Every week, Mansion Global poses a tax question to real estate tax attorneys. Here is this week’s question.



Q. What are the U.S. metro areas with the lowest property taxes?



A. Homeowners in Laredo, Texas, paid the lowest taxes in the U.S. in 2018, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, an Irvine, California-based company that tracks real estate data.



The average property taxes paid there was $527 in 2018. The effective property tax rate in the city, 0.35%, was also the lowest in the U.S. ATTOM analyzed 219 U.S. metro areas with more than 200,000 residents for its annual property tax report, which was released in April.

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Montgomery, Alabama, and Florence, South Carolina, had the second and third lowest property taxes, respectively, ATTOM reported. The average property tax was $548 in Montgomery, which has an effective tax rate of 0.37%, the country’s third lowest. Residents of Florence, where there’s a 0.58% effective tax rate, paid an average of $666 in property taxes.



But Honolulu, Hawaii, had the second lowest effective tax rate at 0.36%. That rate is based on the current market value of the home, and the most recent property tax bills for the county. So, because property values are higher, the average annual tax is $3,228, according to ATTOM.



Colorado Springs, Colorado, had the fifth-lowest effective tax rate at 0.42% in 2018, the data shows. But homeowners there paid an average annual tax of $1,417, which is the 35th lowest of the 219 metro areas considered.

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In contrast, homeowners in the Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Connecticut region, pay the most in property taxes, an average of $10,754, according to ATTOM. In the New York/Newark/Jersey City area, taxpayers have an average annual bill of $9,700, while those in San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, California, pay $9,391.



The metro areas with the highest effective property tax rates were Binghamton, New York (3.19%); Syracuse, New York (2.89%); and Rochester, New York (2.88%), ATTOM reported.



Email your questions to editors@mansionglobal.com. Check for answers weekly at www.mansionglobal.com .

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