Taxes may be one benefit for retirees living here, but it hardly ranks as a major draw, according to Ann Whelpton, who has been involved in efforts to make the community more livable and attractive for retirement. Her work with the VillAGE Network which has evolved into Age Friendly Oxford using a series of domains developed by AARP.
That change came in 2017 when the city joined the VillAGE Network in gaining the Age Friendly status from the AARP’s Age Friendly States and Communities.
“There are eight domains but we realized we cannot tackle all of them at one time so we chose to focus on housing, transportation, community services, health services and communication and information,” Whelpton said. “Taxes are interesting to me. This is one area I have not delved into. Ohio does not tax Social Security income and I think that’s a fine thing. Back a ways, we made estate tax changes, which were favorable to households. Some things favorable to households are not favorable to cities.”
SmartAsset describes itself on its web site as “an online destination for consumer-focused financial information and advice that powers SmartAdvisor, a national marketplace connecting consumers to financial advisors.” They offer service by in-house advisors as well as connecting financial advisors to prospects based on client profile using an algorithm taking various factors into account.
SmartAsset describes the ranking based on “a theoretical retiree with an annual income of $50,000. Our analysis assumes a retiree receiving $15,000 from Social Security benefits, $10,000 from a private pension, $10,000 in wages and $15,000 from a retirement savings account like a 401(k) or IRA.”
City Manager Doug Elliott expressed some skepticism about the methodology used for the analysis after reviewing the system used to calculate each tax item listed and the overall index.
“For example, the Ohio Motor Fuel Tax Rate is 38.5 cents per gallon and is standard throughout the state. The variation between the 10 cities shown on the chart (with Oxford shown as the lowest) is based on ‘statewide vehicle miles traveled to the city level using number of vehicles in each county’ " Elliott said.
He noted SmartAsset then calculated miles driven per capita in each city. Using the nationwide average fuel economy, they calculated the average gallons of gas used per capita in each city and multiplied that by the fuel tax.
“This is how they derive ‘Fuel Tax Paid.’ Therefore, the variation has little to do with the actual tax rate since it is based on a calculation of miles driven by a ‘theoretical retiree.’ I question if this chart is very useful to an actual retiree or a pre-retiree,” the city manager said. “In summary, this is an interesting chart and indicates that the City of Oxford is the top community in Ohio based the SmartAsset Retirement Tax Friendliness Index.”
Regardless of any tax advantages, Whelpton said Oxford is a good place to retire because it is a college community which makes it a wonderful place to be with entertainment and program offerings not possible in other places.
“Taxes are a piece of it. The availability of housing, availability of transportation, cost of living are all factors. The availability of in-house services and health aide services are also. All these things make a community more or less livable. It’s all part of a big picture,” she said. “A small community is close-knit. We have a great hospital with many services. Affordable senior housing is coming. We are still hard-pressed in some in-home services. Goods and services here are geared toward younger people. It’s a classic tale of two cities.”
She said partnerships within the community — including the city, Miami University, the Talawanda School District, Oxford Senior and the Knolls of Oxford — are working to respond to those issues.
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