Cities: Skylines 2 – Understanding Taxes and Loans

by Fernando Diaz / Articles, Cities: Skylines 2 / 22 Oct 2023

Taxation: Show Me the Money!

So, you’ve hit Milestone 2 in Cities: Skylines 2? Sweet!! That means it’s time to talk turkey about taxes.

Zoning In on Taxes

Every type of zone in your city—Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Office—has got its own tax rate. You can mess around with these rates using sliders. Feel like playing around even more? Expand the menu for a specific zone and you can tweak the taxes for individual groups. Just keep in mind, the range is between -10% (yeah, you can go negative) and a whopping 30%.

What’s the Deal with Low Taxes?

Lowering taxes is like giving your city a big ol’ hug. Buildings level up faster, and if you’re talking Residential, folks are gonna be flocking to your city like bees to honey. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility—don’t drop those taxes too low, or your city’s coffers will be running on fumes.

And High Taxes?

High taxes are the city’s cash cow. We’re talking more moolah in your pocket. But don’t get too greedy—jack up those Residential taxes and folks might just pack up and leave. And who could blame them??

Special Treatment

For the Residential zones, taxes come straight out of the citizens’ paychecks. And if you’re feeling fancy, you can set different rates for each Education Level. As for the Commercial, Industrial, and Office zones, taxes are all about those sweet company profits. Want to turn your city into a tech hub or a shopping paradise -> adjust those taxes for specific product types and watch the magic happen.

Loans

If your city’s in a cash crunch and you’re eyeing some major upgrades, then loans might be your BFF -> but like any friendship it comes with some strings attached…

Show Me the Money

Need a fat stack of cash to make your city dreams come true? Take out a loan. But remember, it ain’t free money—you’ll be adding up to 2.3-20% of the loaned amount to your monthly expenses. Ouchh.

Flexibility is Key

Want to pay off a chunk of that loan early? Go for it… Need to borrow even more? You can do that too… Your borrowing limit depends on your city’s Milestone, ranging from -> ₡100,000 all the way up to ₡26,100,000. That’s a lot of zeros!

Cut Those Interest Rates

Now, if you’re smart (and I know you are), you’ll build yourself a City Hall and a Central Bank. Why? Because City Hall shaves off 1% of your interest rate and Central Bank takes off another 2%. And in the loan game, every percentage point counts…

The Catch

One last thing—got unlimited money turned on? Forget about loans. The Loans tab will be playing hide and seek, and spoiler alert: it’s really good at hiding.

Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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