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Look this thread is already out of control and an example of why I've been avoiding the RI forum for some time. This being my last post here, I'd like to emphasize that a main service of city-data is providing relocation info. When making those big decisions it is important that people get the good, the bad and the ugly along with everything else. If one went solely by the spin put on by most of the regulars here, they would think RI is all milk and honey with probably some false expectations. That is doing people (who are simply looking for an accurate picture) a huge disservice.
Many have lived decades in RI and have roots firmly planted there. While they may not all still "live in the Smallest State", just maybe they have something to add beyond what a newcomer who might still be in the "honeymoon phase" might have? As for me while I have never technically lived in RI; I spend the latter part of my youth a stones throw away from the border, and have probably spent more living hours in RI than many on here claiming to be "RIers".
Eh? There are plenty of regulars here that hold a very low opinion of RI. Between those that hate RI and those that love RI - questioners ARE getting the good, bad and the ugly. Why don't you question the "spin" of the haters as well as the cheerleaders?
And as I've said before - I've lived here 50 years, and my roots are deep, so these generalizations about newcomers vs natives are nonsense. I don't appreciate being dismissed like that. My opinion is every bit as valid as a Mass native - more, really.
I moved here from Boston 10 years ago. My 2 cents: the house I bought would have cost about 1/3rd more in Massachusetts. The property taxes I pay on my house are about the same as they would be for that same house in Mass. So yes, the property tax as a percentage of the value of the house is probably more in Rhody than Mass. But I more than make up for that increase with the money I save every month on the lower mortage bill. Also - income taxes are lower in Rhody than Mass (for my situation, anyway). How do I know? Well, unfortunately I still work in Mass, so have to pay the income tax bill to them. But when HR Block does my taxes for both Rhody and Mass they show what my income taxes would have been if I had been working in Rhody, and it is lower every year. Car excise tax in Providence is off the wall bonkers, though. We're talking obscene. So it seems for every savings in one state there is an extra cost in the other. I'm calling it a wash. Apart for taxes, my two major impressions in my ten years here are (1) there is more to do, more beauty (the coast mostly) in easy driving distance than there was in Boston. Providence is a neat little city that I very much enjoy. However, the infrastructure of the state is awful. Roads, schools, public areas, public buildings, are scruffy in general and down right sad at worst. Am I glad I moved here? Yes. Would I consider moving back to Mass? Yes.
Car excise tax in Providence is off the wall bonkers, though. We're talking obscene. So it seems for every savings in one state there is an extra cost in the other. I'm calling it a wash.
100% dead on about Providence vehicle taxes. But you don't have to live in Providence to live in Rhode Island/ I live right next door in Cranston, can be Downcity in 10-15 minutes, and my car taxes are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less than they were when I lived in the city. (And that was almost ten years ago now! They've gone up I'm assuming!)
It's also true that roads and other infrastructure here are often (not always) inferior to Massachusetts. But please keep in mind Massachusetts is a superior example on a country-wide basis. There are parts of where I'm from originally (Florida) that easily pale in comparison to Rhode Island. And the traffic jams there are far more congested. I get to work here in 15 minutes. In FL it took me about an hour at only a nominally further distance.
True, I have the bad luck of being in the worst location for car taxes. In my situation, though, it's worth it because I could not deal with a longer commute to Boston. Traffic here isn't bad at all, compared to Mass. In fact I laugh at people (mostly locals) who don't go downtown or to Thayer street because there is nowhere to park or it is too expensive. It's a piece of cake compared to Boston. The drivers here are quite bad, though.
You could always live in a suburb north of Providence. The car taxes would be less and you'd be just as close to Boston. (Mind you, I'm not knocking Providence, it's my favorite city...)
Little-known tidbit.. if you lease a Ford Motor Company product, you pay $17/$1000 in excise tax as opposed to $70+/$1000 if you own a car in Providence. FMCC found it too difficult to separate it out by town so they used the national average.
I'm a bit confused. I thought the car tax was determined by the city looking up a cars value in either Kelly Blue book or NADA. What does Ford have to do with that?
Because when you lease, you don't own the car. On all leases, the owner get the bill. In this case the leasing company, FMCC. We have a leased Nissan, for instance, and Nissan simply attaches the amount of the bill to our monthly payment. Ford does the same, only at a much lower rate. For every state with excise tax (many have no such tax on vehicles), Ford charges a flat $17/$1000, and that includes Rhode Island which has a rate of up to 5x that amount. Ford justified it to us that it was easier than doing a different rate for each city and town in every state that charges it.
Nissan simply attaches the amount of the bill to our monthly payment.
Are you saying the car tax bill is billed to you monthly through your leasing company? You don't receive a separate car tax bill from the city every year?
Are you saying the car tax bill is billed to you monthly through your leasing company? You don't receive a separate car tax bill from the city every year?
Correct. It is sent to the registered owner. In this case, Nissan. It's done yearly and 1 payment a year would jump from $350 to $900.
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