CHICAGO | General Discussions

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

True about Texas.

But no income tax. So, keep your income going up and don't move to a very expensive place!

But yes, Tennessee is getting it right!

Quoting my own post from two months ago regarding the myth of Texas taxes being so great.

Originally Posted by sentinel

Interesting, but then I remember a number of things:

- The Tribune editorial board is anything but impartial, so as soon as I see anything from them, it raises a red flag in my mind

- Texas may not have state income taxes, but federal income taxes still apply

- Texas has to offset that revenue loss some how, so Texans pay higher sales and property taxes than most other states.

- Texas also receives additional tax revenue from oill and natural gas production, essentially like a smaller version of Saudi Arabia, which helps offset need for income taxes. Illinois doesn't have that luxury.

- If you live along the gulf coast like 9-10 million Texans do, chances are you'll also have to pay higher home insurance rates, as well as hurricane insurance. Houston metro and Galveston have been hit with at least three 100 or 500 year storms/flooding just within the past 5 years, and thanks to no zoning laws, so there's a good chance that new 4,000 sq ft house you bought for $250,000 is built in a floodplain and will be partially inundated within another 5 years time. 150,000 homes were damaged due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

- Texans also pay higher general goods sales taxes and higher vehicle taxes

- Texas ranks 39th out of all 50 states + DC in total education spending per student, which is shocking (but perhaps not surprising the highly conservative political landscape there), considering it's one of the wealthiest states in the union.

- Texas is also a net positive state with regards to federal funding distribution, meaning they take more money than they contribute; Illinois is the opposite, because it's bled dry to make states like Texas thrive because the average household income is higher in Illinois than in Texas. Texas is a 'getter' state, essentially getting handouts from other, 'giver' states.

- Texas is triple the size of Illinois, with the added benefit of 4 large metropolitan/urbanized areas that helps balance out their lack of state income taxes. Illinois has one. I've said it before, but Illinois' biggest problem is too many small government entities, as well as a stupidly written state constitutional amendment regarding pension liabilities.

Of course only one side of the story will be told by a parochial paper like the Tribune.