[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

I guess Duke Energy just costs less than the rest of the electric companies in the state. None of the neighbors I've talked to have mentioned electric bills over $250, and that includes people with electric golf carts that get plugged in all night.

Go back a few pages in this thread and see Sinatras TECO bills, and see my Duke bill I posted shortly after. All homes within the same size range. You can see the full breakdown. Duke is actually MORE expensive than TECO it seems, although they are still very close. My bill has never reached anywhere close to $400. AC is constantly on because I like it cold inside (68.) Kids home all day for the summer, so multiple TVs on, constantly using the stove, air fryer, washer, dryer, dishwasher. They are also constantly in and out so doors opening and closing all day. And I work primarily from home, so computer and multiple monitors stay on all the time.

My bill for the month of June was $208, vs his tenants’ $442 and $451 bills. Something isn’t right, but it’s not TECO’s $/kwh charges.

My bill:


His tenants' bills:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/flor...m-state-3.html

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

Go back a few pages in this thread and see Sinatras TECO bills, and see my Duke bill I posted shortly after. All homes within the same size range. You can see the full breakdown. Duke is actually MORE expensive than TECO it seems, although they are still very close. My bill has never reached anywhere close to $400. AC is constantly on because I like it cold inside (68.) Kids home all day for the summer, so multiple TVs on, constantly using the stove, air fryer, washer, dryer, dishwasher. They are also constantly in and out so doors opening and closing all day. And I work primarily from home, so computer and multiple monitors stay on all the time.

My bill for the month of June was $208, vs his tenants’ $442 and $451 bills. Something isn’t right, but it’s not TECO’s $/kwh charges.

My bill:


His tenants' bills:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/flor...m-state-3.html

I'm not going to insert a personal photo of my bill but here's my outline for July 4-August 2:

Cust. Charge: $12.51
Energy (991 kWh @ 9.986c) $98.95
Fuel (991 kWh @ 5.302c
Asset Securitization (? whatever) 991 kWh @ .203c $2.01

Total current: $166.01
Load management credit (-$8.50) (EnergyWise discount)
Reg Assessment fee 12c
Gross receipts tax $4.04
Municipal franchise fee $10.18
Municipal utility tax $8.83

Total including taxes and discounts: $180.68

And this includes all that wasted cool air flowing into the shed from our open window, and right back out into the atmosphere through the shed's uninsulated roof.

[bounty80]

I've lived all over the country - they get you one way or another no matter where you live unless you're in one of the few states no one is moving to.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by bounty80

I've lived all over the country - they get you one way or another no matter where you live unless you're in one of the few states no one is moving to.

Yup. I didn't even know such a thing as a "street light tax" existed until a month ago. Apparently it's all the rage in - you guessed it - Florida. They also charge a fee if you use a credit card to pay for your taxes, drivers license, or car registration. And then they have a whole separate education tax, and some weird value added tax in addition to your regular property tax. They say "low taxes" but then they "fee" you to death, and you're still paying a lot of taxes - they just itemize differently.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

Yup. I didn't even know such a thing as a "street light tax" existed until a month ago. Apparently it's all the rage in - you guessed it - Florida. They also charge a fee if you use a credit card to pay for your taxes, drivers license, or car registration. And then they have a whole separate education tax, and some weird value added tax in addition to your regular property tax. They say "low taxes" but then they "fee" you to death, and you're still paying a lot of taxes - they just itemize differently.

We’ve had the ‘streetlight tax’ attached to our power bill for 10-15 years. It’s, I dunno, maybe $3-4 a month. We live in the unincorporated part of the county so if we want stuff like that, it’s provided as part of the services from our rural electric co-op rather than from local government.

Pretty much every tax payment anywhere will charge you the processing fee if you want to pay by credit card including the US federal government.

The one municipal entity tat doesn’t charge me a card processing fee is, oddly enough Okaloosa Water-Sewer. Granted they tend to do things like use an outsourced third party vendor with poor cybersecurity practices to run their billing system (it was paying my water bill by credit card online that resulted in the nice call from AmEx asking if I’d just gotten breakfast at a Tim Horton’s in Ontario while I was physically present in Florida) but they’re fee-free for now nonetheless.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

We’ve had the ‘streetlight tax’ attached to our power bill for 10-15 years. It’s, I dunno, maybe $3-4 a month. We live in the unincorporated part of the county so if we want stuff like that, it’s provided as part of the services from our rural electric co-op rather than from local government.

Pretty much every tax payment anywhere will charge you the processing fee if you want to pay by credit card including the US federal government.

The one municipal entity tat doesn’t charge me a card processing fee is, oddly enough Okaloosa Water-Sewer. Granted they tend to do things like use an outsourced third party vendor with poor cybersecurity practices to run their billing system (it was paying my water bill by credit card online that resulted in the nice call from AmEx asking if I’d just gotten breakfast at a Tim Horton’s in Ontario while I was physically present in Florida) but they’re fee-free for now nonetheless.

We never had these extra fees in Connecticut (you know, the tax-you-to-death state). They were considered the "cost of doing business." If you owed $50, you paid $50. Not $50 plus 2% or some arbitrary add-on. Street lights were also covered as the "cost of doing business." Point being - our taxes INCLUDED these things, they weren't added on after the fact just so the municipality could say "see? We have low taxes!"

The only difference between
$100 tax plus $1 streetlight plus $1 credit card fees
and

$102 tax, no streetlight, no cc fees

is that no one is penalized for using the #1 most common method of payment in the country, and not have to carry around thousands of dollars in cash or make an extra trip to the bank to have a check printed for them (since most people don't even have checkbooks anymore). Instead, everyone pays a little more, and that covers the "cost of doing business."

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

We never had these extra fees in Connecticut (you know, the tax-you-to-death state). They were considered the "cost of doing business." If you owed $50, you paid $50. Not $50 plus 2% or some arbitrary add-on. Street lights were also covered as the "cost of doing business." Point being - our taxes INCLUDED these things, they weren't added on after the fact just so the municipality could say "see? We have low taxes!"

The only difference between
$100 tax plus $1 streetlight plus $1 credit card fees
and

$102 tax, no streetlight, no cc fees

is that no one is penalized for using the #1 most common method of payment in the country, and not have to carry around thousands of dollars in cash or make an extra trip to the bank to have a check printed for them (since most people don't even have checkbooks anymore). Instead, everyone pays a little more, and that covers the "cost of doing business."

Your experience is limited to your experience in CT. There are many areas of CT where there is a separate tax for street lighting since not all the streets have lighting. For example, the city of Norwalk, CT has six different taxing districts with different mill rates to reflect the services provided to residents in each of the districts. So people in the same city pay different mill rates (with and without a lighting/sewer/garbage) depending on what street they live.

https://www.norwalkct.gov/DocumentCe...lations?bidId=


And the additional fee for paying the taxes with a credit card is almost universal, including cities and towns in CT.

"What is a service or convenience fee?
A non-refundable fee added to an invoice to cover various administrative costs associated with billing
and accepting payment. 2.75% Service Fees ($1.95 minimum fee) apply to all credit card payments and a
flat fee of $4.95 per payment for debit cards. A $.95 fee applies to all ACH (electronic check) payments. "

https://www.stamfordct.gov/home/show...36565837870000


""The primary deterrent to using credit cards for property taxes is that most jurisdictions will charge a processing fee for paying your taxes with a card, usually between 2% to 3%," Wood says."

https://money.usnews.com/credit-card...-a-credit-card

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by bounty80

I've lived all over the country - they get you one way or another no matter where you live unless you're in one of the few states no one is moving to.

Some states, like Florida, "get you" less than many other states...like NY, NJ, MA, CT, CA, IL, HI, OR, MN.

Florida gets it (tax revenues) from tourism, which eliminates the need for the state to charge income tax.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Some states, like Florida, "get you" less than many other states...like NY, NJ, MA, CT, CA, IL, HI, OR, MN.

Florida gets it (tax revenues) from tourism, which eliminates the need for the state to charge income tax.

Other than Hawaii, all of the other states (including parts of California) you mentioned get snow and ice every winter - and require snow removal - plows, salt/sand, roads engineered and built to withstand plowing. All those vehicles wear and tear more because of snow and salt in the winter, and so on and so forth. They also get autumn, which requires leaf pickup and removal. The government buildings also require more electricity to keep them warm in the winter, which can get brutal with sub-zero temperatures and wind. And of course they pay their employees more, which requires more revenue. Someone has to pay for it all, and your tourism taxes here are a drop in the bucket compared to the costs involved in keeping northern states accessible.

Tourism taxes are not the only reason why Florida doesn't have an income tax. Fewer services plays a pretty significant part.

[ddeemo]

Originally Posted by sinatras

There is no "hidden agenda".

City Data Forum is primarily a public forum dedicated to providing information about cities and states in the USA for people looking to relocate. None of the information that I have posted is inaccurate. What's the point in me creating threads about all the great things about Florida everyone already knows about? Great winter weather, no state income tax, etc. Everyone already knows about that.

People looking to move here need to know, however, about things like $400+ electric bills and frequent power outages and outrageous insurance costs. The media is obviously starting to report on these costs. And

The only "hidden agenda" is from those here on City Data Forum who don't want anyone to express these truths about Florida. Perhaps all of these deniers work for utility companies?

Here's an article about $600 bills in St. Lucie County, the allegedly "cooler" coast/part of Florida.

https://www.wptv.com/news/treasure-c...amid-heat-wave

This is a growing problem across the state.

The problem is that you post opinions as if they were facts.