Yeah, MA and most towns in MA have made the choice to have higher income taxes and more business taxes and more sales tax than to have high property tax. Putting it all together, the COLA here is just as bad as LA, it just comes out of different types of spending and income cuts.
I actually think part of what drives our property rates so high is that the tax rate is so low. Instead of paying a chunk to taxes, you just have a much bigger mortgage and suddenly it’s a wash.
Plus to your point about condos. It’s definitely more fair to compare a condo to an apartment in terms of costs. since they are usually similar structures with similar sq footage and amenities. Standalone homes are usually what people are thinking of when they compare renting to owning and I think that leads to these extreme studies that are basically comparing apples and oranges.
Yeah, MA and most towns in MA have made the choice to have higher income taxes and more business taxes and more sales tax than to have high property tax. Putting it all together, the COLA here is just as bad as LA, it just comes out of different types of spending and income cuts.
I actually think part of what drives our property rates so high is that the tax rate is so low. Instead of paying a chunk to taxes, you just have a much bigger mortgage and suddenly it’s a wash.
Plus to your point about condos. It’s definitely more fair to compare a condo to an apartment in terms of costs. since they are usually similar structures with similar sq footage and amenities. Standalone homes are usually what people are thinking of when they compare renting to owning and I think that leads to these extreme studies that are basically comparing apples and oranges.