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Thank you very much for that info! I think it's great that so much attention is paid to the schools. It's still a shame that there are people who want to move to
CT and can't or worse, people who really don't want to leave CT but are finding it harder and harder to stay.
I remember a post about regionalization and I'm pretty sure it was JViello arguing for it. I had no opinion of it at the time I was reading the post. But after reading what you wrote about taxes and having duplicates of police, fire, schools, etc, I can see his point of why it might be a good idea.
CT reminds me a lot of NJ in that they both have a lot of small towns that change from one town to another. You don't see that other places. In Florida and Virginia you have city, urban sprawl, the outer burbs, then country. You don't see the charming small towns that you see in the northeast.
Well, I can see that I will definitely have to look at property taxes closely and work them into my budget. Zillow has been hit and miss for me for showing taxes.
Zillow has been hit and miss for me for showing taxes.
Now that you've mentioned zillow, IMO, their "zestimates" don't seem remotely correct for this state. However, the property tax feature does have some benefit in terms of comparing the value of houses within one particular town.
Thank you very much for that info! I think it's great that so much attention is paid to the schools. It's still a shame that there are people who want to move to
CT and can't or worse, people who really don't want to leave CT but are finding it harder and harder to stay.
I remember a post about regionalization and I'm pretty sure it was JViello arguing for it. I had no opinion of it at the time I was reading the post. But after reading what you wrote about taxes and having duplicates of police, fire, schools, etc, I can see his point of why it might be a good idea.
And it's one of the reasons I can seem to find no alternative but to start looking to get out of this state in 5 years max. It kills me. I fought hard to get back here from NC when I was younger and more ignorant to what mattered to me in "life".
Now that I'm married, have children etc things have changed.
More than 25% of my mortage on a modest home with modest vehicles going to taxation is simply ludicrous. Add in all the other taxation and "fee" driven government, the insane insurance rates compared to other places nationally and/or New England and over all cost of living...it's just not very friendly to a family who may wish to have a stay at home mom and not work 75 hours a week myself to make up the difference. (I'm pretty close to that now.)
Seems if you don't have a money windfall of some sort, (enheritance or "old money") you need about 130K per year household to live in a decent area, with a decent school system with "lower" crime in a decent home (Talking 1500-2000sf regular house here...not a McMansion) and not be counting pennies at the end of the month. To make that kind of coin just isn't in my interest and/or reality. I'd like to see my children more than Saturday's and/or not have them raised by someone else. I see too many guys in this state working two and three jobs and small business owners killing themselves 6-7 days a week. No thanks.
My kids will never remember how much I made, but they will never forget who I was. Rich or poor.
It makes me sad that the face of the state I grew up in has changed so much in so many ways demographically, politically, and culturally. I know just about every square inch of this state and have been exploring it in detail for over 25 years on my own. I can never replace that somewhere else.
I'll probably head further North as I can't stand much of the South and heat is my enemy #1.
Good luck on your move...if I were to give you any advice try two states North like NH.
Thanks for the response. While I enjoy reading everyone's responses, I have to admit, I have found yours to be the most informative. You really know all things Connecticut.
NH is another state that I love. I heard that they have high property taxes, but then, they have no state or sales tax. So it may not be that bad.
I truly hope that we can end up in CT or at least someplace in NE. I totally agree about the heat. I spent 15 years in Florida listening to all of the New England, NY, NY, Ohio, Michigan transplants go on and on about how it's "paradise". I have never loathed living someplace so much. I could write a book about how much I hate Florida and the rest of the south. When we move to VA 4 years ago, it was such a breath of fresh air to actually have seasons again. It felt like paradise compared to Florida. But now I'm ready to cross that Mason-Dixon line and never go back south unless it's to visit the inlaws in Florida.
I grew up in NJ but never lived as an adult and paid taxes as an adult in the northeast. I just can't help but ask, why do they need so much money in taxes? Surely there has got to be a way to have good schools and not tax everyone to death. I'm trying to warm up to the idea of paying 5-7k in taxes. Here in VA, if someone has 7k in property taxes, they are living in a 4,000 sq foot home in a ritzy part of the city or an affulent area of the burbs.
Sigh..... the big issue is my parents. I really want them close to me and they hate the south as much as I do. They're ready to head back north. I thought maybe I would be able to help them out a bit to get by, but I'm seeing more and more that living w/ me is going to be their only option if we get back north.
It's so frustrating. Everytime I visit family in CT, it kills me to leave. My heart is there.
Thanks for the response. While I enjoy reading everyone's responses, I have to admit, I have found yours to be the most informative. You really know all things Connecticut.
Thank you for the kind words...I am far from the only "expert" on these boards, but I do know this state well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yankeerose00
NH is another state that I love. I heard that they have high property taxes, but then, they have no state or sales tax. So it may not be that bad.
Property taxes can approach CT levels but it is far and away offset by other savings. My car insurance for example would be less than half what it is here in CT. Why? You are not required to have it! What a concept! When the insurance company has the possibility of being told "no thanks"...funny, the rates go down. Who'd a thought?
Before the lefty's come and trounce on this...it really is a personal responsibility issue.
If I lived in NH, I would have insurance...moreover I would have an uninsured rider to protect against someone who doesn't have insurance.
That is me taking responsibility for my own actions and life. If I was stupid enough to NOT have insurance or if I was nto smart enough to put an uninsured rider on my policy - well then stinks for me! I do not require or want the state to think for me. It's not their place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yankeerose00
I just can't help but ask, why do they need so much money in taxes? Surely there has got to be a way to have good schools and not tax everyone to death. I'm trying to warm up to the idea of paying 5-7k in taxes.
It's a bit complicated but at it's root what it boils down to is unchecked government growth and inefficiency.
The salaries, benefits and pensions are what is smashing the city/town and state budgets. A good chunk of the jobs are redundant or really IMHO not needed. We have committies to overseee commities who create committies.
So, now we are stuck with not only that...but the sweetheart deal the unions manage to wedge in place called binding arbitration. Basically the government employees are all but guaranteed certain benefits, pay and pension regardless if the state goes bankrupt - period.
I'm sorry but a school board member does NOT need a 140K salary and "middle income" state workers taking advantage of the "highest three years" law (A persons pension amount is decided by their highest three years of income - so most workers burn out the last few years for a nice fat pension) and working 80+ hours a week to make 100K a year for a fat pension of $70K after 20 years service or whatever is just wrong. It's manipulating the system and wrong and it's breaking the back of the honest, hard working middle class families in CT.
Like I said, there is more detail there but that's the jist of it.
I agree, it is the union that take municipal governments for a ride. Teachers usually get a minimum of a 3-4% raise a year, while many administrators I've seen can get upwards of 10%. Many municipal budgets increase in the millions yearly just for salary increases for union employees, who usually go unchecked in accountability. Board of education's across the state always lobby for a minimum of 10% increase in budgets for "level spending" every time budget season comes out. They cry wolf about cutting programs but then raise salaries of administrators, etc. right after they say they have no money. Irony at its best.
Many towns perform referendums on budgets, and an increasing trend the past 5 years or so has been a defeat of budgets where voters vote no. Many towns put it to vote 3 times and it sometimes still fails to pass (by that point the town automatically sets the budget without a town vote). People are tired of it and cannot afford to pay so much in property tax. People don't sit silent about it anymore.
Most of the money goes into town government. One reason for the expense is that there is no regionalization. Each town has duplicate services of school, fire, police, sewer, water, etc- no economies of scale.
Here's one of those ironies of life: when I first contemplated moving to Connecticut, I thought maybe it would be more efficient because it pretty much eliminated the county layer of government. But - as the quoted post says - I have concluded that the loss of economies of scale is more than the savings of not having a county government.
The mil rate is really just a shell game. You also need to consider the other side of the equation, which is the etimated vale of your home and the % of that that they tax the mil rate on. It's kinf like this:
2x4=8
When people get sick of the 4 (in this case lets say its the mil rate) they change it to three --- THEN they will re-evaluate your home which goes up from 2 to 3. So you end up with:
3x3=9
Aren't you lucky! They lowered the mil rate! (Then why are the taxes more.. hmmmm)
As previous people have mentioned, just comparing mill rates can be very misleading, as town assessments can vary like crazy. I have found that the best way to figure out what you're actually facing for taxes in different towns is to get the amount of the actual tax bill for comparable homes. The easiest way I've found to do this is to use the Raveis realty web site. They're a New England company. They have the whole mls listings, not just their own, so I'm assuming (hoping)this is not considered advertising! Anyway, be careful to compare a bunch of similarly priced houses in your target towns. Often there are a few that seem way higher or lower than the rest, but if you check out a lot you should be able to get a real feel.
Regarding Taxes & Mil Rates glxyman21 was the most sensible in answering the question! Also, look at the town or city... ask yourself.. is this city or town going to compete with a neighboring town or city to draw it's economy? If so.. ask yourself if this city or town has major developments in competing with other markets commercially? If the answer is yes.. such places & big cities in CT such as Hartford, Waterbury, New Britain(which competes with Hartford for similarly interested people) to Bridgeport! Chances are.. if cities or towns are building or trying to draw people & money into their town, you have to SPEND money to GET money.. in turn, this increases taxes & mill rates. In Wethersfield, I was looking into moving into that area. For 2010, however, they are increasing their mill rate from 32 to 34, to garner an average of $350 more per year from each home owner. This will allow for improvements to assure Wethersfield will beat out pedestrians from going to Rocky Hill or neighboring markets. This is a reason why I will be avoiding Wethersfield, CT. Mostly conservative areas wish to preserve conservation of how things are (quiet) and may look to provide minor improvements, thus.. less a need to pay for extended services.
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