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Well below that.. and my mortgage payment is reasonable for the area (Austin, TX) but ridiculously low compared to SF, DC, etc.

I don't think it's the raw dollars that matter but what the alternative for those dollars are (aka opportunity cost).

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If you were affected by the highest possible increase in payroll tax ie 2% of the first 113k of payroll income, that would be $2260 per year, or $188.33 per month.

You must have a very low mortgage payment.

He meant 'a mortgage payment' .. meaning one month's mortgage payment. If not, then yes $188.33 is highly unlikely to be a monthly mortgage payment even for the affordable Austin, TX area.

$X * 2 paychecks/month * 12 months > mortgage payment

I read this as total yearly tax increase being greater than one month's mortgage payment. "A payment" is usually one month of your mortgage (maybe plus taxes & insurance depending on your situation), isn't it?

Anyway, that seems believable for Austin, TX.

You would make a much more comparable statement by comparing your tax increase to owner equivalent rent [1], since a mortgage payment is so variable.

In my case, the going rate of a house similar to mine rent-wise would be about 50% higher than my current mortgage payment.

[1] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/owners-equivalent-rent.a...

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