One Reason to Not Live in Georgia
March 8, 2007
Georgia’s Ad Valorum Tax on cars. Property taxes on cars - one of the only states that does it. I opened up my Vehicle Registration Tag Renewal letter yesterday, expecting it to be like $40 or something (like it is in Washington or Idaho), and there it was. A $300 bill - and the culprit? The Ad Valorum Tax.
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Adam Walker Cleaveland: I am a 28 year old 
March 8th, 2007 at 9:18 am
That is precisely the reason why I bothered to change my registration from Virginia to New York when I came to school. No annual tax…
March 8th, 2007 at 9:59 am
yeah. i went like 4 years before i changed mine. just kept saying i was a student. which i think is a legit excuse you can use.
anyway, i did find out you can write it off. just turn it in when you do taxes.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am
NJ is less - something like $50 for older cars, and higher for new cars (like $90).
On the other hand - NJ property taxes on a 2400 sq. foot house on less than 1/4 acre - almost $8000.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Mississippi is probably the worst state on this. They’ve done some work on the tax structure, but some years ago you could expect to pay anywhere from $500-$2000 for a car tag! Georgia makes it especially bad, though, because they always come due on your birthday. Happy birthday from the State of Georgia — pay for an outrageous car tag, and stand in line for hours to renew your driver’s license!
March 8th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I managed to escape it during my senior year at CTS (the only year I was an official Georgia resident). Registered AFTER my birthday in October, and then moved BEFORE my next birthday. But even after I moved halfway across the country, Georgia sent me two separate letters trying to get taxes from me, even though I was no longer a resident. Had to send them two notorized letters proving it.
When I went back to Georgia for the Emergent Mainline seminars, I got pulled over for turning right on a red. When the officer runs my license, he tells me I am still in the Georgia license system! Nevermind the fact that I handed him a Nebraska license and was driving a rental car with Tennessee plates. I haven’t lived there for almost two years and sent TWO SEPARATE NOTORIZED LETTERS saying so! So now my court date is in two weeks, but of course I can’t travel from Nebraska to Georgia just for a traffic court date, so I have to plead guilty. Can’t take the traffic course for my insurance because it’s in Georgia.
All this to say, there is absolutely nothing good about the state of Georgia. Nothing. Even the World of Coke sucks.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Dude, I guess you have more than one reason not to live in Georgia. Wow - that sucks. Sorry dude. That’s quite the story.
March 8th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
hmm… i am not sure that a liberal (and I too am one) can really complain about a car tax.
we need to fund our social services somehow! :)
March 8th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
p.s. if it were up to me, car taxes would be outrageously high and in turn used to fund high quality public transportation.
but I don’t think it will be up to me anytime soon.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
One reason to live in Georgia:
Currently partly sunny and 70 degrees
Complain about one thing, definitely, but rejoice about another.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Dan, I know. Yesterday was 70 degrees - and in Princeton, NJ (where I’ll be moving to in May) it was 19 degrees and snowing.
So…the question is, is that worth $300?
March 8th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
And New York has a reputation for outrageous taxes–more like $40 here. On the other hand, I would pay $300 for some spring weather about now.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
It was -5 in Concord, NH. Are we living in the same country?
March 8th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Its a crime…isn’t it? I payed that terrible tax when I lived in Boston, MA. Then I moved to New Jersey and pay the highest property tax in the US.
I feel ya.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:21 am
I ran on the beach (8 minute drive from my house) this morning, as I do most mornings, and the 70 degree weather and sunshine was no different than the past 5 months… a little cooler today actually. I’ll pay $73 dollars for my car registration this year… property tax sucks on a 400,000+ condo… especially on a Youth Pastor’s salary! –Ventura, County So Cal.
I agree on the world of coke comment… felt pretty darn sick after trying those nasty European flavors!
March 9th, 2007 at 12:26 am
There’s actually a bill in the Georgia legislature right now that would abolish the car tax. It would be phased in over several years, with owners of cheaper cars getting the break first, but after 5 years everyone would get out of paying it. My details are a little fuzzy cuz I just promoted the story, I didn’t write it, but the bill does exist. I’m not sure of its current status but we just did the story about a week ago.