<p>Yes, H’s former coworkers call him periodically to meet for lunch so they can pick his brain because he has more institutional memory than most of them put together. He goes to be helpful and they really appreciate it. </p>
<p>Win - Win 
</p>
<p>We talk about stories like the time maintenance hoisted an old glass telephone booth up on the roof of the main building as a ‘tornado’ lookout! Truly! This was in the 1980’s and in N AL we have had some pretty severe ones. A local weather guy actually developed a company that is very advanced with detecting the weather cell activity. Telephone booth eventually was taken down.</p>
<p>anxiousmom, those property taxes of yours are pretty high. We have a similar house/lot/home value in a very high COLA area and pay $4600 in property taxes. We have 8% state income tax, though. It probably evens out.</p>
<p>I think we pay about $6000-$6500 in property taxes. Eventually, we may decide to sell the house because we do not want to keep paying so much in property taxes. We do not need to live in a “better” school district anymore and our house is too large for an empty nest.</p>
<p>I believe we pay somewhere about $1,000/year in property taxes. Our state income taxes are about 11% for the maximum rate plus 4.7% excise taxes on all purchases. Fortunately, we do not have state income taxes on pension, which is a major source of our income.</p>
<p>For us, selling & moving to reduce property taxes doesn’t make sense, because then we’d have to rent (and indirectly pay property taxes included in the price of the monthly rental) or buy something else and pay property taxes on that.</p>
<p>Our RE taxes are just short of 10k per year.
VERY average size home on less than 1/3 acre.
Great services and schools, which both our kids attended. DD needed out of district special needs placement, which district paid for 100% for 9 years. </p>
<p>We’d like to stay put in retirement…have to kill the remaining small mortgage and then look at the numbers.
We will have retire health covrrage, so hope that can help me retire at 62 with 40 yrs.</p>
<p>Our property tax is much higher. It makes me wonder if I should sell the house sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Most lots are pretty small in CO. (The towns tend to have small yards, with lots of Open Space for the public. We’ve learned to like that). We 2400 sq ft house on about 1/5 acre. But that is good for less yardwork. And reading this thread reminds me that the $2500 RE tax is pretty reasonable. </p>
<p>I’m also in Colorado, but our property taxes are north of $7800/year, on about the same acreage as colorado_mom’s. The three really good things about our location make it hard to consider alternatives: great door-to-door transportation in the event we can’t drive, a very walkable neighborhood near to the library, a small grocery store, and many restaurants, and lots of outdoor access. Still, the property tax bill is an ouch. (And likely to be more of an ouch if the largest school bond in the state’s history passes tomorrow, along with a bunch of other taxes.)</p>
<p>Well, you guys should feel lucky. My property tax is probably twice yours or more and my mother’s in NJ is 3.5 times yours. [I’ve been trying to get her to sell her house for a decade]. </p>
<p>@shawbridge, property taxes (and income) are often regional. I’m in NJ also, and the property taxes are jaw-droppingly high, but it’s close to NYC, so my wife can commute to a high-paying job. By the time she’s done with working in NYC, we could possibly still afford the property tax, but it wouldn’t make much sense. </p>
<p>Depending on your retirement income you might qualify for the Senior Freeze. In that program NJ freezes your property tax at a base year and they pay the difference as it rises. There are seniors in Bergen County that are locked in at very low taxes with the State paying close to $20k to their town.</p>
<p>Here is the link</p>
<p><a href=“NJ Division of Taxation - NJ Division of Taxation - Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement)”>http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/ptr/</a></p>
<p>@tom1944, thanks for the link, but the good and bad news for us will be that between pensions and SS, we will pass the income limits (which seem to have gone down, recently).</p>
<p>I think the freeze should also be pegged to the amount of property tax. Our taxes (on a very nice home, but not a mansion) are more than half of the income limit for a freeze. When the time comes, I think we will move (prime candidate is Bucks County PA). </p>
<p>Yes Bob the program was recently cut back. </p>
<p>I would like to see NJ have a program where property tax could not fund schools. We would have to raise the income or sales tax which will not happen. I would like to see money sent to schools on a per student basis with every school receiving x amount per student. Both the rich and poor towns would be against that funding idea though.</p>
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<p>That’s how it works here in Ontario where I live. Good public education everywhere is the result. It’s unfortunate that it is unlikely to ever happen in the U.S.</p>
<p>One thing about these threads is things pop up. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I learned this directly or indirectly from a thread, but Calif does not tax SS. </p>
<p>Another thing is you read about places you never heard of like Bucks County.</p>
<p>NJ does not tax SS or the first $20,000 of a pension for married couples. Depending if you have earned income in the tax year you may also be able to exclude up to $20k of other retirement income if you do not have a pension…</p>
<p>Bucks County is very familiar to me, as my father had his practice there. I worked in a stable there, went to day camp there, etc. Its a beautiful area. Lots of relatives and friends have moved there after college.</p>
<p>I almost moved to Bucks County 19 years ago. We purchaed in central New Jersey instead. No regrets. I love where I am. Well actually I wish I never left northern New Jersey. I miss the ability to pop over my parents for a cup of coffee.</p>