Thoughts On Going It 'Alone' In Maine (Searsport, Hancock: for sale, real estate market)

[CoastalMaine]

They've got other good spots up there... why don't you just come be my neighbor in there? Send me a DM and I'll tell you more about it!

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Re: education. What a zoo.

Maine is divided into Districts, which are being re-drawn.

As a separate function, if you live outside of those districts, then it is figured by county. And that money is handed to whatever district a child chooses to attend, as a 'tuition' fee.

The county isn't involved. Tuition is charged on a per-student basis based on what it will take to run the school. That cost is determined in the school board budget. That's going to change in our RSU. Each town is going to pay a percentage based on valuation.

[AliceT]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

As beautiful as the countryside in Maine is, I have a love of the coast and I can't imagine moving up there to enjoy the beauty of the water and ending up sad about it, but I am questioning my sanity a little. lol I'll be 52 in a few more weeks and I wonder if I'm crazy to buy a house up there and have to worry about plowing etc. What say all of you?

Now this thing about your sanity. Um. You do know that the plural of Mainers is Maineacs, right? Need I say more?

Well, I am older than you and have limited mobility, There is little I can do and sometimes I wonder if I will even be able to care for a few chickens once I get there - much less shovel snow or operate a blower (completely out of the question!). But the property is purchased. It was 2/3 what I was looking for. It is on a paved road and is more land that I will ever use. The third that it didn't have was a house already on it. That third has been a thorn in my side ever since. But ya know what? Where there is a will, there is a way.

It would be really easy for me to sit here and say, lower your standards, come away from the coast and see the real heart of Maine. But if the coast is it for ya, that's where ya need to be looking. Don't lower your standards for anyone else. If the coast calls to you, then there will be something in your budget on the coast.

As long as you have coffee, you'll be fine. I have coffee. Does everyone have coffee?

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

The county isn't involved. Tuition is charged on a per-student basis based on what it will take to run the school. That cost is determined in the school board budget. That's going to change in our RSU. Each town is going to pay a percentage based on valuation.

With all due respect.

In the unorganized townships, the Mil Rate is set by the county. Each county's UT population is looked at, and how many students that county's UTs have is totaled. A county where the UTs have no students will have lower mil rates. A county where the UTs have lots of students will have a higher mil rate.

I do understand that the school districts control their tuition.

However when it comes to UTs and 'tuition' students that money comes from the mil rate of the county.

All UTs in Penobscot county will have the exact same mil rate. Mil rates in UTs vary by county. It is the county that sets the mil rates in the UTs. Which derives the money to pay the tuition.

Each tuition student is charged the tuition, the tuition is paid by the county, the tuition level is set by the school district. the tuition is collected by the county in the form of mil rate. the county sets the mil rate, so the county has enough money to pay the tuitions.

[CoastalMaine]

Alice,

What a lovely post. I do know the real heart of Maine, but I've an affinity for the coast, hence my move to the Cape 30 years ago. Funny thing is, I had come to the Cape as a child for vacation and when my hometown began to change (read grow much larger), I knew I wanted to raise my family in the same type of rural, close-knit town I'd enjoyed as a kid. It was a no-brainer to move here as I knew the area fairly well. That was 1979.

In 1984, I took a road trip with my 5 year old daughter and mom up to Maine. No plans, just got in the car and started driving. Got off the highway at exit 2 and started our trek up route 1. Imagine my SURPRISE as we're going through Wells and I see someone who looks identical to my uncle from Boylston, Ma walking along the highway!!! hahaha I pull over and yell, 'Fenton Bean!!! What are you doing here????' lololol He and my aunt Barbara (now both deceased) had put their camper up in Wells seasonally for something different. Well!!! We stayed the night in a nearby motel and the next day shopping and going to the beach with them.

From there, we just traveled up route 1 until we got to Ellsworth and went south to Acadia. OMG!!!! I'd never seen such amazing beauty in my life. I asked my mom, how come we never came here on vacation when I was a kid? She laughed and said, 'As a kid, we always went to Nova Scotia to see my mothers family and vacationed along the coast of Maine going to and from.... and the water was so cold, I never wanted to come back here as an adult!' GEE WHIZ!!!! hahaha

My rambling point is, I fell in love with Maine then and knew, if I'd not bought on the Cape in 79 and settled in with businesses and life, I'd have moved to Maine in a heartbeat.

Over the years I've had brothers and sisters in laws who live in Yarmouth and Topsham. One with a camp we'd go to up in Shin Pond... one owns a antique book store and the other restaurants in Bath and Boothbay... so, I've spent my time in Maine with Mainers and I've traveled a lot of the state going to NH across the mountains, etc... I have friends in Strong, Me... on and on the list goes.

MY soul is drawn to the water. Always has been. Probably always will.

You can't touch waterfront on the Cape for under 2 million for land and about 5 for a house on the water. That's SICK! lol But the Cape has become the hometown I left, for the same reasons I left. Toooooo much growth and toooooooooo many changes. I can't stand it when people come to the town you love and want to change it to what they had from wherever they were from and didn't like anymore. Come fit in, don't come change things!!!!

PS - I had chickens as a kid and have thought the same thing... it would be neat to have a little coop... but I'm not so sure I want to clean the poop! lol It sure is hard to beat a farm fresh egg for breakfast though!

[CoastalMaine]

Umm, what is UT?

[forest beekeeper]

Most of Maine falls into Unorganized Townships [UTs].

52% of Maine is UT.

Less populated, less government supported by tax dollars, less taxes.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

However when it comes to UTs and 'tuition' students that money comes from the mil rate of the county.

I had to go back and re-read. I see what you mean. You were talking total taxes and I was thinking school budget.

UT is unorganized townships.

[AliceT]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

Alice,

What a lovely post.

I have my moments, sometimes.

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

PS - I had chickens as a kid and have thought the same thing... it would be neat to have a little coop... but I'm not so sure I want to clean the poop! lol It sure is hard to beat a farm fresh egg for breakfast though!

No, no, no! Ya got it all wrong. Ya don't clean up the poop, ya use it right where it falls. City poultry farmers make mini coops. Those are coops that are built to fit over a raised garden bed. Ya let a few chickens stay in that coop, scratching at the ground, pooping on the ground, feeding and watering them from troughs hanging on the outside of the wiring. What this does is keeps the garden soil tilled and fertilized. When that bed is done, ya move the mini coop to the next raised garden bed and do it all again. Chicken poop is second only to rabbit poop when it comes to excellent garden "stuff."

Clean the poop. That's a knee slapper.

[CoastalMaine]

Alice! That's some poop I could get into!!! lmbo!!!