Perhaps taxes are lower in other counties within the state, but Alachua county (which is where Gainesville is located) has some of the highest property taxes. Only 50% of the property in Alachua county is taxable as of 2011 so it has to made up elsewhere. I haven't located the 2013 numbers yet....
Articles: Report finds Alachua County property tax rate highest in state (Oct 2011) http://www.alligator.org/news/local/article_342e1042-ee48-11e0-ae36-001cc4c002e0.html Alachua County had highest average countywide property taxes in the state (Oct, 2011) http://www.gainesville.com/article/20111002/ARTICLES/111009930 Mike Schmutzok Sr z/OS Systems Programmer UF & Shands HealthCare -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Timothy Sipples Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2013 11:41 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: JOB: z/OS Systems Programmer @ Univ. of FL Watch out for the speed traps in the area, e.g. Waldo and Lawtey, Florida. One of the benefits is likely to be the ability to take courses at the University at no charge. Bus rides are free on Gainesville's RTS with a staff ID, which means you may be able to convert from a two car household to a one car household (for example). There's affordable preschool ("Baby Gator"). Staff can use all the UFL facilities (e.g. library, tennis courts, etc.) generally free of charge. UFL pays for a certain number of children of employees to attend free of charge. Property taxes tend to be low in Florida, although that might mean a challenge finding good schools. (I'm not sure about the area around UFL.) Florida has a homestead exemption which is quite interesting and which still offers some protection in bankruptcy (O.J. Simpson is familiar). Florida was hit very hard in the mortgage/financial crisis and hasn't really recovered, so some parts of the state offer very affordable real estate. Employment at UFL is likely to be fairly stable, and working hours are likely to be reasonable. As mentioned there's no state income tax, and the sales tax rate in and around Gainesville is 6%. The local job market is not terribly strong, so you'll probably want to be prepared to move again if you leave UFL for other employment. Gainesville has an airport (GNV) which American, Delta, United, and U.S. Airways serve to/from their hub cities in the region. The city's elevation is high by Florida standards (151 feet), and it's inland so not too badly affected by hurricanes. Local flooding could still be a problem. Tornados are possible, but that's true in much of the U.S. A weather radio and a storm shelter are recommended. Ice storms sometimes occur in the winter, and its gets hot and humid in the summer. If you're looking for a position I'd seriously investigate that one. It looks fairly compelling. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples GMU VCT Architect Executive (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
