Iowa’s effective property tax rate runs 1.40%, against a 0.91% national average, according to the Tax Foundation. That’s roughly 54% more than the typical American homeowner pays. These are the popular money rules that don’t work for every Iowa household. Note: This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules of thumb, tax…
Virginia last raised a state senator’s pay in 1988, and it settled at $18,000. Delegates earn less than that. The salary is the number that gets quoted. What comes with a job that meets 30 to 60 days a year never does. These are the perks Virginia legislators receive that voters rarely hear about. Note:…
A Wake County driver bought a Kia for $17,000 in March 2024. The state valued it at $20,090 the next year, WRAL reported. North Carolina resets a vehicle’s taxable value every January 1, and many of the state’s biggest counties raised their rate for the fiscal year that started July 1. Neither of those has…
South Carolina’s insurance regulator says many policyholders hear from an adjuster within 48 hours of reporting a loss. State law sets no fixed number of days for the payout itself. The number that matters is 90, and it starts the day you send a written demand for payment, not the day the claim gets filed….
A $5 toll runs between the Fremont-Port Clinton and Strongsville-Cleveland interchanges, an ordinary stretch of the Ohio Turnpike. If you miss paying it, that bill doesn’t stay $5 for long. These are the fees that turn a missed Ohio Turnpike toll into triple the bill. Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Toll fees…
Illinois homeowners pay an average of $2,592 a year for home insurance, according to Insurify’s state-by-state analysis. Some states pay more than double that for the same coverage. These are the states with the highest home insurance premiums, and where Illinois lands. Note: This is general information, not insurance advice. Coverage and terms are subject…
FDIC records show 349 Texas banks failed between 1980 and 1989, during which the price of oil dropped 45% in 1986 alone. A lot of Texas parents watched that happen. What they did with money afterward became a blueprint their kids copied without ever being handed one. These are the money habits Texas adults picked…
Florida’s Save Our Homes cap holds a homesteaded property’s assessed-value growth to 3% a year, or the inflation rate, whichever is lower. Starting that clock early is worth more than the exemption itself. A snowbird gets to choose when it starts. Floridians never had that choice. These are the Florida homestead loopholes snowbirds use that…
An Ohio electric or gas company can bill a household for only 365 days of an unmetered amount, no matter how long the meter was wrong. The error can run for years. The bill can’t. The rule has more turns in it than that, and not every account gets the same protection. This is the…
Georgia charges interest on unpaid property tax at the prime rate plus 3%, reset every January and applied every month a balance sits there. An audit can put a balance there without warning. These are the charges a Georgia homeowner faces when a county audit strips the homestead exemption. Note: This is general information, not…
