West Michigan is VERY different from the rest of Michigan. My area is not depressed like the rest of the state. As far as taxes on business here....yea it's stupid. They got fat bleeding off the auto industry for decades and now they're gone so the rest of us pay (state can't do with less you know). So now the healthy remaing companies from other industries are leaving too before they become the sacred cow.
Home real estate taxes aren't that bad, it's the businesses that get it in the spider(again this is west michigan and I cannot speak for the south east). The tax on my home worth about 200k(I tell the wife it's a million dollar cali home, just transplanted
) is only $1,600 a year.
The house I started this thread about pays $3,600 a year in taxes. It really is a great area. I forgot to mention 15 minutes from Lake Michigan(actual beaches).