October 16, 2015
By Alan Cole
Property taxes vary substantially around the United States, both among states and even within states. Property taxes are levied at the state and local level, but they are also typically deductible on federal returns as an itemized deduction on Schedule A for taxpayers who elect to itemize their deductions.
As a result, the IRS has substantial data on property taxes around the country. The map below shows the average property tax deduction taken on the Schedule A, per tax return, for each county in the United States.
While this is not exactly equivalent to the average property tax collections at the state level (which are higher because some taxpayers don’t itemize) the map shows a pretty good, broad, apples-to-apples comparison of property taxes across the country.
Looking at the map, some obvious things stand out. For example, the border between Pennsylvania and New York stands out; this should come as no surprise to readers of ourState Business Tax Climate Index, which puts New York fourth overall in property tax collections per capita. The most heavily-shaded state is New Jersey, which has the highest property tax collections per capita. And lastly, even within states, property taxes can vary a great deal from county to county. For example, they vary a great deal within Illinois, as we pointed out in our latest study of taxes in the state.
While this is not exactly equivalent to the average property tax collections at the state level (which are higher because some taxpayers don’t itemize) the map shows a pretty good, broad, apples-to-apples comparison of property taxes across the country.
Looking at the map, some obvious things stand out. For example, the border between Pennsylvania and New York stands out; this should come as no surprise to readers of ourState Business Tax Climate Index, which puts New York fourth overall in property tax collections per capita. The most heavily-shaded state is New Jersey, which has the highest property tax collections per capita. And lastly, even within states, property taxes can vary a great deal from county to county. For example, they vary a great deal within Illinois, as we pointed out in our latest study of taxes in the state.
Our unions and politicians should be so proud. The most heavily-shaded state is New Jersey, and the most heavily shaded part of NJ is Bergen County, with the highest property tax collections per capita. Yet, we also have the highest state indebtedness per capita, including $200 billion in unfunded liabilities (pension enhancements, healthcare, accumulated leave) promised away by our elected officials to their union buddies, plus another $17 billion in Transportation Trust Fund debt to pay for the most expensive state roads in the country at $2.1 million a mile. To recap: we have the highest state income & local property taxes in the country, but we also have the worst finances of any state in the country. And what’s the solution proposed by union pals Sweeney, Prieto and Sarlo in Trenton? Let’s raise taxes !!! That will solve the issue, it won’t just keep feeding the vampire squid sucking the lifeblood out of the state. Meanwhile the +$100K pensionistas on this blog happily play golf as their exclusive club membership swells, and heap abuse on any taxpayer that would demand their benefits be diminished.
You are a very angry person 7:41
Interesting 7:41 AM, You forget to mention Bergen County & Ridgewood have near the highest household annual income in the United States along with the most expensive property values in the country, why are you NOT complaining about that?
8:27am, does that include average police & fire wages in Ridgewood which are above the median household income of Ridgewood families? You know, public safety pay is, on average, more than the entire families all of those schleps who commute to NYC who work in the private sector and don’t get pensions for life and free platinum family healthcare coverage for life subsidized by Village taxpayers like you and your buddies? It’s unsustainable and taxpayers should be angry.
7:57am, are you not angry that, despite the highest taxes in the country, we still have a $200 billion unpaid credit card bill in NJ which is 7 years worth of the state’s annual budget? That doesn’t make you angry? It’s over $52,000 per household in NJ. Why aren’t you angry about that? Could it be you get a $110,000 annual NJ pension since you retired at age 52, plus platinum healthcare coverage at a fraction of the cost of the $29,000 annual premium, all subsidized by NJ state & local taxpayers? Could that be why you’re not angry?
8:59 AM. I suggest that you look at the Frderal Debt if your concerned about unpaid credit card debt. At over 18 trillion dollars that means each and every US citizen owes over $57,000.00. And when you consider children don’t pay taxes and half the adult population doesn’t pay taxes that means the liability for the remaining taxpayers owe over $828,000.00 to pay back that debt. And your worried about a $52,000 debt. Please look at the elephant in the room.
https://www.usdebtclock.org
9:19, so we shouldn’t be worried about what’s happening in NJ, is that your point? Enough of the union mumbo jumbo, trying to deflect attention away from what’s happening and discredit anyone who would question the cost for pensions, healthcare and accumulated leave in Ridgewood, right? Anyone worried about those little elephants must have an anger issue, right?
Actually 9:30 AM it’s quite obvious you are
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1) a government employee who was fired for incompetence or breaking the law, or
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2) you tried to be a government employee but couldn’t pass the basic entrance minimum requirements,
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3) you have family or friends who were, or still are government employees, and you are jealous of their income and benefits because you have been a failure in the choices you made in life and you don’t have the same in income or benefits.
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Yea your angry. And I understand why you are angry 9:30 AM. I would be angry too if I was making minimum wage had to ask the people I meet at work
“Sir/Mam would you like fries and a large drink with your order?”
Nice try 8:54 AM.
But I am calling you out on your lie. Most Public safety salaries are way below the median house hold income.
Estimated median household income in 2013: $138,763 (it was $104,286 in 2000)
Read more: https://www.city-data.com/city/Ridgewood-New-Jersey.html#ixzz3paWMIi23
Estimated median household income for Ridgewood in 2013: $138,763
Average Ridgewood Police Department salary in 2014: $152,340 (sources: page 17 of https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2015BudgetPresentation.pdf divided by https://rpd.ridgewoodnj.net/index.php/department-roster)
Average Ridgewood Fire Department salary in 2014: $124,480 (sources: page 17 of https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2015BudgetPresentation.pdf divided by https://rfd.ridgewoodnj.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=72)
Plus you have to add in the annual cost of pension, healthcare and accumulated leave contributions and payments made by the Village towards these employees (an additional $86,000/public safety employee per year), as well as the average $79,500 accumulated leave payout upon retirement we will pay to the nine confirmed retirees in 2015-2017. The facts show that public safety salaries & benefits are very clearly not below the median household income in Ridgewood, where private sector workers also have to contribute more of their own salaries towards their pension & healthcare savings and healthcare costs (which aren’t subsidized after retirement at an average age of 52 like public safety officials). You need a reality check Mr. Union.
11:02 AM I think our public safety employees deserve what they earn and then some! In the real world you get what you pay for and high quality public safety employees cost money, just like high quality teachers do.
Tell me Mr 11:02 AM have you ever taken the time to examine your property tax bill?
Let me guess! Probably not, since you are so laser focused on public safety. Well here is a news flash for you, over 66 percent of the taxes we all pay go to the BOE. And when you consider the open space tax and the county tax that makes the municipal part of the tax bill approximately 22% of the total bill.
Seems to me you agree that quality teachers require reasonable pay since you haven’t said a word about them. Well, I agree our teachers should be high quality teachers and to get that you have to pay for it.
If you don’t want or need the best teachers, best public safety employees and the best municipal government employees then I suggest you search for a place that has lower taxes with less than the best employees go ahead!
Same old yawn from Mr $100K pension thug at 12:25, starting a knife with teachers while his house burns…. All to distract from the questions being asked, which prove beyond a doubt that his retirement boondoggle (three bucks out for every dollar in to his own pension), plus heavily subsidized annual $29,000 health insurance coverage – all from an average special retirement age of 52 – isn’t the reality faced by the median household in Ridgewood
Ok 2:25 I will bite. Who retired at 52 with a full pension? Or you just trying to incite people. Can you post the document that states a Ridgewood Police Officer retired at 52 with full pension.
Looks like he can’t answer your question 8:02 PM. Most likely cause he’s a big BS artist!
The counter must have been very busy the past few days at the burger joint.
TPAF teachers on average retire at age 62 with a $47K a year pension, where as PFRS cops & fire (I can only assume you’re a cop given your complaints about the teachers’ union) on average retire at age 52 on a $57K pension. If you live to 82, that means an average cop gets 30 years at $57K or $1.7mn, whereas an average teacher gets 20 years at $47K or $940K.
10:15, you’re calling your own pension fund’s data on retirement ages for PFRS retirees in NJ BS?
Actually, 3:33 pm I am staying yor numbers are BS. Do some public safety employees retire at age 52, yea, mostly State Police Officers, who can retire after 20 years of service. Municipal public safety employees must work 25 years to retire. The median age of new hires in public safety is 30.3 years old. The maximum age you can be hired for public safety is 35 years old. No public safety employee is permitted to work past the age of 65.
The 52 avg retirement age number is from PFRS data, not state.,, what exactly is your point?
4:41, this article is about taxes, and you’re going on and on about excessive pensions for people with only 20-25 years of work… Don’t you think our taxes are too high, and if not, why? At what age did you retire and do you get more or less than the average $57,000 PFRS pension? Assuming you’re not yet 65 and eligible for Medicare, how much do you pay out of your annual $29,000 family health insurance premium, and how much of any annual increase in health care premiums do you cover ? It will be obvious to all if you cannot answer these questions truthfully
4:42 obviously gets a generous public pension & benefits funded by our taxes. Why else would he or she try to muddy the waters on facts that put in to question the sustainability of the $100K pension gravy train they’re riding?
5:52 & 6:09 pm, You claim I am retired. Well just like the BS you post here about pensions you are wrong. I am not retired nor am I a government employee. My knowledge comes from being on the governors commission on pension reform. I am only one of many who co-authored a document regarding the current pension situation and possible pension reform options. What are your credentials on the topic of discussion
Again, what posts are BS? You cannot answer a simple question, and yet you claim to be one of the people listed from page 36 here: https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pdf/FinalFebruaryCommissionReport.pdf
OK 9:05 am how about we start with your statement “annual $29,000 family health insurance premium” you made this statement on October 25, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Had you read the report from the link you sent me you would know that your $29,000.00 number is BS!
From page 16 you will find the following :
….the average annual employer cost to provide family coverage for an active public employee is approximately $16,000,7 costs a public employer, on average, $26,000 a year to provide family coverage for an early retiree until they become eligible for Medicare!
Any questions?
Ha ha ha. I love it …..9:05 was just schooled and at the sme time shown to be BiG BS artist.
9:05 nothing to say huh. You have been outed as a bullshit artist.
If you weren’t so busy lying about your participation in writing the Nj Pension & Health Reform Commission report, you might have actually read it and understood the consequences of the actuarial value of public healthcare plans which cost taxpayers $26,000 vs. private health plans which cost private sector employees $16,000. Add in the 10% increases in public sector health plan premiums since the report was published, plus the 40% excise tax on Platinum level health plans starting in two years, and it will cost taxpayers well over $36,000 a year to maintain Platinum level coverage from 2018… Something you would have understood if you’d actually read the report
Whose the BS artist now? Lying about being a commissioner on the report 12:40? You just got schooled chump.
Time to diminish the excessive & unsustainable benefits they were promised and invest in keeping good private sector jobs in NJ.
Wait, what happened to your “annual $29,000 family health insurance premium” statement? Now your using a lower number, why is that? Could it be you can’t defend your BS $29,000 number?
If you had a c!ue of what you are talking about 12:52 am you would know that the NJ pension reform law which took effect in 2011 requires employees to contribute more to their health care coverage which has reduced the cost the employer is paying for health care. Below is a copy of the text for the law.
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All active public employees will pay a percentage of the cost of health care benefits coverage for themselves and any dependents. Lower compensated employees will pay a smaller percentage and more highly compensated employees will pay a higher percentage. In addition, the applicable percentage will vary based upon whether the employee has family, individual, or member with child or spouse coverage. The rates gradually increase based on an employee’s compensation, at intervals of $5,000. These rates will be phased in over several years for employees employed on the contribution’s effective date who will pay ¼, ½, and ¾ of the amount of the contribution rate during the first, second and third years, respectively, meaning during the three 12-month periods after the contribution rates become effective. The law establishes a “floor” for employee contributions so that no employee will pay an amount that is less than 1.5% of the employee’s compensation. Employees who pay for health care benefits coverage based upon a percentage of the cost of coverage will not also be required to pay the minimum contribution of 1.5% of compensation, as provided by other laws. The contribution will commence on the law’s effective date for certain public employees and upon the expiration of a collective negotiation agreement for others.
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Go back to what you do best, flipping hamburgers and making french fries a d leave the important stuff to the adults.
thehttps://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/reform-2011.shtml
So you admit you lied about being a Commissioner on the report and yet you’re still posting about this? $26,000 + 10% increase in premiums since the report you claim to have been a Commissioner on was published = $29,000…. maybe your union handlers will let you take remedial reading comprehension and math courses? Further, from page 10 of the same report you falsely claimed to have been involved with, “The average New Jersey public employee is enrolled in a health plan with an “actuarial value” of 95%, meaning that the plan pays approximately 95% of the cost of essential
with an average employee contribution of 18% of premium costs. In contrast, plans offered by large private-sector employers typically fall within a range of 80% to 85% actuarial value, toward which employees typically contribute 24% of premium costs. As for your misleading comments about Chapter 78, P.L. 2011 which became effective June 28, 2011, I guess you missed reading Sections 77 to 79: Impact of Collectively Negotiated Agreements on Required Employee Health Benefit Contributions; Employees subject to any collective negotiations agreement (i.e. CBA) in effect on the effective date of the law, that has an expiration date on or after the expiration of the health care contribution provisions of the law, will be subject to those provisions, upon expiration of that collective negotiations agreement, until the health care contribution schedule set forth in the law is fully implemented.” Translation? With new CBAs in 2009 and then again re-openng them in 2010, Ridgewood public safety officials weren’t even subject to the higher health care contribution rates until new CBAs in 2015. Maybe you’ve noticed some difficulties in the REA and PBA negotiations recently as those higher contribution rates cause some confusion amongst their members?
So 10:05 pm, you admit you admit you are a burger flipper who couldn’t meet the minimum standards to become public safety employee.
In the adult world $26,000 + 10% increase does NOT = $29,000…. A 3rd grader would be able to calculate that and come up with the correct number of $28,6000. Maybe your fellow burger flippers or french fry makers will help you with a few math lessons? And hey who knows, if you learn how to count and calculate you may get promoted to cashier.
Your claim that I made misleading comments about Chapter 78, P.L. 2011 which became effective June 28, 2011, is laughable since I quoted word for word the law as it is written. I would love to hear what is misleading in my making a direct quote fro the law.
I am fully aware of Sections 77 to 79: Impact of Collectively Negotiated Agreements on Required Employee Health Benefit Contributions. N.J. State, County and Municipal employee contracts expire every year. Most Employee Union contracts run 2 years, with a few lasting 3 years and rarely 4 years. Since the law was enacted in 2011, the fact is that today the overwhelming majority of these contracts have been renegotiated already.
You mentioned specific contract negotiations with Ridgewood public safety officials. I am not familiar with the specifics of those negotiations or the outcome of those negotiations. So I am unable comment on your claim that Ridgewood public safety officials weren’t even subject to the higher health care contribution rates until new CBAs in 2015.
Looks like 12;25 pm was right on the money! Ridgewood residents just overwhelmingly, by over 3 to 1, approved spending money (15 Million dollars) on a parking garage. So I don’t want to hear anymore more complaining about how the property taxes are so high. You Mr complain all the time about public safety employees are one of a very few who are complaining.