encompass a lot of very affordable places and some that aren’t. My city’s COL is higher than that of Denver, Dallas or a whole lot of other places. I am guessing the Twin Cities’ and Chicago’s would be too.</p>
<p>This COL calculator breaks down expenses by category. Really eye-opening.</p>
<p><a href=“Cost of Living Calculator | PayScale”>http://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/</a></p>
<p>My house is valued at $425k, we pay $2600 in property taxes. But we pay state and city income taxes.</p>
<p>This all falls into the “don’t count other people’s money” category. The financial picture in different places, for different families is…well…different.</p>
<p>^^exactly! It’s a legitimate strategy to get your kid in a highly competitive private school at a lower grade if you want them to be in the upper school of the same school. The competition is a lot more intense for the few spots opened up for upper school. That’s the case not just in NYC. Now if you have the resource, what would you lose (other than the money, which is the available resource) by sending your kid to the nursery of HM anyway if it’s your plan to provide private school education to your kids? It’s a great school isn’t it? One should keep in mind that the crowd is small relative to the population of NYC and 40-50k may well be within the budget of many for their kids’ annual expense.</p>
<p>As for the motive, don’t you think they are sophisticated enough to know its no guarantee to an ivy? Otoh, if we are talking about the wealthy and powerful, I don’t think they really need HM to get their kids into an ivy. They will “cross the bridge when they get to it”.</p>
<p>It is not the sole strategy. One of the other ones is to attend a public school and have a formidable budget for around the clock tutors, summer camps, EC paid activities, train rides to StonyBrook Intel factory, and enough left for Kat Cohen. That or a decade of Kumon and Suzuki temples. </p>
<p>Many roads lead to Rome. </p>
<p>I am curious. Couldn’t you just pick a lower Ivy (say, Penn) and take all this money you are going to spend (about 100K a year for couple of kids) and donate it to the said school for 13-14 years (pre-K to HS). Then, instead, just send your kids to a decent public school district. The chance of your kids getting in should be pretty decent - no?</p>
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<p>@Ohiomomof2 </p>
<p>It’s not listed because Hunter College HS is run by Hunter College, not the DOE like the NYC SHS so is more independent.</p>
<p>Another major difference is entry to HCHS can only be done by applying in 6th grade for 7th grade entry. They don’t accept incoming students for 9th grade. </p>
<p>Thus, if you miss your chance to apply/fail to gain admission in 6th grade and/or weren’t one of the lucky Hunter College elementary school students who could take advantage of the reserved admission seats they had*, the door to HCHS is permanently closed to you. </p>
<p>HCHS occupies a space where it is as tuition-free as a public magnet and yet, has some traits/operational freedom from DOE control closer to that of a private school. </p>
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<li>Something which heavily privileges Manhattan residents**, especially those who have the financial resources and inside info necessary to find out and get their child to pass the Hunter College Elementary school interview/exam. Heard they did away with this practice in recent years, but was still in force in the late '80s and '90s.<br></li>
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<p>** Outer borough residents aren’t accepted for Hunter College Elementary school. Manhattan residency is required. </p>
<p>I didn’t know. Hmm.</p>
<p>Echoing what Cobrat said. No supervision by the NYC Dept. of Education, and their calendar matches up with private school calendar, not public.</p>