Why do I have to pay such high school taxes to own a home when I don't even have kids?

We all have to pay taxes for things we don't believe in or won't benefit from. (My dh and I pay about 50% income taxes between state and IRS, etc, ugh, at least you don't have to pay state.) I pay taxes toward public schools and my son goes to private school -- there really is no option if you can afford it, the public schools suck. But one thing to think of, if there are good schools in your area, then that keeps your property value up. (Around LA -- San Marino, LaCanada, South Pasadena -- people move to those areas for the schools.) If there aren't good schools, well, that sucks.

Yep, maybe there should be a gay gentrification tax break -- around LA there should have been - Silverlake, parts of Los Feliz, West Hollywood.

At least you're getting Houston prices, take a look at home prices in crappy areas in LA, yikes!

Good luck!

Cry me a river! A lot of Retirees lament the same story since their children are grown and gone and grade school education paid for from taxes. Everyone regardless of race, color creed or sexual orientation or where they reside that pays taxes must share in the costs of education for all the children. Even families that have children still pay education taxes even if they get dependent deduction their education isn't free. Lots of parents pay out of pocket costs as well when taxes don't provide enough for their children. This has absolutely nothing to do with real estate marketing sales. It's not just your area that's affected.

Publicly funded education has been a part of the plan in the USA since the Pilgrims landed. You do not want the bunch of uneducated morons that we would have without it.

When you were a child or the parent of children, the taxes you and they paid didn't cover the entire bill of educating you. It is now payback time.

Plan on getting no sympathy in this forum.

Followup: Everybody paying to fund public education even if you are not directly using it is the American way and, to a great degree, the way it is done worldwide. That's the way it is and we all have to live with it. I went to private school as did my children. I still paid tax to support public schools and didn't expect any favors.

Your "school tax" is something that the voter's in that area voted for. It affects the property no matter who lives there and is a percentage of the property value. Most of these types of taxes have an "end date" although they never really end, usually a new tax is voted in by the voters in the area. There is nothing you can do about it. So you either buy the home in that area, or you look for a home in an area that doesn't have a tax for schools.

This is a traditional occurrance. My brother used to be hit through an uninsured unlawful alien a even as again. The man pulled out in entrance of my brother on a hectic avenue and used to be virtually T-Boned. Fortunately, my brother used to be OK. But the uninsured motive force and his child son have been lovely banged up. My brother needed to flip the declare for his publish-coincidence checkup and totalled vehicle in to his possess coverage. I'm certain the ER needed to consume the uninsured motorist's scientific expenditures as good. After all, unlawful extraterrestrial beings do not pay scientific expenditures. It's rattling close inconceivable to garnish their wages.

Oh, God, this rant shows up here regularly. Educating children is in the best interests of society as a whole (that includes you) whether you have children or not.

As far as your tax rates and what percentage goes to what, that is determined at the state & local level. Discuss it with your state legislators.