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Vic Smith

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:55:28 -0500, lid wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:
in Cook
county. RE tax last year was 4K, for a 1200 sq ft house

gfretwell wrote:
we cap tax hikes to
3% for homesteaded residents.

hmm.... I think I'll stay put.
1,500 sq ft, on an acre within the city limits, $850 after Homestead
Exemption. After age 65, that'll drop to zero.
Sales tax is 7%. There was a big push last year to raise sales tax on
cigarettes and eliminate it completely on groceries but in the end, it
didn't quite fly. That idea's not dead yet though.
We have a State Income Tax but compared to Federal, it's not enough to
complain about.
Insurance is another matter. I'm on the MS Coast in the area that took
the brunt of Katrina (no, contrary to the news media coverage, New
Orleans dodged the worst of it). Personally, I feel fortunate to have
insurance at all. But I'm on high ground almost a mile from the beach.
Most of the people I know who lost their homes (includes every home on
the beachfront and at least a block or two inland) aren't able to
rebuild because insurance simply isn't available. And most people
who've been able to keep the insurance they had, are paying twice (at
least) the premium they were before. Some premiums went up by
10X.-20X. It's a huge political issue here presently and some people
think it'll be resolved politically somehow... -shrug- ... frankly, I
don't know. Maybe the extreme cases will eventually be lowered but I
believe high premiums are here to stay.

Insurance prices don't often come down. Wish I knew more about your
area. I'm looking at Florida mostly because I have relatives there
and I'm a bit familiar with it, and like the gulf, which is usually
pretty flat. The Atlantic side is infested with big surf and big
tough guys like Harry, Tom, Wayne, etc. Scary.
I'm sort of a laid back pansy now, like the gulf usually is.

--Vic