By Mark Abromaitis
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

According to the most recent study by the National Association of Home Builders, Pennsylvania and New Jersey face some of the highest property tax rates in the nation.

The survey ranks Pennsylvania nine and New Jersey six out of all 50 states in real estate tax burden. According to the survey, the median tax rate in Pennsylvania is 14.69% per $1,000 of assessed value, and New Jersey checks in at an astounding 16.03%.

But in light of these everchanging and ever-growing tax rates, now many residents of these states are looking to retirement communities to avoid the crunch.

“We’re seeing more and more people who are tired of dealing with it,” Maris Grove Retirement Counselor Julieann Brant says. “It’s becoming harder and harder for a lot of residents to keep up with these tax rates. They are always fluctuating, and it seems like all they do is go up. And that challenge just makes it tougher for older adults who might be retired or on a budget.”

How it’s calculated
What makes property taxes so frustrating to the homeowner is how they are collected. No one property tax is the same, and it is often confusing and costly  for the homeowner. In general, a house is assessed for its value and then that value is taxed a percentage from the state, a local jurisdiction, or both.

Natalia Siniavskaia, who reviewed the Residential Real Estate Tax Rates in the American Community Survey for the NAHB in 2007, says that compiling the survey data is difficult because often, many jurisdictions have multiple property tax collectors.

“What complicates such cross-country comparisons is the fact that property taxes are imposed by multiple local jurisdictions that follow different assessment, administration, and reporting procedures.” She adds, “In addition, 37 states also collect property taxes on the state level. As a result, it is often difficult to compare effective tax rates on residential real estate based on state and local government data.”