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Egg Harbor Township mayor priced out of home by taxes (New Jersey)
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com ^ | august 21, 2013 | Derek Harper

Posted on 08/22/2013 2:39:20 AM PDT by lowbridge

Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough has a great house to sell you: his.

"I can't afford the taxes," McCullough explained.

McCullough said he has been taxed out of his home by the local rates and by last year's township-wide revaluation, which caused his property taxes to shoot up nearly 60 percent, to $31,056.

"It's more than what I can afford," McCullough said. "It's kind of disappointing. I thought I would be able to live and die in my home, but it's gotten to the point where it's gotten up so high."

McCullough, 71, has lived in the township's Seaview Harbor section since 1974, when he and his wife, Georgene, moved out of Atlantic City's Chelsea Heights neighborhood. They moved another 500 feet in 1985 when they bought land and built their current home for $360,000.

Last year's reassessment said that home was worth slightly more than $1.1 million.

The McCulloughs are not the only people who have elected to vote with their feet. Real estate sales records show no Seaview Harbor properties traded hands in 2012.

Now? Five are on the market, for the average price of $1.3 million.

(Excerpt) Read more at pressofatlanticcity.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: housing; newjersey; taxes
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To: ken5050

You have hit on a key issue......school taxes.

Stop and think: You live in a community for 75 years and if you have a child he/she will attend school for only 12 years.

Is it right to pay for their schooling ONLY while you use the services of the school district or should you pay another 63 years to pay for everyone else’s 12 education?

There ought to be a drive for all citizens to pay for the services they use from the community and that includes schooling of YOUR CHILD...NOT EVERYONE ELSE’S.

The school tax is the largest and most wasteful organization in our communities and it has to be tamed down and also only paid for by those who use it and while they use it.

Then, the system will have to adapt and become efficient.


21 posted on 08/22/2013 4:29:29 AM PDT by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: fruser1

NJ is legend for high property taxes. My uncle at 85 was forced out of his home too, his SS and meager pension did not cover his home costs to such an extent his son was paying most of them for him. He was paying each quarter what I was paying in NE florida each year for homes of equal value. Plus there is an income tax there.

One has to wonder where does all the money go? Each county is responsible for its welfare, not the state. Schools are locally funded too (they generally eat up about 50% of a combined RE Tax Bill). Rood tolls everywhere too. So, aside from keeping Christie in doughnuts, where does the rest go??


22 posted on 08/22/2013 4:29:41 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

“Home like mine rent for around $1500 a month, so I figure I earn $1500 a month tax free.”

Remember when Clinton was toying with the idea of proposing the concept of “imputed income” for those who owned their homes? I did, immediately bought more guns and ammo.


23 posted on 08/22/2013 4:33:12 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: lowbridge

Same thing happened to the mayor in Deltona Florida.


24 posted on 08/22/2013 4:34:25 AM PDT by subterfuge (CBS NBC ABC FOX AP-- all no different than Pravda.)
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To: DH

My buddy in Ga said that when he turned 65 I believe and had no kids in school, he has not been assessed the school taxes. Is that correct for Ga. The subject came up when I asked him why he stayin in Ga with an income tax when he could avoid an income tax by moving back to Fl.


25 posted on 08/22/2013 4:37:13 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: ken5050

I have my 2013 county real estate tax statement in front of me. It came in the mail a few days ago.

69.1% of the amount is school taxes. They helpfully have the percentage on the statement.

Did I mention that my county’s schools are in danger of losing accreditation due to massive incompetence? That would do wonders for property values.

While my bill is a fraction of this guy’s bill, and I probably have a nicer house, the trajectory on the taxes overall hasn’t been good.


26 posted on 08/22/2013 4:41:50 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Mouton

It goes into the pockets of the buddys of those in office.

It also goes to outlandish pensions and gov’t benefits.

Most of the money that gov’t spends on social programs (which would otherwise be handled by charities) goes to pay for the gov’t employees running those programs.

Charities try to limit the overhead to 20%, meaning 80% goes to the folks they help. Gov’t is the reverse of that. I think I read a GAO report somewhere indicating govt overhead of welfare type programs was actually over 90%.


27 posted on 08/22/2013 4:47:59 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: lowbridge

Unless my calculations are incorrect, that’s $2.82 per $100 of property value.

Wow!

And here I was thinking that the $0.70 per $100 I’m paying in Virginia was too high.


28 posted on 08/22/2013 4:51:41 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: lowbridge
must be an honest man, a RAT would of acquired enough income through illegal gains to pay the taxes...
29 posted on 08/22/2013 4:51:56 AM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Kozak; Mouton

We’ve had a significant “Yankee Invasion” in Virginia also.


30 posted on 08/22/2013 4:53:35 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: Mouton

Schools .......... How many teachers do you know that can not afford to have a winter home/rental in Florida after they retire?


31 posted on 08/22/2013 5:06:12 AM PDT by BilLies (I despise The Progressive Liberal American Press, its corporations, management, reporters, readers.)
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To: BilLies

Not many. My next door neighbor and former DC suburb teacher has two homes, one here on Amelia Island and one up in North Carolina, Both are sans Mtg.

Even better, I met a guy who was the vice principal in the town in NJ were my uncle had to leave from as he could not pay the taxes. That guy had a home on Jekyll Island, ga, a summer place in the Pocono Mtns, and his regular home in New Jersey...all on a government salary and pension. He was moaning he “lost” money on his NJ home when prices crumbled but when they come back to where they were, he will sell. Unbelievable.


32 posted on 08/22/2013 5:20:21 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: Gen.Blather

You don’t really own anything anyway.

The Government allows you to think you do.

You cannot put on a new roof without a permit you cannot build a deck without a permit , you cannot cut down a tree without a permit.

I live in Maryland in what they call a critical area.

The Government graciously allows me to live here as long as I pay.


33 posted on 08/22/2013 5:21:11 AM PDT by Venturer ( cowardice posturing as tolerance =political correctness)
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To: FreedomPoster

Funny about the accreditation. My social organization has two exchange students here from south america and europe. Both are not fluent in English but get by. When asked how school was for them here compared to where they are from they both said far easier; their lack of language skills will not daunt them a bit. Allegedly we have one of the better school systems in the state to boot. Can one say third world, here we come?


34 posted on 08/22/2013 5:25:03 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: Venturer

You cannot drive a car without a license or put it on the road with out a registration. Boat, need license. Job, pay taxes by withholding. Health care, I’ll keep it civil. Speak on phone or use internet, monitored. Commercial fly, pay tax and be searched. Buy wine or beer, pay excise tax. on and on.

Only places with no oversight: voting booth and border entry.


35 posted on 08/22/2013 5:30:58 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: Mouton

Not so sure about voting booth any more.

Not even sure they are not rigged to elect their own politicians.


36 posted on 08/22/2013 5:36:06 AM PDT by Venturer ( cowardice posturing as tolerance =political correctness)
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To: BilLies
You should see the salaries of the Hazleton Area school district. Kindergarten teachers make 50K. Principals make 120k. Then they only hire their relatives and in this area they are all related and have the same names. I am a New Yorker but the property taxes are cheaper than Westchester County a place I could never afford to live.
37 posted on 08/22/2013 5:47:19 AM PDT by angcat
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To: lowbridge
his property taxes to shoot up to $31,056 ... home was worth slightly more than $1.1 million.
That makes the tax rate about 3%, which isn't the real problem. It's the home value that's been artificially inflated over the years to separate a man from his money.
38 posted on 08/22/2013 5:55:21 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: DH

I hear you loud and clear. I know a few women (ironically enough) that have never been married, never had kids and are about 60. They have been paying school taxes this entire time and while they are indoctrinated into doing so I view their situation as nothing less than indentured servitude by extension of their homes.


39 posted on 08/22/2013 6:04:45 AM PDT by Ghost of SVR4 (So many are so hopelessly dependent on the government that they will fight to protect it.)
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To: Mouton
My buddy in Ga said that when he turned 65 I believe and had no kids in school, he has not been assessed the school taxes. Is that correct for Ga. The subject came up when I asked him why he stayin in Ga with an income tax when he could avoid an income tax by moving back to Fl.

Depending on which town you live in you stop paying the school portion of your property taxes when you turn 62 to 65. In my town it's 65, in Roswell it's 62. I don't know if every county in Georgia does this but most do. It turns into a huge tax break so your friend is correct.

40 posted on 08/22/2013 6:19:41 AM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
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