Retiring in Paris, Tennessee

Paris has been named a tax-friendly city in a new book detailing the best and worst places

to retire in the United States.  The book, published by Vacation Publications, is titled Tax

Heaven or Hell and is available in stores.

 

Co-authors Alan Fox and Eve Evans compare and rank 149 major metropolitan areas and

towns according to state and local tax burdens on retirees.  “We were looking for geographic

dispersion,” Ms Evans said of the city selection process.

 

Paris was included in the book because it had been featured in Where to Retire magazine

as an undiscovered retirement haven in 1993, she said.  The basis of the book is in a survey

conducted by the magazine.  The magazine surveyed subscribers and found that the top five

 factors in choosing a retirement destination were a low crime rate, mild climate, good hospitals,

low cost of living and low taxes.  “To me, taxes are important considerations for retirees,” she

said.  The purpose of the book; Ms Evans said, is to provide retirees with the tax information

they need to make an informed decision about where to retire.  She added that tax information

is just one of the many factors retirees should consider.

 

In the book, the authors created nine combinations of different incomes and home values and

applied a city’s tax burden to each category.  The authors chose three representative income

levels from a survey of consumer’s age 65 and older conducted by the U. S. Department of

Labor.    After the incomes were selected, the authors then chose six different home values

between 50,000 and 250,000.  Then the home values and incomes were paired to create the

nine categories.  After the categories had been determined, the next step was to estimate the

total tax burden for each of the 149 cities chosen.  The tax burden includes state and local

income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes and fees retirees would incur if relocating across state lines.

 

In the book, each selected city has a chart detailing all the taxes due from each of the nine

categories and a written summation of the tax burden.

 

The book ranks the cities in each of the nine hypothetical situations.  Any city in the top 10

in one of the nine categories is dubbed a tax heaven.  The 10 worst cities in a given category

are tax hells.  Paris is listed as a tax heaven in two of the nine situations.  The city is No. 8 in

the $68,098 income/$150,000 home and the $68,098 income/$200,000 home categories.

 

What the results indicate, Ms. Evans said, is that retirees in higher income brackets are

better off settling in Paris because the tax rate is so favorable to them.  Retirees in lower

income brackets can still find a haven in Paris, she said, because the city’s total tax burden

is relatively mild.

 

Ramay Winchester, assistant executive director of the Paris-Henry County Chamber of

Commerce, said many things combined to make the area an ideal place to retire.  An

excellent medical center, affordable housing, low property taxes and low utility rates are

just some of the advantages of retiring in Paris, she said.  County Executive Herman Jackson

agreed, saying that Paris has much to offer such as golf courses, state parks and a quiet

community.  “There’s a lot to entice people to come to our community,” he said.  Jackson

said Paris’ high rankings in the book were very encouraging because the addition of

retirees to the community has a positive economic and social impact.

 

Retirees contribute to the area’s overall economic development, Jackson said.  In addition,

the senior citizens who retire in Paris and Henry County bring their expertise to the

community.  “They can make some real contributions to our community,” Jackson said. 

Henry County Office on Aging Director Kathy Teague echoed that sentiment.  She said

senior citizens can be ideal workers and can really benefit a city or county.

 

Ms. Teague, who has worked at the Office on Aging for 21 years, said being listed

in a book such as “Tax Heaven or Hell” is progress for the seniors of Henry County. 

“It’s good for the community,” she said.  “It shows we’re on the map.” 

 

Henry County has much to offer senior citizens, she said.  The parks, Office on Aging,

transportation programs and the opportunity to get involved make the area a good retirement

area.  According to “Tax Heaven or Hell,” Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska are the first and

second ranked tax heavens in all nine categories.  Other tax heavens include Nashville; Las

Vegas; Houston; Dallas; Baton Rouge, La; Naples, Fl; Gulf Shores and Fairhope, Ala. 

Cities bearing the designation of a tax hell include Topeka, Kan; Chicago; Des Moines,

Iowa; Pittsburgh; Omaha and Lincoln, Neb; and Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wis.