Know what’s even more retarded? This applies to corporate real estate taxes also. After all, the senior corporate citizens like HP shouldn’t have to pay on the appreciation of their property. Calls for a dual roll system get the typical responses of “businesses will move away if you tax them like the rest of the country.”
BTW, the compromise that led to the January deal involved a $2.5 billion (from memory) tax break for businesses, demanded by the Republicans. See why we’re screwed?
It depends strongly on what your $1 million home is like. When we were house hunting here, 14 years ago, our house in a good part of NJ was worth about $250K. We were interested in a good town (I think Los Gatos) and asked to see houses in that price range there. The only one - which was a bit more than $250K - was a shack up on a hill that I wouldn’t have wanted my Boy Scout troop to camp in. Million dollar houses near me (and I live in a less expensive place) were maybe 2500 sq ft with almost no backyard, and hardly mansions. Until recently, anyway, you paid a premium for a shorter commute.
Fine…we all make decisions.
If you get a 250k/year job but it costs 400k/year to raise a family in anything like proximity to your job (and a decent neighborhood) then your 250k job ain’t so hot. More like a 30k/year job in a more modestly priced area.
I would presume however that jobs in the area pay relative to the cost of living there. They have to otherwise they’d have no workers because they could not afford to live there. An equilibrium should be found.
I was in London recently and was window shopping the ads in realtor windows for fun and the prices for a modest apartment there were astounding. No clue how anyone affords to live in that city. Makes Manhattan look like an absolute bargain.
My brother makes near-Fortune 500 CEO money at the moment and he can’t afford to live their either. He takes a 2 1/2 hour commute instead.
Basic infant out of home care in a group setting is going to run us 1300-1600 per month for one child. This is the lower end of the spectrum.
I think we’re talking about me, so I’ll butt in. 98.5% manages with less assuming that you are talking about just flat numbers, but you can’t do that. 100K is rich in Louisiana. In New York, you are living on credit, with roommates or commuting two hours. I could move to Louisiana, but obviously then my earning power would diminish.
It’s like having an intergalactic steel cage match and setting the weight classes without taking gravity on the different planets into effect. In addition to being the nerdiest thing I’ve ever typed, this shows that it isn’t the same thing. A 250 pound strong guy here is not the same as a 250 pound guy on the moon. He’s going to get his assed kicked by the 250 pound moon guy who is going to be a behemoth. The numbers are all relative.
Yes, there is a premium to live in these places. Which is why I’m saying that it has gotten to the point that I can’t afford the premium and will be leaving.
Serious or not, they’re on PunkPoo’s list.
God, I hope so, for your sake. 
The simplest way to get a fairer distribution is to remove all deductions. Tax the gross and not the net. That prevents all the scams companies use to shelter funds and pay zero tax.
What, you took in a billion but lost it devaluating some subsidiary? Tough. Pay your tax as you go, right off the top as the money comes in. Sort of like sales tax but on income.
So if I “make” a million dollars selling widgets, but the widgets I sell for a dollar cost me 75 cents you want me to pay tax on the whole million? If I sell a house for $500K but I bought if for $600K you want me to pay tax on that?
That was my point. I doubt you are moving because of a 2% differential in state taxes, it probably has a LOT more to do with the COLA.
OK then, I guess I would say that the typical Wyoming resident has several times the electoral representation that the typical California resident has. This allows them to receive significantly more federal funding per capita and allows them to operate on lower taxes and still have enough left over to keep everyone employed.
I wish it were as simple as that.
…and to serve as examples for how low state taxes = low unemployment, if you aren’t paying attention.