Texas Fall/Winter thread!

[blueriver]

Hey y'all, this is January. It's the month that all Texans who own property get to support their schools and county employees by paying property taxes. Ain't we lucky?

My taxes went up .. I stopped by their office and asked .. Was told because the school in my little part of the world is behind on some loans and needs extra revenue ??? How does that work??

 

[farmgirl19]

Congrats FG on the "Flying Colors". Your healthy diet speaks for itself...........but credit where credit is due......I think your magic vitamin is the Patron.

Charlie

Thanks Native! You might be onto something with the Patron!

Hey y'all, this is January. It's the month that all Texans who own property get to support their schools and county employees by paying property taxes. Ain't we lucky?

Paid mine last month, along with every other bill known to man. I get to support the schools, and have never had a kid, so never used them. The village is *forced* to raise the child, of everyone else. Thank goodness for the Ag exemption and cattle!

 

[Bird]

Hey y'all, this is January. It's the month that all Texans who own property get to support their schools and county employees by paying property taxes. Ain't we lucky?

Mine are always paid in December. And of course, the school taxes are the biggest chunk of the property tax, and Texas does freeze those for us old folks.

 

[txdon]

Yes, organic beef, pork, butter, cheese, eggs and tons of salt really have taken a toll on me, huh? Maybe it all of the Tabasco Sauce I use that balances it all out! Or, maybe all of the booze I drink just kills any germs, and keeps me healthy!

You lucky dog you, you have the good gene. That sounds like the exact same diet as my Grandpa but the genes were not in his favor and there were no routine by-passes and stents in his day - and that was just in the 60's (Of course at 29 you are a lot younger.)
If I could not do the plant based diet I would definitely at least do organic meat, (not that it would help me at this point) I just can't believe all the stuff allowed by law used to contaminate the animals and I have a field of organic beef right outside the yard fence. The readers digest has an article this month and gets into this very topic.

Do people actually pay more for organic calves? Out here they just get auctioned off and are mixed in with the other calves and then are probably kept in feed lots for a few months loosing all their organics.

 

[txdon]

Bird, If the taxes go down right after you freeze them can you unfreeze them for a year to lock in the lower rate? A couple of years ago our taxes actually decreased a bit.

 

[jinman]

I've been in a cycle of paying taxes in January on the ones not included in my home mortgage. That allows me to take money from a money market fund without any tax penalty for the full year. However, my mortgage company pays taxes from my escrow acct sometime in November or December. Very soon now, my mortgage will be paid off and I'll just being paying "tax rent" on my home and land. I still believe that I am way ahead of the game to pay non-ag taxes on my property and not have animals or crops to deal with. Of course, that's on 22 acres. If I had 200 acres, fenced, and with crops, I'd want every tax break I could get. Actually, in Texas we are very lucky to not pay income taxes. That makes writing those county and school tax checks a lot less painful.

EDIT: Oh yes! Getting my road paved this last year also made me feel a little better about county taxes.

 

[pacerron]

Bird, If the taxes go down right after you freeze them can you unfreeze them for a year to lock in the lower rate? A couple of years ago our taxes actually decreased a bit.

Probably a "Levy" that ran out, wasn't renewed, or replaced by a new one that was higher.

Must be nice to have frozen taxes at 65 but folks seem to jump on the "I'm moving to XXX" bandwagon a lot because they hear of a lower tax than their state has on something.
You really have to look at all taxes, including state death taxes, plus the cost of living in an area that you think would be great to live in, before throwing logic under the bus and moving anyway for desire and adventure.

As soon as I started showing my wife the pictures of all your venomous snakes in the yard and on your porch, she said
if I wanted to move to Texas to be sure and send her a postcard once in a while. :confused3:

 

[Bird]

Bird, If the taxes go down right after you freeze them can you unfreeze them for a year to lock in the lower rate? A couple of years ago our taxes actually decreased a bit.

Don, I really don't know if that could happen or not, although I don't think there's any provision for unfreezing and then freezing again. I know if I sell the place, the buyer would have to pay current rates. Or if I bought a different place, I'd have to pay current rates. It appears that having the frozen school taxes is saving me about $550 a year.

While I have no specific personal knowledge, it appears to me from the state's website that my taxes would go down if the rates go below what mine are frozen at, but instead of locking in the lower rate, they could go back up to the original ceiling.

Texas Property Taxes: Taxpayers' Rights, Remedies, Responsibilities

 

[Bird]

Probably a "Levy" that ran out, wasn't renewed, or replaced by a new one that was higher.

Must be nice to have frozen taxes at 65 but folks seem to jump on the "I'm moving to XXX" bandwagon a lot because they hear of a lower tax than their state has on something.
You really have to look at all taxes, including state death taxes, plus the cost of living in an area that you think would be great to live in, before throwing logic under the bus and moving anyway for desire and adventure.

As soon as I started showing my wife the pictures of all your venomous snakes in the yard and on your porch, she said
if I wanted to move to Texas to be sure and send her a postcard once in a while. :confused3:

Your right, of course, about the taxes, but then there are lots of other considerations when picking any place to live. I doubt we could list them all.

 

[jinman]

As soon as I started showing my wife the pictures of all your venomous snakes in the yard and on your porch, she said
if I wanted to move to Texas to be sure and send her a postcard once in a while.

I think you are a lot more apt to be bitten by a "lounge lizard" than one of Don's snakes. After all, Whipper is known for antagonizing Don's wiggly wildlife.:laughing: