Highest property taxes in the country

The home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, who reside in Westchester County, which has the highest property taxes in the country.By Les Christie, staff writerSeptember 30, 2010: 10:51 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Suspicions confirmed: Homeowners in the Northeast pay the highest property taxes in the nation.

New Jersey residents pay the highest annual tax bill of any state - a median $6,579 per year, according to the Tax Foundation, which calculated the tally using data the U.S. Census Bureau released on Tuesday.

Connecticut comes in second place ($4,738), followed by New Hampshire ($4,636) and New York ($3,755).

Of course, the reason for high taxes vary. You don't want to feel too bad for New Hampshire, for example. They don't pay income or sales tax.

"It comes down to two things," said Gerald Prante, senior economist with the Tax Foundation. "The demands for services placed on governments and the reliance on property taxes as opposed to other sources of revenue."

Some local governments simply offer more services to taxpayers, spending more on schools, for example. Citizens demand services and must pay for them.

The lowest-taxed homeowners live mostly south of the Mason-Dixon Line, with Louisianans the lowest taxed of all. The median there is a microscopic $243. Other low-tax states are Alabama ($398), West Virginia ($464), and Mississippi ($508).

Louisiana is able to keep taxes low because it has access to lucrative oil and gas revenue. Instead of taxing residents, it taxes oil extractors. Of course, that raises prices for gasoline, effectively taxing drivers across the country.

"Louisiana exports a large portion of its taxes," said Prante.

Taxes don't reflect home value losses

Property taxes have remained high across much of the country despite plunging home prices.

"A lot of places are trailing the market, not lowering taxes to reflect the lower home values," said Bruce Hahn, president of the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance. "There's a lot of pressure on tax assessors to keep assessments up because state and local governments depend so heavily on property tax revenues."

In the Northeast., many homeowners pay more than 10% of their incomes toward property taxes alone. In Passaic County, N.J., the median homeowner devotes 9.68% of income -- $7,939 -- to property taxes.

Westchester County, N.Y., has the highest property taxes of all 792 high-population counties (65,000 and up) in the United States. The median of $9,044 is more than four times the national median, although Westchester ranks only seventh nationally for taxes as a percentage of income at 8.24%.

Other heavily taxed county residents are in Nassau ($8,940) and Rockland ($8,542), both in suburban New York, and Bergen ($8,708); Hunterdon ($8,671) and Essex Counties in New Jersey ($8,245), also N.Y. suburbs.

On the other end of the county spectrum are Apache County, Ariz. ($135), plus St. Landry ($138), Lafourche ($150) and Rapides Parishes ($157) all of which are in Louisiana. 

#cnnfb_connect {background-color:#f5f5f5;width:auto;height:auto;padding:10px;clear:both;} First Published: September 30, 2010: 4:19 AM ET Right Now

William Weldon takes responsibility for J&J's recall woes and admits the company clearly hid a Motrin recall effort from regulators and customers.  Postal regulators refuse request to raise the price of a first-class stamp by 2 cents. From Jaguar to Porsche, automakers roll out their newest cars and concepts at Europe's biggest car show. 

•  

Overnight Avg Rate	Latest	Change	Last Week
30 yr fixed	4.43%		4.31%
15 yr fixed	3.83%		3.79%
5/1 ARM	3.39%		3.31%
30 yr refi	4.30%		4.32%
15 yr refi	3.78%		3.80%

Find the best auto, life, home, health rates
Enter Zip code:
Select a product: AutoHomeLifeLong-Term CareHealth
Insurance news and resources from BankRate

Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com View rates in your area
 Find personalized rates:Card typeCredit typeCard issuer

Today's featured rates:

*Rates subject to changeScott Cook, co-founder of the financial software company, recounts how the company ran out of money before hitting it big. Jason Rosenthal, CEO of Ning, explains why he thinks his company is a better option than Facebook for businesses. Steven Rattner says that before the bailout, General Motors suffered from disorganized accounting and 'shocking' management. 

Markets	Last	Change	% Change
	10,788.36	-46.92	-0.43%
	2,368.26	-8.30	-0.35%
	1,141.02	-3.71	-0.32%
	2.52	0.01	0.44%
	1.36	0.00	0.06%

Data as of 4:00pm ET

Company	Price	Change	% Change
	3.92	0.00	0.13%
	13.11	0.00	0.02%
	19.23	-0.01	-0.05%
	24.56	0.05	0.22%
	21.98	0.11	0.50%

Data as of 3:45pm ETSponsored by var randomnumberA=Math.floor(Math.random()*2); // fortune content if (location.pathname.match('fortune')) document.write(''); else // moneymag homepage if (location.pathname.match('moneymag')) document.write(''); else // cnnmoney content if (randomnumberA==0) document.write(''); else if (randomnumberA==1) document.write('');
Sections

Congress may be grilling Johnson & Johnson over its phantom recall. But Wall Street could care less about the company's bad PR.

Postal regulators refuse request to raise the price of a first-class stamp by 2 cents.

With abysmal stock prices, disgruntled shareholders, fleeing top-level executives, Yahoo's embattled CEO has nowhere to go but out the door.

A lot of voters are impatient with the current administration for not fixing the economy faster. Small business owners are stepping up to the plate and running for House and Senate seats.

There are plenty of obstacles along the route to retirement. The strategic moves on the next few pages can help you overcome the biggest challenges you might face.

Please create a screen name to access this feature.

Screen name (Select one with 3-12 characters; Numbers and letters only)

Forgot password

Enter your e-mail address below and we will send you an e-mail with a link and code to reset your password.

E-mail

Password selection

E-mail

Reset code

New password

Log in & let's get started!

E-mail

Password

Remember me for two weeks

Not a member yet?

Sign up or

Screen name

Select one with 3-12 characters;
Numbers and letters only

E-mail

Make sure you typed it correctly.
You will receive an e-mail to validate your account

Password

Make it 6-10 characters, no spaces

Type what you see in the grey box

If you can't read this,
Yes, I would like to receive occasional CNNMoney member updates about new features and special offers.

CNNMoney will use the information you submit in a manner consistent with our . By clicking on "sign up" you agree with and and consent to the collection, storage and use of this information in the U.S. subject to U.S. laws and regulations. ()

For our international users, please be aware that the information you submit when registering for our services is collected in the United States of America. In addition to being subject to our Privacy Policy, the collection, storage, and use of your data will be subject to U.S. laws and regulations, which may be different from the laws and regulations of your home country. By registering for this service, you are consenting to this collection, storage, and use.

We're Sorry!

This service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again soon.

Thanks!

Please check your e-mail and click the link to confirm your membership. Then, you'll be ready to participate in all activities and conversations on our site.

  Add comment

Name:
E-Mail:
Comment:
Enter code: