Moving to Camas from Hillsboro

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

At least one of my wife's colleagues with a 1.5hr (each way) commute has lodged a grievance against the State claiming mental cruelty at being requested to return to in office work after the shut-down is ended.

Gotta luv gov't employeee: "What make me got to work for my $??? How DARE YOU!"

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

The statistics for marriages where one or both spouses has a commute in excess of 45min aren't good. Just go over to the Work and Employment forum and look at all the posts from people overjoyed at being forced to work from home. At least one of my wife's colleagues with a 1.5hr (each way) commute has lodged a grievance against the State claiming mental cruelty at being requested to return to in office work after the shut-down is ended.

I'm not sure how it is the state's fault that someone chooses to live 1.5 hours away from work.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I'm not sure how it is the state's fault that someone chooses to live 1.5 hours away from work.

I agree. But it is also a fact that City Data is awash in posts from people loving this shutdown because it is freeing them from the daily tyranny of hour long (each way) commutes. Most employees, govt. or otherwise understood full well that it was not the State's or anyone else's fault for their life choices.



But we are now in a moment where employers have been ordered to allow employee's the option to work from home. And as the situation dragged on some employee's started liking the respite from commute hell just a little bit too much. Some are literally in panic at going back to in office work. Enough so to try desperate legal strategies that, who knows, may get them what they want.



But my point remains that too many workers (govt. or otherwise) deliberately go out of their way to live as far from their worksites as possible. Why does it not occur to people that they are going to, in time, come to resent and eventually dread these long commutes?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

... Why does it not occur to people that they are going to, in time, come to resent and eventually dread these long commutes?

each situation / job / career is different, so we cannot see through these decisions.

I have neighbors in the west gorge who commute daily to intel (Hillsboro), and Nike (Beaverton) for 30+ yrs, One to Corvallis. We had several Forest Grove / Canby employees commuting to Camas everyday.
Many to OHSU (They listen to books on tape and enjoy (?) their 'alone time' driving each day.

My dad commuted 600 miles (one way) usually 1x / week
My renters (in Central TX) work oil jobs in west Texas. (6-8 hr commutes 1-2x / week, or some only do it 2x / month)
When we lived on an island in Canada, there was a crew from Norway that rotated and flew in every 6 weeks

My thoughts... when with family (very short part of life), STAY HOME and start a Home Business. or... Hit the road in a motorhome for 10 yrs (with family). The vast experiences and memories will exceed that of 'employment'. You can always go-back-to-work when the kids leave home (if you must).

A commute only bothers me if I see a stoplight or traffic.

Many yrs daily truckdriving in WY (863 miles / day)
I saw a lot of antelope. Driving wasn't a problem, plenty of time to think / invent / listen to books on tape. I was single at the time, so was not missing out on any time with 'family'.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

I agree. But it is also a fact that City Data is awash in posts from people loving this shutdown because it is freeing them from the daily tyranny of hour long (each way) commutes. Most employees, govt. or otherwise understood full well that it was not the State's or anyone else's fault for their life choices.

But we are now in a moment where employers have been ordered to allow employee's the option to work from home. And as the situation dragged on some employee's started liking the respite from commute hell just a little bit too much. Some are literally in panic at going back to in office work. Enough so to try desperate legal strategies that, who knows, may get them what they want.

But my point remains that too many workers (govt. or otherwise) deliberately go out of their way to live as far from their worksites as possible. Why does it not occur to people that they are going to, in time, come to resent and eventually dread these long commutes?

To be fair, I think there are a lot of couples where one spouse works close to home and the other is forced by circumstance to work further away. I know a couple families like that. Or one spouse loses a job and is forced to find one further away and they don't want to move the whole family.

But often it is just lifestyle choices. Or even just economics. My parents recently sold their house in North Salem. The buyers were a young couple, one of whom works for a tech employer in the Beaverton area and Salem was what they could afford if they wanted a single family house of their own. It's the same reason why some Portlanders are now actually buying homes in Longview WA and commuting from there.

[cyberous]

Originally Posted by AbhiA

Hillsboro rental apartment has my and SO's name there. Do I need to worry having two rental residences in two states even though one is a small pg accommodation? How do we prove that I work from WA state and are a tax resident there for state taxation purposes?

Try asking the Dmv about what you should do for a driver's license if you have cars in three states. They simply don't know. Insurance is easy, they insure to the residents. That's what you need to fix, register insure one vehicle to each resident. If you legitimately have two residents there is nothing they can do. It's pretty common actually.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by cyberous

Try asking the Dmv about what you should do for a driver's license if you have cars in three states. They simply don't know. Insurance is easy, they insure to the residents. That's what you need to fix, register insure one vehicle to each resident. If you legitimately have two residents there is nothing they can do. It's pretty common actually.

The cars should be registered where the cars live.
People should register (for taxes) where they live.

Unfortunately the taxes on vehicles (excise taxes) and the taxes on people (income taxes) are very different in both states so it is common for people to fraudulently claim residence for people or vehicles in the wrong state.

Park in front of an elementary school in Vancouver or Camas or Battle Ground some morning when schools are actually in session and count the number of OR car licenses that you see. If parents have actually registered their kids in WA schools then it is a pretty good sign that they live there and should have switched their vehicle registration too. But you sure see a lot of expensive new SUVs with OR plates delivering kids to elementary school which almost certainly means the vehicle is not a business vehicle and the parent is not "just visiting"

As for people. It isn't easy or even possible to do if you are a wage employee in OR because your income taxes get taken out of your paycheck automatically if you work for a OR employer. Nothing you can do. But hundreds of thousands of people work in various work-from-home situations or do 1099 consulting work or self-employed gig work where the location of the job is less identifiable. There are also thousands who live in Portland but commute to jobs in Vancouver. Many teachers and health-care workers do this. I expect there are many of those who claim WA addresses but actually live part time or full time in OR.

It is also a big deal with boats. Look at how many marinas are on the OR side of the Columbia vs the WA side. It is probably about a 10-1 ratio. This is not coincidence. If you register a boat in WA you owe WA excise tax which can easily be 4 or 5 figures on a big yacht. In OR the boat taxes are trivial. How many fancy yachts in Portland marinas are owned by WA residents but have OR registrations? I expect the number is not trivial. As long as they stay on the OR side of the river and don't bring their yachts up to Puget Sound they probably get away with it.

In any event, both the WA DMV and the OR Department of Revenue have been dealing with this issue for both people and property for as long as there have been bridges across the Columbia. There is a non-zero chance that they will eventually catch you or that someone will turn you in.

[StealthRabbit]

I find it most convenient to register my vehicles where I keep my domicile and DL, but... as mentioned... the cars need to be registered where the cars live.

When I change my FT domicile to SD and a MT LLC owns my cars (and planes and boats and MH), then I will have a bit more explaining to do.

For OR WA dilemma (as per OP), vehicle registration and tax state domicile is the whole purpose, so is a very straight forward decision to meet required criteria.

[Nell Plotts]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

The cars should be registered where the cars live.
...
It is also a big deal with boats. Look at how many marinas are on the OR side of the Columbia vs the WA side. It is probably about a 10-1 ratio. This is not a coincidence. If you register a boat in WA you owe WA excise tax which can easily be 4 or 5 figures on a big yacht. In OR the boat taxes are trivial. How many fancy yachts in Portland marinas are owned by WA residents but have OR registrations? I expect the number is not trivial. As long as they stay on the OR side of the river and don't bring their yachts up to Puget Sound they probably get away with it.

...

I looked into that several years ago. If a vessel registered out of state doesn't sail more than a given number of months in WA waters it doesn't need to be registered in WA. If you sail in the Sound just go a little further north to British Columbia waters. No problem. That said, if you want moorage for your yacht in WA you had better buy/lease it when you buy your boat because moorage is hard to find.

And yes, the fact that almost all boatyards are located on the OR side MAY have something to do with WA tax on services.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

I looked into that several years ago. If a vessel registered out of state doesn't sail more than a given number of months in WA waters it doesn't need to be registered in WA. If you sail in the Sound just go a little further north to British Columbia waters. No problem. That said, if you want moorage for your yacht in WA you had better buy/lease it when you buy your boat because moorage is hard to find.

And yes, the fact that almost all boatyards are located on the OR side MAY have something to do with WA tax on services.

That ability to enter WA waters with out-of-state registration only applies if you are not a resident of WA. Yes, out-of-state boaters are free to sail and transit WA waters for up to 60 days. Thousands do it. On day 61 you are subject to WA registration and use tax. You can also come and go freely but can't spend more than 6 cumulative months in WA during any 12 month period either, so popping over to Victoria for a weekend trip every other month isn't going to cut it.

But if you are a WA resident this 60 day grace period does not apply. You are subject to registration and use tax the instant your boat crosses into WA waters. So if you own a boat on the Columbia, you had better keep it on the OR side of the river. Tie up anywhere on the WA side, and you are subject to registration and tax.

It is really no different from owning a car with OR plates when you are a resident of WA. You can't do that either. Or at least you had better not bring it across the border to use in WA.