A question about unincorporated areas in the US

[VetLegion]

This concept of "unincorporated area", or a community or town or whatever, is facinating
to me. We don't have that in Europe! I think I like it, but I'd like to know more. What
does it actually mean? I mean I've read the wikipedia article, but I'd like to hear from a
human.

In Croatia the lowest level of government is "općina" which is a region of defined size and
has a local assembly, provides some services and can levy some taxes. Many are very
corrupt and inefficient. Those that serve only a couple of thousand of people spend most
of their income on paying the 10 or so employees in the administration.

If there is a template for disbanding them (unincorporating) in the USA, I'd be very
curious whether we can apply it here. How does a municipality unincorporate? Does this
mean that individual landowners are "holders of sovereignity" so to speak, and can decide
whether their property will belong to a municipality or not?

[C0ckney]

as i understand it, it frees people in the locality from paying local forms of taxation, but obviously they don't receive any local services that said taxation would normally fund. they are still part of states and pay those taxes and need to abide by state laws.

[rah]

IT's not that big a deal. While some areas do unincorporate it's very rare. Unincorporated areas are just governed by different bodies. The one unincorporated area I lived in was still under local school district control, and local fire districts. The rest of government was just handled at the county level.

[The Mad Monk]

I live in unincorporated Leavenworth County. The main benefits are low taxes ($1600 on a $200K property), and fewer regulations.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The one unincorporated area I lived in was still under local school district control, and local fire districts. The rest of government was just handled at the county level.

That's about right. Most services are done under the county as opposed to the city. In some respects that can be seen as fairly inefficient.

[Ben Kenobi]

I grew up in what would be considered to be an unincorporated area (regional district), that would be the equivalent to county administration in the US. Fewer taxes, fewer services (no garbage collection, etc).

It just makes sense, because in Canada and the US, most of the land is unsettled, or settled so sparsely that incorporation makes no sense.

[Asher]

I live in unincorporated Leavenworth County. The main benefits are low taxes ($1600 on a $200K property), and fewer regulations.

That's low?

I'm looking at $2200CDN in taxes on a $550k property...

And we certainly have lots of services.

[Tuberski]

That's low?

I'm looking at $2200CDN in taxes on a $550k property...

And we certainly have lots of services.

What is your income tax rate though?

ACK!

[Asher]

What is your income tax rate though?

ACK!

Marginal tax rate is 36%. 5% sales tax.

This includes health care.

[giblets]

Maybe Canada should send advisers to the US to teach us about good governance.

[Asher]

My marginal federal tax rate in the US would be 28%, plus state tax. That's what, 5% in Utah? So maybe 32-33% in Utah total. Plus the cost of health care (directly or indirectly).

[The Mad Monk]

http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/1888.html

Leavenworth county property taxes average 1.24%, ranked at 270 on the above chart. My tax is roughly 0.8%.

Compare to the top rate of 2.89% in Monroe county, New York, and the bottom rate of 0.13%, in Tangipahoa parish, Louisiana.

Compare further to Essex county, New Jersey (where I grew up), where a tax rate of 2.18% (ranked at 29) combines with an median home value of $378,900 to produce some nightmare tax bills. (sixth in the nation!)

[giblets]

According to Wikipedia, the state sales tax is ~6% in Utah, with the maximum local surcharge being ~8%. It's lower on groceries however. Utah has a flat state income tax of 5%.

[Pax]

I work for a county right now and the problem with incorporating is that it can leave the unincorporated areas very short on tax money to pay for services. Also, when areas incorporate to become cities and towns they still choose to get some services from the county. In California, I believe that the los angeles county sheriff negotiates with individual cities to provide police services for example.