[daviddennis]

This question has bothered me for many decades, but it seems particularly apropos as I settle into my house and start paying property taxes.

Thoughts?

[daviddennis]

An interesting question for you folks to chew on this morning.

D

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[Tijeras_Slim]

To many takers and fakers, not enough makers.

[cyborg]

I live on Long Island paying more taxes than you are (in a house worth 350K) but at least my cops come on time. Cities, counties,villages have different ways of doings. Worth looking into.

[Servant of the 9]

This question has bothered me for many decades, but it seems particularly apropos as I settle into my house and start paying property taxes.

Thoughts?

You are complaining about relatively low property taxes.
My taxes on my $125,000.00 condo in Houston are over $3500.00.
Although I will admit a $125,000, close to Galeria area condo in Houston is likely to be larger than your house.

So9

[Dog Gone]

It looks as if the highest priority of the LA County is to redistribute wealth, not provide services.

[Pukin Dog]

A better question would be: Why would you waste so much of your hard earned money there?

Move.

[Semi Civil Servant]

You are suffering from L.I.C. (Liberals In Control) Syndrome. Gainfully employed citizens are not a priority.

[Non-Sequitur]

I pay 8.25% sales tax. I pay 9.3% income tax (on amounts over $37,500!) We pay $.15 a gallon in state gas taxes. My property taxes are ... well, I already told you.

I pay 7.45% sales tax. I pay 6.45% income tax on amounts over $60,000. My gas tax is about $.09. My property taxes are about $2200 on a 2500 square foot home (estimated value of $250,000 I might add) and my school system (Blue Valley) is one of the best in the nation with foreign language taught beginning in kindergarden, daily music lessons, art, technology, all the rest. Welcome to Kansas. Now go back where you came from.

[EggsAckley]

Homeless bums and services-sucking illegals.

[Hank Rearden]

I remember Woodland Hills from 30 years ago; nice place.

Now, from your description, it sounds like a grossly-overpriced s#$thole, and you just bought at or near the top of a real-estate bubble. What did you expect? Didn't you look around and check it out? And you JUST moved in? Why would you do that? And what mechanisms are in place to turn CA around and back on the road to prosperity and a population without a sleazy "urban" mentality?

I abandoned CA 9 years ago and have never looked back.

[steplock]

I love harrassing californians!

I own a 1700 sqft brick home on 1/2 wooded acre running stream just the other side of my fence, you can't see the neighbors houses in summer because of the dense trees.

We have (don't tell the Sierra club) red-headed woodpeckers (the big ones!) owls, hawks, eagles (yes, Bald-Headed Eagles), squirrels & chipmunks (a lot less thanks to the eagles & hawks) racoons, etc....and I live INSIDE the city limits.

Now...for the harrassment part....

3 years ago I paid $63k for the house, my taxes are $0 (homestead exemption - otherwise they would have been $350) our sales tax here is close to 9% but they do tax food and medicine as all good socialist states would. Income tax we have, but reasonable (If you're a politician/lawyer you don't pay much income tax - they exempt most of their money) but overall this state is nice and we are bit by bit erasing the socialist/communist influences.

Oh yea ---- ARKANSAS ---- no jokes please - I came here from Texas.

The only bad part about the cost of living / pay scale here --- try to buy a new car/truck. $30,000 for a truck is ridiculous when I can buy a house for the same price.

$30k for a truck is cheap maybe for the union auto worker in detroit, but it's priced way too high for many across the USA.

Now you see why companies are outsourcing jobs?

[sergeantdave]

The problem is that the area is run by thieving socialists and the solution is to vote them out and then throw them in prison. However, the citizens love their goodies passed out by the socialists. So voting them out will never happen.

I left the socialist state of CA just as they were unfurling the hammer and sickle flags.

Perhaps Arnold can provide tax relief, but when the socialists start screaming "The children! The children!" he'll probably back down. Even if he does provide relief a socialist judge will hack him down and order a court-mandated tax hike.

You're doomed. Take your talents to another state where your contributions will be appreciated, and you're rewarded with lower taxes.

[LisaMalia]

I think the pie chart says it all.

[Vigilanteman]

Notice the dark red color of Los Angeles County and the deep blue color of Orange County? In the 2000 election 63% of the people in Los Angeles County voted for Al Gore; whereas 56% of the people in Orange County voted for George Bush. Attitudes at the national level are generally reflected at the local level.

[CalKat]

I don't know the reason for the difference. But when you mention the police...I used to live in Pasadena and someone tried to break into my house, and they slashed my tires and cut my phone lines. I didn't call them until the next morning, when I went outside and found my tires slashed and when I called the phone company and was told the phone lines had been cut. They didn't even send a car out, they just sent me forms I needed to submit to my insurance company to get reimbursed for my tires.

Now I live in Laguna Beach and someone broke into my car. They didn't take anything, they just went through all my papers and stuff. They didn't take my Coach briefcase or my CDs or anything. It was really wierd. But Laguna Beach sent out a car and took fingerprints and everything.
Go figure.

[Tacis]

Hey, gringo! Are you blind? Didn't you pay attention when you went to the school? Go to the public hospital; check out the speech patterns of the patients. You are paying for the free ride of millions of illegal criminal Mexican aliens, in this country because they broke our laws. Now, W has a plan where, by breaking more of our laws, they can profit even more. By switching fake SSA numbers, having several names/identities, a semi-legal status will allow them to work under one name (federal taxes/benefits) but claim Workers' Comp (state) or Unemployment Comp (state) at the same time. As we speak, there are criminal aliens reading the fine print and, because they understand the workings of the state government and understand the blithering incompetency of unionized state workers, calculatiing how to confiscate more of your tax payments and send them back home.

The interesting part of your grump about taxes is that you haven't yet recognized how low your property taxes really are. Prop 13 limited the states right to tax your property. When the legislature (dems) realize how very low your taxes are, there will be a blitz to raise them so as to "fairly tax wealthy property owners so that they pay their fair share in supporting the less fortunate among us."

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Question: "Why are Los Angeles services so bad? (Vanity Question)"

Answer: Diversity exhibiting its strength!

[jim_trent]

I can answer part of your question. I read an article in an industry Civil Engineering magazine about 6 months ago that showed what the 50 states collect in transportation taxes and what they spend (per capita, naturally, to allow comparisons). California was at or near the top in collections and was dead last (50th) in expenditures on streets and highways.

I have read other articles that document where the money collected for streets and highways in California is siphoned off on projects that have little or nothing to do with streets and highways. For example: mass transportation, light rail, and restoring an old railroad station for a museum. In recent years, California has not even bothered to try to find a tie between transportation and what they are spending it on, such as a handicap accessible park for gays.

Unfortunately, other states have seen what California is doing and are starting to do the same. When you pay gas taxes and license fees that were supposed to pay for the streets you drive on, that is what it should be spent on. It is not.

[suzyq5558]

WOWSERS.....And here i was griping about a $1600 property tax bill on a $225,000., 2600 sq ft home on 2 acre's!